This topic is discussed in the "Grouper API - Part 2" training video.
XML Import / Export for Grouper
As of v2.1, not all features are exported/imported with this tool. Examples are external subjects, entities, point-in-time auditing, etc. This will be addressed shortly.
As of Grouper v1.4.0 the invocation of these tools has moved from Ant to gsh (GrouperShell):
Grouper includes XML import / export tools. Exported XML may be used for:
- provisioning to other systems
- reporting
- backups
- switching database backends - including to upgraded schemas (required by new Grouper API versions) in the same database
- moving or syncing a folder of grouper to another environment
Imported XML may be used for:
- loading - adding to or updating existing Stems, Groups and Group Types. Whole or partial Grouper registries can be exported, and subsequently imported at a specified Stem (or the Root Stem if not specified) in the new instance.*
- initializing a new, empty registry to a known state - useful for demos, testing and system recovery
In general, exported data can be imported into the same Grouper instance it was exported from**, or a different instance. Stems and Groups and Group Types will be created, if not already present, or updated if they already exist (depending on import options provided).
Any tool which can create XML, in the correct format, can be used as a loader.
*To successfully load Subject data, the new Grouper instance must be configured with the same Subject Sources. The export tool does not export Subject registries. Subjects which cannot be resolved will be logged, but otherwise ignored.
**The initial version of the import tool did not maintain system attributes i.e. uuid, date created etc. Now all metadata about the object is kept in sync, though if an object already exists, it will use the existing uuid, not the imported uuid.
Usage
Export:
C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin>gsh -xmlexport Using GROUPER_HOME: c:\mchyzer\grouper\v2_1\grouper\bin\.. Using GROUPER_CONF: c:\mchyzer\grouper\v2_1\grouper\bin\../conf Using JAVA: java using MEMORY: 64m-750m Usage: args: -h, Prints this message args: [-noprompt] filename e.g. gsh -xmlexport f:/temp/prod.xml e.g. gsh -xmlexport -stems a:b:c,d:e:f f:/temp/prod.xml -includeComments, Put comments about foreign keys in XML -stems, Only include objects in these comma separated stems or object names -objectNames, Only include objects in these comma separated object names or stems -excludeAudits, Put comments about foreign keys in XML -noprompt, Do not prompt user to confirm the export filename, The file to import C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin>gsh -xmlexport whatever.xml Using GROUPER_HOME: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin\.. Using GROUPER_CONF: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin\../conf Using JAVA: java using MEMORY: 64m-512m This db user 'grouper' and url 'jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/grouper' are allowed to be changed in the grouper.properties Continuing... Grouper starting up: version: 1.6.0, build date: 2010/02/09 02:24:03, env: <no label configured> grouper.properties read from: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\conf\grouper.properties Grouper current directory is: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin log4j.properties read from: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\conf\log4j.properties Grouper is logging to file: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin\..\logs\grouper_error.log, at min level WARN for package: edu.internet2.middleware.grouper, based on log4j.properties grouper.hibernate.properties: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\conf\grouper.hibernate.properties grouper.hibernate.properties: grouper@jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/grouper sources.xml read from: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\conf\sources.xml sources.xml groupersource id: g:gsa sources.xml jdbc source id: jdbc: GrouperJdbcConnectionProvider Starting: 163 records in the DB to be exported DONE: 02:32:54: exported 163 records to: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin\whatever.xml C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin>
C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin>gsh -xmlimport Using GROUPER_HOME: c:\mchyzer\grouper\v2_1\grouper\bin\.. Using GROUPER_CONF: c:\mchyzer\grouper\v2_1\grouper\bin\../conf Using JAVA: java using MEMORY: 64m-750m Usage: args: -h, Prints this message args: [-recordReport] [-noprompt] filename e.g. gsh -xmlimport f:/temp/prod.xml -recordReport, Print a file which lists each insert/update In addition to import -noprompt, Do not prompt user to confirm the database that will be updated filename, The file to import C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin>gsh -xmlimport whatever.xml -recordReport Using GROUPER_HOME: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin\.. Using GROUPER_CONF: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin\../conf Using JAVA: java using MEMORY: 64m-512m This db user 'grouper' and url 'jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/grouper' are allowed to be changed in the grouper.properties Continuing... Grouper starting up: version: 1.6.0, build date: 2010/02/09 02:24:03, env: <no label configured> grouper.properties read from: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\conf\grouper.properties Grouper current directory is: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin log4j.properties read from: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\conf\log4j.properties Grouper is logging to file: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin\..\logs\grouper_error.log, at min level WARN for package: edu.internet2.middleware.grouper, based on log4j.properties grouper.hibernate.properties: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\conf\grouper.hibernate.properties grouper.hibernate.properties: grouper@jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/grouper sources.xml read from: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\conf\sources.xml sources.xml groupersource id: g:gsa sources.xml jdbc source id: jdbc: GrouperJdbcConnectionProvider grouper import: reading document: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin\whatever.xml, version: 1.6.0 XML file contains 163 records 02:34:58: Beginning import: database contains 155 records Ending import: processed 163 records Ending import: database contains 163 records Ending import: 8 inserts, 1 updates, and 154 skipped records DONE: 02:34:59: imported 163 records from: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin\whatever.xml Wrote record report log to: C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin\grouperImportRecordReport_2010_02_09__02_34_58_685.txt C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin>more C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin\grouperImportRecordReport_2010_02_09__02_34_58_685.txt Update: Group: 197c460aff064eb6876b63d500c5ee22, etc:userReceiver Insert: AttributeDefNameSet: 3e6915e7b4f144b38fe7e5143a60c9b4, Insert: AuditEntry: f7be69a260514b6db7c3982e997cc012 Insert: AuditEntry: e8bc311da27c468281c4d8867305a998 Insert: AuditEntry: de69f0556d4648169b94ffcb7936cf77 Insert: AuditEntry: faa8130871e549e3947f2d3afaeae460 Insert: AuditEntry: f31a5288f8564b2c8e41a5f693a4f914 Insert: AuditEntry: e5a2c9ef662c483691bd92f8e65d1daa Insert: AuditEntry: f2227db7415e44659f61e1703a02c81c C:\mchyzer\grouper\trunk\grouper\bin>
Summary
Since so many new columns and tables have been added to Grouper especially in 1.5, and since exporting/importing these with the current design would be difficult, we decided to rewrite the Grouper export/import. It will have these differences from the current version
- Doesn't store the XML document in memory (SAX) fo good memory performance
- Versioned
- Doesn't manually marshal XML (will use xstream)
- Will keep logic in beans (more object oriented)
- Handles all data columns in the database (e.g. uuids). Note, in import will need to lookup the business key to see if there is a different UUID, and maintain the existing UUID if it exists, will not change any UUIDs on import
- Handles all the new tables (e.g. new attribute framework, though I didn't think we need to import the "set" tables, e.g. groupSet. We can calculate that stuff after import. This is a tradeoff between size of file, speed of import (probably faster to export the "set" tables), and data integrity (probably better to recalc all after import)
- Sorted output so XML can be diffed, though uuids might make differs thing there are diffs, when really there might not be
- The export settings will be at the top of the export file (i.e. are exporting the entire registry?)
- Basic features will be implemented in the first pass, then we can do the advanced features. e.g. we will export all the data as GrouperSystem
- The XML export is not intended to be used for reporting or provisioning, web services and SQL can be used for that
- Its not really possible to have a readonly import mode without a huge transaction that will bog down the db
- Should have good logging (depending on level), and should print to stdout status periodically. i.e. try to say how many records have been processed and how many left to go (will need a preparse for this). For example every 30 seconds.
Notes
- The table: grouper_ddl will not be exported/imported, since that should be tied to the ddl in the schema
- The subject and subjectattribute tables will not be exported/imported, since they arent really a part of grouper, just the quick start
- Effective membership create and last update date can be calculated from the repository, but will not be in the first pass (these are some of the group_set records). Same for other _set tables like actions, permissions, roles (well, the immediate part of the tables will be exported)
- Privileges (e.g. admin or read on a group) will be exported from the memberships table if they are there. If you are not using the default privilege interface in grouper.properties, then you need to export/import yourself
- Its assumed that composite memberships dont need to be exported since the composite table is exported, and if the composite is added, the API will add the membership data
Issues
- Should audits be handled as they are now, as a separate file? These are in the audit file so they are handled consistently, and foreign keys get translated
- Should change log be exported/imported? Currently assuming no
- Should audit logs be inserted when importing? Assuming will check for uuid of record, if not found, insert
- Assuming that the legacy imports will still work, at least for a little while longer (at least they will work in v1.6). just use -xmlimportold, or -xmlexportold
- Need to update docs