Exporting and importing into single files can produce large files, so if your database contains more than 500 users, export to a directory and not a single file.
Using a directory performs better as the directory provider uses a separate transaction for each "page" (a file of users).
The default count of users per file and per transaction is fifty.
Increasing this to a larger number leads to an exponentially increasing execution time.
When using the `export` and the `import` commands below, {project_name} needs to know how to connect to the database where the information about realms, clients, users and other entities is stored.
As described in <@links.server id="configuration"/> that information can be provided as command line parameters, environment variables or a configuration file.
Use the `--help` command line option for each command to see the available options.
Some of the configuration options are build time configuration options.
If you have built an optimized version of {project_name} with the `build` command as outlined in <@links.server id="configuration"/>, use the command line option `--optimized` to have Keycloak skip the build check for a faster startup time.
To export a realm to a directory, you can use the `--dir <dir>` option.
<@kc.export parameters="--dir <dir>"/>
When exporting realms to a directory, the server is going to create separate files for each realm being exported.
=== Configuring how users are exported
You are also able to configure how users are going to be exported by setting the `--users <strategy>` option. The values available for this
option are:
* *different_files*: Users export into different json files, depending on the maximum number of users per file set by `--users-per-file`. This is the default value.
* *skip*: Skips exporting users.
* *realm_file*: Users will be exported to the same file as the realm settings. For a realm named "foo", this would be "foo-realm.json" with realm data and users.
* *same_file*: All users are exported to one explicit file. So you will get two json files for a realm, one with realm data and one with users.
If you are exporting users using the `different_files` strategy, you can set how many users per file you want by setting the `--users-per-file` option. The default value is `50`.
After exporting a realm to a directory, you can use the `--dir <dir>` option to import the realm back to the server as follows:
<@kc.import parameters="--dir <dir>"/>
When importing realms using the `import` command, you are able to set if existing realms should be skipped, or if they should be overridden with the new configuration. For that,
When you set the `--import-realm` option, the server is going to try to import any realm configuration file from the `data/import` directory. Only regular files using the `.json` extension are read from this directory, sub-directories are ignored.
== Importing and Exporting by using the Admin Console
You can also import and export a realm using the Admin Console. This functionality is
different from the other CLI options described in previous sections because the Admin Console offers only the capability to
_partially_ export a realm. In this case, the current realm settings, along with some resources like clients,
roles, and groups, can be exported. The users for that realm _cannot_ be exported using this method.
NOTE: When using the Admin Console export, the realm and the selected resources are always exported to a file
named `realm-export.json`. Also, all sensitive values like passwords and client secrets will be masked with `+*+` symbols.
To export a realm using the Admin Console, perform these steps:
. Select a realm.
. Click *Realm settings* in the menu.
. Point to the *Action* menu in the top right corner of the realm settings screen, and select *Partial export*.
+
A list of resources appears along with the realm configuration.
. Select the resources you want to export.
. Click *Export*.
NOTE: Realms exported from the Admin Console are not suitable for backups or data transfer between servers.
Only CLI exports are suitable for backups or data transfer between servers.
WARNING: If the realm contains many groups, roles, and clients, the operation may cause the server to be
unresponsive to user requests for a while. Use this feature with caution, especially on a production system.
In a similar way, you can import a previously exported realm. Perform these steps:
. Click *Realm settings* in the menu.
. Point to the *Action* menu in the top right corner of the realm settings screen, and select *Partial import*.
+
A prompt appears where you can select the file you want to import. Based on this file, you see the resources you can import along with the realm settings.
. Click *Import*.
You can also control what {project_name} should do if the imported resource already exists. These options exist
* `Fail import` - aborts the import.
* `Skip` - skips the duplicate resources without aborting the process
* `Overwrite` - replaces the existing resources with the ones being imported.
NOTE: The Admin Console partial import can also import files created by the CLI `export` command. In other words, full exports created
by the CLI can be imported by using the Admin Console. If the file contains users, those users will also be available for importing into the
