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Administration Guide

Importing and Exporting Liquid Data Configurations

This topic describes how to copy BEA Liquid Data for WebLogicTM configurations between Liquid Data servers. It contains the following sections:

- About Liquid Data Configurations

- Navigating to the Import/Export Tab

- Exporting a Liquid Data Configuration

- Importing a Liquid Data Configuration

The exporting and importing process transfers only a portion of the total Liquid Data server configuration. If you want to copy a complete server configuration to another server, see "Copying a Server Configuration to Another Server" in Deployment Tasks in Deploying Liquid Data.

About Liquid Data Configurations

This section describes what does and does not get imported or exported in Liquid Data configurations. It contains the following sections:

- What Liquid Data Imports and Exports

- What Liquid Data Does Not Import or Export

What Liquid Data Imports and Exports

A Liquid Data configuration consists of the information described in the following table. A Liquid Data import or export results in all of these settings being imported or exported, respectively:

Table 15-1 Liquid Data Configuration Information

Type of Information | Description
--- | ---
Liquid Data server configuration | General settings for the Liquid Data server and the query engine. For more information on server configuration, see Configuring Liquid Data Server Settings. Note: The name of the server repository is not exported.
Data source descriptions | Data source descriptions that contain the information needed to connect to particular data sources used in Liquid Data queries. Each Liquid Data server instance must have its own set of data source descriptions. For more information on data source descriptions, see Viewing and Accessing All Configured Data Sources.
Results cache settings | Results cache settings, which include the Caching checkbox on the General tab on the Liquid Data node and cache policy settings associated with stored queries on the Cache tab on the Liquid Data node. For more information, see Configuring the Query Results Cache.
Custom function descriptions | Custom function descriptions for user-defined functions added to the Liquid Data function library. For more information, see Configuring Access to Custom Functions.

Note: For information about what is not included, see What Liquid Data Does Not Import or Export.

Rather than entering all of this configuration information manually on each server, you can simply copy a full Liquid Data configuration from one server to another. To copy a Liquid Data configuration, you export the configuration from one Liquid Data server to a file (in XML format), and then import that file on every Liquid Data server where you want to copy it. For example, you can copy the Liquid Data configuration on a development server to a Liquid Data server deployed in a production environment.

What Liquid Data Does Not Import or Export

This Liquid Data import/export feature handles only Liquid Data specific configuration information. This section describes what is not included in the import/export.

WebLogic Server Specific Configuration Information

The Liquid Data import/export process does not include WebLogic Server specific configurations defined in the config.xml file such as JDBC connection pools, JDBC data sources, or Compatibility Security information. To transfer this configuration information, you will need to either reconfigure these settings via the Administration Console on the new server, or you must save and copy relevant entries in the original WebLogic Server config.xml file to the config.xml file on the new server. For more information about distributing this information, see Deployment Tasks in Deploying Liquid Data.

Files Added to the Liquid Data Server Repository

The Liquid Data import/export process does not include files that have been added to the repository, such as target schema, XML data files, JAR files for custom function libraries, and so on. If you are copying a configuration from one server to another and you want to make the same files accessible in the new Liquid Data server repository, you need to do the following:

1. Perform the import process on the target server.

2. On the source server, users must explicitly download the files to a temporary location using the Repository tab on the Liquid Data node in the Administration Console, as described in Downloading Files From the Server Repository.

3. On the target server, upload the files you want in the repository using the Repository tab on the Liquid Data node in the Administration Console, as described in Uploading Files to the Server Repository.

Repository Name

The Liquid Data import/export process does not include the name of the server repository.

File Swap Configuration

The Liquid Data import/export process does not include the settings that control how Liquid Data handles file swapping for stored queries. If the Large Results flag is selected for a query, then Liquid Data uses swap files to temporarily store results on disk. You must manually configure file swapping—you cannot import these settings.

Navigating to the Import/Export Tab

To navigate to the Import / Export Tab on the Liquid Data node:

1. In the left pane of the Administration Console, click the Liquid Data node.

2. In the right pane, click the Configuration tab.

3. Click the Import/Export tab.

   The Administration Console displays the Import/Export tab.

   Table 15-2 Tabs on the Import/Export Tab

   Tab | Description
   --- | ---
   Import tab | Used to import a Liquid Data configuration, as described in Importing a Liquid Data Configuration.
   Export tab | Used to export a Liquid Data configuration to a file, as described in Exporting a Liquid Data Configuration.

Exporting a Liquid Data Configuration

To copy a Liquid Data configuration to other Liquid Data servers, you must first create the export file that you will subsequently import into the other Liquid Data servers.

Note: You must be logged in with modify access to create the target directory and to create a file in that directory.

To export a Liquid Data configuration to a file:

1. On the source Liquid Data server, navigate to the Import / Export tab, as described in Navigating to the Import/Export Tab.

2. In the Import / Export tab, click Export.

   The Administration Console displays the Export tab.

   The Export tab includes the following information:

   Table 15-3 Export Configuration Information

   Field | Description
   --- | ---
   Path | Shows the file system path to the import_export folder in the repository root directory, which is the target folder in which Liquid Data creates the export file. For more information about the repository root directory, see Configuring Liquid Data Server Settings.
   Export File Name | Name of the export file. You must specify a name that is valid on the target file system. Liquid Data automatically assigns an XML extension to the file name.

3. Navigate the file hierarchy, if needed, and select or create the sub-folder in which you want to create the export file.

   Note: To simplify this process, consider saving to a shared volume to which any target Liquid Data servers have access.

4. Enter the file name of the export file.

5. Click Export.

Liquid Data exports the Liquid Data configuration to the named export file in the import_export folder (or a sub-folder).

Importing a Liquid Data Configuration

After you have exported a Liquid Data configuration to a file, you can import it into any other Liquid Data server. The import process is additive for new items and existing items are replaced.

Note: Before you import a Liquid Data configuration, you must have configured the repository root directory on the target server according to the instructions in Configuring Server Settings.

When importing a Liquid Data configuration, the Administration Console:

- Adds new data source descriptions and custom function descriptions to the target server.

- Replaces Liquid Data server settings on the new server with imported settings.

- If the source file contains any data source descriptions that have the same name as those already defined on the target Liquid Data server, the Administration Console replaces the data source description on the target server with the information in the source file.

If you want the new repository to include files stored in the previous repository, you need to explicitly upload them according to the instructions in Uploading Files to the Server Repository.

To import a Liquid Data configuration:

1. Complete the following tasks on the target Liquid Data server, depending on the type of data sources required:

   - For relational databases, you need to configure JDBC connectivity, as described in Creating a JDBC Connection Pool. As an alternative to using the Administration Console, you can copy the relevant sections from the config.xml file in the source Liquid Data server and paste them into the config.xml file on the target Liquid Data server.

   - For XML files, Web services, and data views, you need to copy the repository to the target server, as described in "Copying a Server Configuration to Another Server" in Deployment Tasks in Deploying Liquid Data.

   - For application views, if Liquid Data serves as the Application Integration server, then you need to reconfigure the application view using the WebLogic Integration Console, as described in Defining an Application View Using the WebLogic Integration Application View Console.

2. Upload the export file to the import_export folder (or a sub-folder) in the repository, as described in Uploading Files to the Server Repository.

3. On the target Liquid Data server, navigate to the Import / Export tab, as described in Navigating to the Import/Export Tab.

4. In the Import / Export tab, click Import.

   The Administration Console displays the Import tab.

5. Select the source file that you want to import.

6. Click Import.

   Liquid Data imports the configuration settings from the selected import file.