NAME

       doc_tutorials_export_mdHow-To: kdb export
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   Introduction
       The kdb tool allows users to interact with Elektra's Key Database via the command line. This tutorial
       explains the export function of kdb. This command lets you export Keys from the Elektra Key Database.

       The command to use kdb export is:

       kdb export [options] source [format]

       In this command, source is the root key of which Keys should be exported. For instance, kdb export
       system/export would export all the keys below system/export. Additionally, this command exports keys
       under the system/elektra directory by default. It does this so that information about the keys stored
       under this directory will be included if the Keys are later imported into an Elektra Key Database. This
       command export Keys to stdout to store them into the Elektra Key Database. Typically, the export command
       is used with redirection to write the Keys to a file.

   Format
       The format argument can be a very powerful option to use with kdb export. The format argument allows a
       user to specify which plug-in is used to export the Keys from the Key Database. The user can specify any
       storage plug-in to serve as the format for the exported Keys. For instance, if a user mounted their hosts
       file to system/hosts using kdb mount /etc/hosts system/hosts hosts, they would be able to export these
       Keys using the hosts format by using the command kdb export system/hosts hosts > hosts.ecf. This command
       would essentially create a backup of their current /etc/hosts file in a valid format for /etc/hosts.

       If no format is specified, the format dump will be used instead. The dump format is the standard way of
       expressing Keys and all their relevant information. This format is intended to be used only within
       Elektra. The dump format is a good means of backing up Keys from the Key Database for use with Elektra
       later such as reimporting them later. As of this writing, dump is the only way to fully preserve all
       parts of the KeySet.

   Options
       The kdb export command takes one special option:

           -E --without-elektra                    which omits the system/elektra directory of keys

   Example
           kdb export system/backup > backup.ecf

       This command would export all keys stored under system/backup, along with relevant Keys in
       system/elektra, into a file called backup.ecf. Other example