NAME

       doc_tutorials_import_mdHow-To: kdb import
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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 import function of kdb. This command lets you import Keys from
       the Elektra Key Database.

       The command to use kdb import is:

       kdb import [options] destination [format]

       In this command, destination is where the imported Keys should be stored below. For
       instance, kdb import system/imported would store all the keys below system/imported. This
       command takes Keys from stdin to store them into the Elektra Key Database. Typically, it
       is used with a pipe to read in the Keys from a file.

   Format
       The format argument can be a very powerful option to use with kdb import. The format
       argument allows a user to specify which plug-in is used to import the Keys into the Key
       Database. The user can specify any storage plug-in to serve as the format for the Keys to
       be imported. For instance, if a user wanted to import a /etc/hosts file into KDB without
       mounting it, they could use the command cat /etc/hosts | kdb import system/hosts hosts.
       This command would essentially copy the current hosts file into KDB, like mounting it.
       Unlike mounting it, changes to the Keys would not be reflected in the hosts file and vise
       versa.

   Dump Format
       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.

       It is very important to note that the dump does not rename keys by design. If a user
       exports a KeySet using dump using a command such as kdb export system/backup > backup.ecf,
       they can only import that keyset back into system/backup using a command like cat
       backup.ecf | kdb import system/backup.

   Options
       The kdb import command only takes one special option:

           -s --strategy <name>            which is used to specify a strategy

   Strategies
       For kdb import, you can specify a strategy to use if Keys already exist in the specified
       destination

       The current list of strategies are:

           preserve                                        any keys already in the destination will not be overwritten

           overwrite                                       any keys already in the destination will be overwritten if a new key has the same name

           cut                                                     all keys already in the destination will be removed, then new keys will be imported

       If no strategy is specified, the command defaults to the preserve strategy as to not be
       destructive to any previous keys.

   Example
           cat backup.ecf | kdb import system/backup

       This command would import all keys stored in the file backup.ecf into the Key Database
       under system/backup.

       In this example, backup.ecf was exported from the KeySet using the dump format by using
       the command: kdb export system/backup > backup.ecf

       backup.ecf contains all the information about the keys below system/backup: $cat
       backup.ecf kdbOpen 1 ksNew 3 keyNew 19 0 system/backup/key1 keyMeta 7 1 binary keyEnd
       keyNew 19 0 system/backup/key2 keyMeta 7 1 binary keyEnd keyNew 19 0 system/backup/key3
       keyMeta 7 1 binary keyEnd ksEnd

       Before the import command, system/backup does not exists and no keys are contained there.
       After the import command, running the command kdb ls system/backup prints:
       system/backup/key1 system/backup/key2 system/backup/key3