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cbimport

    March 23, 2025
    + 12

    A utility for importing data into a Couchbase cluster

    SYNOPSIS

    cbimport [--version] [--help] <command> [<args>]

    DESCRIPTION

    cbimport is used to import data from various sources into Couchbase.

    For more information on how specific commands work, you can run "cbimport <command> --help".

    OPTIONS

    --version

    Prints the cbimport suite version that the cbimport program came from.

    -h,--help

    Prints the synopsis and a list of commands. If a cbimport command is named, this option will bring up the manual page for that command.

    CBIMPORT COMMANDS

    cbimport-csv

    Imports data into Couchbase from a CSV file.

    cbimport-json

    Imports data into Couchbase from a JSON file.

    ENVIRONMENT AND CONFIGURATION VARIABLES

    CB_CLUSTER

    Specifies the hostname of the Couchbase cluster to connect to. If the hostname is supplied as a command line argument then this value is overridden.

    CB_USERNAME

    Specifies the username for authentication to a Couchbase cluster. If the username is supplied as a command line argument then this value is overridden.

    CB_PASSWORD

    Specifies the password for authentication to a Couchbase cluster. If the password is supplied as a command line argument then this value is overridden.

    CB_CLIENT_CERT

    The path to a client certificate used to authenticate when connecting to a cluster. May be supplied with CB_CLIENT_KEY as an alternative to the CB_USERNAME and CB_PASSWORD variables. See the [CERTIFICATE_AUTHENTICATION] section for more information.

    CB_CLIENT_CERT_PASSWORD

    The password for the certificate provided to the CB_CLIENT_CERT variable, when using this variable, the certificate/key pair is expected to be in the PKCS#12 format. See the [CERTIFICATE_AUTHENTICATION] section for more information.

    CB_CLIENT_KEY

    The path to the client private key whose public key is contained in the certificate provided to the CB_CLIENT_CERT variable. May be supplied with CB_CLIENT_CERT as an alternative to the CB_USERNAME and CB_PASSWORD variables. See the [CERTIFICATE_AUTHENTICATION] section for more information.

    CB_CLIENT_KEY_PASSWORD

    The password for the key provided to the CB_CLIENT_KEY variable, when using this variable, the key is expected to be in the PKCS#8 format. See the [CERTIFICATE_AUTHENTICATION] section for more information.

    DISCUSSION

    The cbimport command is used to import data from various sources into a Couchbase cluster. Each supported format is a subcommand of the cbimport utility.

    INSERTING/OVERWRITING DOCUMENTS

    cbimport can import documents into buckets that contain existing records.

    If cbimport encounters an existing record in the bucket that has a document id that matches a record from the input source then it will overwrite the existing record with the document from the input source.

    New records (i.e., documents that do not have an existing id in the target bucket) are added as new documents.

    OPERATIONS DURING MAJOR CLUSTER CONFIGURATION CHANGES

    Operations (commands or sub-commands) which connect to a cluster are not supported during major cluster configuration changes.

    For example, performing an import/export, making a backup or performing a restore whilst changing the TLS configuration/security settings is unsupported.

    These types of changes (e.g. changing the TLS mode to strict) are not expected to be time consuming so it’s generally expected that operations should be started after completing the configuration change.

    Please note that this does not include rebalances; operations may be performed during a rebalance. The reason for this distinction, is that major cluster configuration changes are generally quick, whilst rebalances for large data sets may be time consuming.

    JSON SPECIFICATION

    The cbimport utility translates data read from disk into JSON documents before importing them into the provided cluster. The converted documents must conform to the JSON specification defined in RFC 8259.

    This means cbimport will skip importing documents that either: 1) Are not valid JSON 2) Are not valid UTF-8 data, as defined in RFC 8259 JSON transferred between systems MUST be encoded using UTF-8.

    Documents that are skipped during an import will be logged, along with the line number/index from which they originated. This information can be used to single out/fix invalid documents prior to re-importing.

    FURTHER DOCUMENTATION

    A manual page is available for each of the supported sources listed above.

    AUTHORS

    cbimport is a Couchbase Source tool and was written by Couchbase.

    REPORTING BUGS

    Report urgent issues to the Couchbase Support Team at support@couchbase.com. Bugs can be reported to the Couchbase Jira Bug Tracker at http://www.couchbase.com/issues.

    SEE ALSO

    cbimport-csv, cbimport-json

    CBIMPORT

    Part of the cbimport suite