Exporting and Importing Entities

This page describes how to export and import Firestore in Datastore mode entities using the managed export and import service. The managed export and import service is available through the Google Cloud console, Google Cloud CLI, and the Datastore Admin API (REST, RPC).

With the managed export and import service, you can recover from accidental deletion of data and export data for offline processing. You can export all entities or just specific kinds of entities. Likewise, you can import all data from an export or only specific kinds. As you use the managed export and import service, consider the following:

The export service uses eventually consistent reads. You cannot assume an export happens at a single point in time. The export might include entities written after the export begins and exclude entities written before the export begins.
An export does not contain any indexes. When you import data, the required indexes are automatically rebuilt using your database's current index definitions. Per-entity property value index settings are exported and honored during import.
Imports don't assign new IDs to entities. Imports use the IDs that existed at the time of the export and overwrite any existing entity with the same ID. During an import, the IDs are reserved during the time that the entities are being imported. This feature prevents ID collisions with new entities if writes are enabled while an import is running.
If an entity in your database is not affected by an import, it will remain in your database after the import.
Data exported from one Datastore mode database can be imported into another Datastore mode database, even one in another project.
The managed export and import service limits the number of concurrent exports and imports to 50 and allows a maximum of 20 export and import requests per minute for a project. For each request, the service limits the number of entity filter combinations to 100.
The output of a managed export uses the LevelDB log format.
To import only a subset of entities or to import data into BigQuery, you must specify an entity filter in your export.
The .overall_export_metadata filename must match the name of its parent folder:

gs://BUCKET_NAME/OPTIONAL_NAMESPACE_PATH/PARENT_FOLDER_NAME/PARENT_FOLDER_NAME.overall_export_metadata

If you move or copy the output files of an export, keep the PARENT_FOLDER_NAME, contents of the subfolders, and the .overall_export_metadata filename the same.

Before you begin

Before you can use the managed export and import service, you must complete the following tasks.

Enable billing for your Google Cloud project. Only Google Cloud projects with billing enabled can use the export and import features.
Create a Cloud Storage bucket in the same location as your Firestore in Datastore mode database. You cannot use a Requester Pays bucket for export and import operations.
Assign an IAM role to your user account that grants the datastore.databases.export permission, if you are exporting data, or the datastore.databases.import permission, if you are importing data. The Datastore Import Export Admin role, for example, grants both permissions.
If the Cloud Storage bucket is in another project, give the Firestore service agent access to the bucket.

Set up `gcloud` for your project

If you plan to use gcloud to start your import and export operations, set up gcloud and connect to your project in one of the following ways:

Access gcloud from the Google Cloud console using Cloud Shell.

Start Cloud Shell

Configure the gcloud CLI to use your current project:
```
gcloud config set project project-id
```
Install and initialize the Google Cloud CLI.

Permissions

To run export and import operations, your user account and your project's Datastore mode service agent require the Identity and Access Management following permissions.

User account permissions

The user account or service account initiating the operation requires the datastore.databases.export and datastore.databases.import IAM permissions. If you are the project owner, your account has the required permissions. Otherwise, the following IAM roles grant the necessary permissions:

Datastore Owner
Datastore Import Export Admin

You can also assign these permissions with a custom role.

A project owner can grant one of these roles by following the steps in Grant access.

Service agent permissions

Export and import operations use a Firestore service agent to authorize Cloud Storage operations. The Firestore service agent uses the following naming convention:

Firestore service agent: service-PROJECT_NUMBER@gcp-sa-firestore.iam.gserviceaccount.com

To learn more about service agents, see Service agents.

The Firestore service agent requires access to the Cloud Storage bucket used in an export or import operation. If your Cloud Storage bucket is in the same project as your Firestore database, then the Firestore service agent can access the bucket by default.

If the Cloud Storage bucket is in another project, then you must give the Firestore service agent access to the Cloud Storage bucket.

Assign roles to the service agent

You can use the gsutil command-line tool to assign one of the roles below. For example, to assign the Storage Admin role to the Firestore service agent, run the following:

gsutil iam ch serviceAccount:service-PROJECT_NUMBER@gcp-sa-firestore.iam.gserviceaccount.com:roles/storage.admin \
    gs://[BUCKET_NAME]

Replace PROJECT_NUMBER with your project number, which is used to name your Firestore service agent. To view the service agent name, see View service agent name.

Alternatively, you can assign this role using the Google Cloud console.

View service agent name

You can view the account that your import and export operations use to authorize requests from the Import/Export page in the Google Cloud console. You can also view whether your database uses the Firestore service agent or the legacy App Engine service account.

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Databases page.

Go to Databases
Select the required database from the list of databases.
In the navigation menu, click Import/Export.
View the authorization account next to the Import/Export jobs run as label.

Export operations

For export operations involving a bucket in another project, modify the permissions of the bucket to assign one of the following Identity and Access Management roles to the Datastore mode service agent of the project that contains your Datastore mode database:

Storage Admin
Owner (basic role)

You can also create an IAM custom role with slightly different permissions than the ones contained in the roles listed earlier:

storage.buckets.get
storage.objects.create
storage.objects.delete
storage.objects.list

Import operations

For import operations involving a Cloud Storage bucket in another project, modify the permissions of the bucket to assign one of the following Cloud Storage roles to the Datastore mode service agent of the project that contains your Datastore mode database:

Storage Admin
Both Storage Object Viewer and Storage Legacy Bucket Reader

You can also create an IAM custom role with the following permissions:

storage.buckets.get
storage.objects.get

Starting managed export and import operations

This section describes how to start a managed export or import operation.

Exporting all entities

Console

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Databases page.

Go to Databases
Select the required database from the list of databases.

In the navigation menu, click Import/Export.
Click Export.
Set the Namespace field to All Namespaces, and set the Kind field to All Kinds.
Below Destination, enter the name of your Cloud Storage bucket.
Click Export.

The console returns to the Import/Export page. An alert reports the success or failure of your managed export request.

gcloud

Use the gcloud firestore export command to export all entities in your database.

 gcloud firestore export gs://bucket-name --async --database=DATABASE

where bucket-name is the name of your Cloud Storage bucket and an optional prefix, for example, bucket-name/datastore-exports/export-name. You cannot re-use the same prefix for another export operation. If you do not provide a file prefix, the managed export service creates one based on the current time.

Use the [--async][async-flag] flag to prevent gcloud from waiting for the operation to complete. If you omit the --async flag, you can type Ctrl+c to stop waiting for an operation. This will not cancel the operation.

Set the --database flag to the name of the database from which you want to export the entities. For the default database, use --database='(default)'.

rest

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

project-id: your project ID
bucket-name: your Cloud Storage bucket name

HTTP method and URL:

POST https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id:export

Request JSON body:

{
  "outputUrlPrefix": "gs://bucket-name",
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login , or by using Cloud Shell, which automatically logs you into the gcloud CLI . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

curl -X POST \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
     -d @request.json \
     "https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id:export"

PowerShell (Windows)

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method POST `
    -Headers $headers `
    -ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
    -InFile request.json `
    -Uri "https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id:export" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "name": "projects/project-id/operations/operation-id",
  "metadata": {
    "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.datastore.admin.v1.ExportEntitiesMetadata",
    "common": {
      "startTime": "2019-09-18T18:42:26.591949Z",
      "operationType": "EXPORT_ENTITIES",
      "state": "PROCESSING"
    },
    "entityFilter": {},
    "outputUrlPrefix": "gs://bucket-name/2019-09-18T18:42:26_85726"
  }
}

The response is a long-running operation, which you can check for completion.

Exporting specific kinds or namespaces

To export a specific subset of kinds and/or namespaces, provide an entity filter with values for kinds and namespace IDs. Each request is limited to 100 entity filter combinations, where each combination of filtered kind and namespace counts as a separate filter towards this limit.

Console

In the console, you can select either all kinds or one specific kind. Similarly, you can select all namespaces or one specific namespace.

To specify a list of namespaces and kinds to export, use gcloud instead.

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Databases page.

Go to Databases
Select the required database from the list of databases.
In the navigation menu, click Import/Export.
Click Export.
Set the Namespace field to All Namespaces or to the name of one of your namespaces.
Set the Kind field to All Kinds or to the name a kind.
Under Destination, enter the name of your Cloud Storage bucket.
Click Export.

The console returns to the Import/Export page. An alert reports the success or failure of your managed export request.

gcloud

  gcloud firestore export --collection-ids="KIND1,KIND2" \
  --namespaces="(default),NAMESPACE2" \
  gs://bucket-name \
  --async \
  --database=DATABASE

Set the --database flag to the name of the database from which you want to export specific kinds or namespaces. For the default database, use --database='(default)'.

rest

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

project-id: your project ID
bucket-name: your Cloud Storage bucket name
kind: the entity kind
namespace: the namespace ID (use "" for the default namespace ID)

HTTP method and URL:

POST https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id:export

Request JSON body:

{
  "outputUrlPrefix": "gs://bucket-name",
  "entityFilter": {
    "kinds": ["kind"],
    "namespaceIds": ["namespace"],
  },
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

curl -X POST \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
     -d @request.json \
     "https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id:export"

PowerShell (Windows)

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method POST `
    -Headers $headers `
    -ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
    -InFile request.json `
    -Uri "https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id:export" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "name": "projects/project-id/operations/operation-id",
  "metadata": {
    "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.datastore.admin.v1.ExportEntitiesMetadata",
    "common": {
      "startTime": "2019-09-18T21:17:36.232704Z",
      "operationType": "EXPORT_ENTITIES",
      "state": "PROCESSING"
    },
    "entityFilter": {
      "kinds": [
        "Task"
      ],
      "namespaceIds": [
        ""
      ]
    },
    "outputUrlPrefix": "gs://bucket-name/2019-09-18T21:17:36_82974"
  }
}

The response is a long-running operation, which you can check for completion.

Metadata files

An export operation creates a metadata file for each namespace-kind pair specified. Metadata files are typically named NAMESPACE_NAME_KIND_NAME.export_metadata. However, if a namespace or kind would create an invalid Cloud Storage object name, the file will be named export[NUM].export_metadata.

The metadata files are protocol buffers and can be decoded with the protoc protocol compiler. For example, you can decode a metadata file to determine the namespace and kinds the export files contain:

protoc --decode_raw < export0.export_metadata

Importing all entities

Console

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Databases page.

Go to Databases
Select the required database from the list of databases.
In the navigation menu, click Import/Export.
Click Import.
In the File field, click Browse and select an .overall_export_metadata file.

Make sure that the .overall_export_metadata file is not moved from the default location.
Set the Namespace field to All Namespaces, and set the Kind field to All Kinds.
Click Import.

The console returns to the Import/Export page. An alert reports the success or failure of your managed import request.

gcloud

Use the gcloud firestore import command to import all entities that were previously exported with the managed export service.

gcloud firestore import gs://bucket-name/file-path/file-name.overall_export_metadata \
--async \
--database=DATABASE

where bucket-name/file-path/file-name is the path to your overall_export_metadata file within your Cloud Storage bucket.

Set the --database flag to the name of the database where you want to import all the entities. For the default database, use --database='(default)'.

rest

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

project-id: your project ID
bucket-name: your Cloud Storage bucket name
object-name: your Cloud Storage object name (example: 2017-05-25T23:54:39_76544/2017-05-25T23:54:39_76544.overall_export_metadata

HTTP method and URL:

POST https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id:import

Request JSON body:

{
  "inputUrl": "gs://bucket-name/object-name",
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

curl -X POST \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
     -d @request.json \
     "https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id:import"

PowerShell (Windows)

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method POST `
    -Headers $headers `
    -ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
    -InFile request.json `
    -Uri "https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id:import" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "name": "projects/project-id/operations/operation-id",
  "metadata": {
    "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.datastore.admin.v1.ImportEntitiesMetadata",
    "common": {
      "startTime": "2019-09-18T21:25:02.863621Z",
      "operationType": "IMPORT_ENTITIES",
      "state": "PROCESSING"
    },
    "entityFilter": {},
    "inputUrl": "gs://bucket-name/2019-09-18T18:42:26_85726/2019-09-18T18:42:26_85726.overall_export_metadata"
  }
}

The response is a long-running operation, which you can check for completion.

Locating your `overall_export_metadata` file

You can determine the value to use for the import location by using the Cloud Storage browser in the Google Cloud console:

Open the Cloud Storage Browser

You can also list and describe completed operations. The outputURL field shows the name of the overall_export_metadata file:

"outputUrl": "gs://bucket-name/2017-05-25T23:54:39_76544/2017-05-25T23:54:39_76544.overall_export_metadata",

Importing specific kinds or namespaces

To import a specific subset of kinds and/or namespaces, provide an entity filter with values for kinds and namespace IDs.

You can specify kinds and namespaces only if the export files were created with an entity filter. You can not import a subset of kinds and namespaces from an export of all entities.

Console

In the console, you can select either all kinds or one specific kind. Similarly, you can select all namespaces or one specific namespace.

To specify a list of namespaces and kinds to import, use gcloud instead.

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Databases page.

Go to Databases
Select the required database from the list of databases.
In the navigation menu, click Import/Export.
Click Import.
In the File field, click Browse and select an .overall_export_metadata file.

Ensure that you import the .overall_export_metadata file and not an .export_metadata file.
Set the Namespace field to All Namespaces or to a specific namespace.
Set the Kind field to All Kinds or to a specific kind.
Click Import.

The console returns to the Import/Export page. An alert reports the success or failure of your managed import request.

gcloud

  gcloud firestore import --collection-ids="KIND1,KIND2" \
  --namespaces="(default),NAMESPACE2" \
  gs://bucket-name/file-path/file-nameoverall_export_metadata \
  --async \
  --database=DATABASE

where bucket-name/file-path/file-name is the path to your overall_export_metadata file within your Cloud Storage bucket.

Set the --database flag to the name of the database where you want to import the specific kinds or namespaces. For the default database, use --database='(default)'.

rest

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

project-id: your project ID
bucket-name: your Cloud Storage bucket name
object-name: your Cloud Storage object name (example: 2017-05-25T23:54:39_76544/2017-05-25T23:54:39_76544.overall_export_metadata
kind: the entity kind
namespace: the namespace ID (use "" for the default namespace ID)

HTTP method and URL:

POST https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id:import

Request JSON body:

{
  "inputUrl": "gs://bucket-name/object-name",
  "entityFilter": {
    "kinds": ["kind"],
    "namespaceIds": ["namespace"],
  },
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

curl -X POST \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
     -d @request.json \
     "https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id:import"

PowerShell (Windows)

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method POST `
    -Headers $headers `
    -ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
    -InFile request.json `
    -Uri "https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id:import" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "name": "projects/project-id/operations/operation-id",
  "metadata": {
    "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.datastore.admin.v1.ImportEntitiesMetadata",
    "common": {
      "startTime": "2019-09-18T21:51:02.830608Z",
      "operationType": "IMPORT_ENTITIES",
      "state": "PROCESSING"
    },
    "entityFilter": {
      "kinds": [
        "Task"
      ],
      "namespaceIds": [
        ""
      ]
    },
    "inputUrl": "gs://bucket-name/2019-09-18T21:49:25_96833/2019-09-18T21:49:25_96833.overall_export_metadata"
  }
}

The response is a long-running operation, which you can check for completion.

Export and import from PITR data

You can export your database to Cloud Storage from PITR data using the gcloud firestore export command. You can export PITR data where the timestamp is a whole minute timestamp within the past seven days, but not earlier than the earliestVersionTime. If data no longer exists at the specified timestamp, the export operation fails.

The PITR export operation supports all filters, including exporting all entities and exporting specific kinds or namespaces.

Export the database, specifying the snapshot-time parameter to the required recovery timestamp.
gcloud
Run the following command to export the database to your bucket.
```
gcloud firestore export gs://[BUCKET_NAME_PATH] \
    --snapshot-time=[PITR_TIMESTAMP] \
    --collection-ids=[COLLECTION_IDS] \
    --namespace-ids=[NAMESPACE_IDS]
```
Where,
- PITR_TIMESTAMP - a PITR timestamp at the minute granularity, for example, 2023-05-26T10:20:00.00Z.
[Exporting a specific subset of kinds and/or namespaces with an entity filter][export-kind] is also supported.

Note the following points before exporting PITR data:
- Specify the timestamp in RFC 3339 format. For example, 2020-09-01T23:59:30.234233Z.
- Make sure that the timestamp you specify is a whole minute timestamp within the past seven days, but not earlier than the earliestVersionTime. If data no longer exists at the specified timestamp, you will get an error.
- You won't be charged for a failed PITR export.
Import to a database.

Use the steps in Import all entities to import your exported database. If any entity already exists in your database, it will be overwritten. [Importing a specific subset of kinds and/or namespaces with an entity filter][import-kind] is also supported.

Import transformations

When importing entities from another project, keep in mind that entity keys include the project ID. An import operation updates entity keys and key reference properties in the import data with the project ID of the destination project. If this update increases your entity sizes, it can cause "entity is too big" or "index entries too large" errors for import operations.

To avoid either error, import into a destination project with a shorter project ID. This does not affect import operations with data from the same project.

Managing long-running operations

Managed import and export operations are long-running operations. These method calls can take a substantial amount of time to complete.

After you start an export or import operation, Datastore mode assigns the operation a unique name. You can use the operation name to delete, cancel, or status check the operation.

Operation names are prefixed with projects/[PROJECT_ID]/databases/(default)/operations/, for example:

projects/project-id/databases/(default)/operations/ASA1MTAwNDQxNAgadGx1YWZlZAcSeWx0aGdpbi1zYm9qLW5pbWRhEgopEg

You can leave out the prefix when specifying an operation name for gcloud commands.

Listing all long-running operations

You can view ongoing and recently completed operations in the following ways. Operations are listed for a few days after completion:

Console

You can view a list of the long-running operations in the Import/Export page of the Google Cloud console.

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Databases page.

Go to Databases
Select the required database from the list of databases.
In the navigation menu, click Import/Export.

gcloud

To list long-running operations, use the gcloud datastore operations list command.

gcloud datastore operations list

For example, a recently completed export operation shows the following information:

{
  "operations": [
    {
      "name": "projects/project-id/operations/ASAyMDAwOTEzBxp0bHVhZmVkBxJsYXJ0bmVjc3Utc2Jvai1uaW1kYRQKKhI",
      "metadata": {
        "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.datastore.admin.v1.ExportEntitiesMetadata",
        "common": {
          "startTime": "2017-12-05T23:01:39.583780Z",
          "endTime": "2017-12-05T23:54:58.474750Z",
          "operationType": "EXPORT_ENTITIES"
        },
        "progressEntities": {
          "workCompleted": "21933027",
          "workEstimated": "21898182"
        },
        "progressBytes": {
          "workCompleted": "12421451292",
          "workEstimated": "9759724245"
        },
        "entityFilter": {
          "namespaceIds": [
            ""
          ]
        },
        "outputUrlPrefix": "gs://bucket-name"
      },
      "done": true,
      "response": {
        "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.datastore.admin.v1.ExportEntitiesResponse",
        "outputUrl": "gs://bucket-name/2017-05-25T23:54:39_76544/2017-05-25T23:54:39_76544.overall_export_metadata"
      }
    }
  ]
}

rest

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

project-id: your project ID

HTTP method and URL:

GET https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/operations

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Execute the following command:

curl -X GET \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     "https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/operations"

PowerShell (Windows)

Execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method GET `
    -Headers $headers `
    -Uri "https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/operations" | Select-Object -Expand Content

See information about the response below.

For example, a recently completed export operation shows the following information:

{
  "operations": [
    {
      "name": "projects/project-id/operations/ASAyMDAwOTEzBxp0bHVhZmVkBxJsYXJ0bmVjc3Utc2Jvai1uaW1kYRQKKhI",
      "metadata": {
        "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.datastore.admin.v1.ExportEntitiesMetadata",
        "common": {
          "startTime": "2017-12-05T23:01:39.583780Z",
          "endTime": "2017-12-05T23:54:58.474750Z",
          "operationType": "EXPORT_ENTITIES"
        },
        "progressEntities": {
          "workCompleted": "21933027",
          "workEstimated": "21898182"
        },
        "progressBytes": {
          "workCompleted": "12421451292",
          "workEstimated": "9759724245"
        },
        "entityFilter": {
          "namespaceIds": [
            ""
          ]
        },
        "outputUrlPrefix": "gs://bucket-name"
      },
      "done": true,
      "response": {
        "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.datastore.admin.v1.ExportEntitiesResponse",
        "outputUrl": "gs://bucket-name/2017-05-25T23:54:39_76544/2017-05-25T23:54:39_76544.overall_export_metadata"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Check operation status

To view the status of a long-running operation:

Console

You can view a list of the most recent export and import operations in the Import/Export page of the Google Cloud console.

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Databases page.

Go to Databases
Select the required database from the list of databases.
In the navigation menu, click Import/Export.

gcloud

Use the operations describe command to show the status of a long-running operation.

gcloud datastore operations describe operation-name

rest

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

project-id: your project ID
operation-name: the operation name

HTTP method and URL:

GET https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/operations/operation-name

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Execute the following command:

curl -X GET \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     "https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/operations/operation-name"

PowerShell (Windows)

Execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method GET `
    -Headers $headers `
    -Uri "https://datastore.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/operations/operation-name" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "name": "projects/project-id/operations/ASA3ODAwMzQxNjIyChp0bHVhZmVkBxJsYXJ0bmVjc3Utc2Jvai1uaW1kYRQKLRI",
  "metadata": {
    "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.datastore.admin.v1.ExportEntitiesMetadata",
    "common": {
      "startTime": "2019-10-08T20:07:28.105236Z",
      "endTime": "2019-10-08T20:07:36.310653Z",
      "operationType": "EXPORT_ENTITIES",
      "state": "SUCCESSFUL"
    },
    "progressEntities": {
      "workCompleted": "21",
      "workEstimated": "21"
    },
    "progressBytes": {
      "workCompleted": "2272",
      "workEstimated": "2065"
    },
    "entityFilter": {},
    "outputUrlPrefix": "gs://bucket-name/2019-10-08T20:07:28_28481"
  },
  "done": true,
  "response": {
    "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.datastore.admin.v1.ExportEntitiesResponse",
    "outputUrl": "gs://bucket-name/2019-10-08T20:07:28_28481/2019-10-08T20:07:28_28481.overall_export_metadata"
  }
}

Estimating the completion time

As your operation runs, see the value of the state field for the overall status of the operation.

A request for the status of a long-running operation returns the metrics workEstimated and workCompleted. Each of these metrics is returned in both number of bytes and number of entities:

workEstimated shows the estimated total number of bytes and documents an operation will process. Datastore mode might omit this metric if it cannot make an estimate.
workCompleted shows the number of bytes and documents processed so far. After the operation completes, the value shows the total number of bytes and documents that were actually processed, which might be larger than the value of workEstimated.

Divide workCompleted by workEstimated for a rough progress estimate. This estimate might be inaccurate, because it depends on delayed statistics collection.

For example, here is the progress status of an export operation:

{
  "operations": [
    {
      "name": "projects/project-id/operations/ASAyMDAwOTEzBxp0bHVhZmVkBxJsYXJ0bmVjc3Utc2Jvai1uaW1kYRQKKhI",
      "metadata": {
        "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.datastore.admin.v1.ExportEntitiesMetadata",
        ...
        "progressEntities": {
          "workCompleted": "1",
          "workEstimated": "3"
        },
        "progressBytes": {
          "workCompleted": "85",
          "workEstimated": "257"
        },
        ...

When an operation completes, the operation description contains "done": true. See the value of the state field for the result of the operation. If the done field is not set in the response, then its value is false. Don't depend on the existence of the done value for in-progress operations.

Cancel an operation

Console

You can cancel a running export or import operation in the Import/Export page of the Google Cloud console.

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Databases page.

Go to Databases
Select the required database from the list of databases.
In the navigation menu, click Import/Export.

In the Recent imports and exports table, currently running operations include a Cancel button in the Completed column. Click the Cancel button to stop the operation. The button changes to a Cancelling message and then to Cancelled when the operation stops completely.

gcloud

Use the operations cancel command to stop an operation in progress:

gcloud datastore operations cancel operation-name

Cancelling a running operation does not undo the operation. A cancelled export operation leaves documents already exported in Cloud Storage, and a cancelled import operation leaves in place updates already made to your database. You cannot import a partially completed export.

Delete an operation

gcloud

Use the operations delete command to remove an operation from the list of recent operations. This command won't delete export files from Cloud Storage.

gcloud datastore operations delete operation-name

Billing and pricing for managed exports and imports

You are required to enable billing for your Google Cloud project before you use the managed export and import service. Export and import operations contribute to your Google Cloud costs in the following ways:

Entity reads and writes performed by export and import operations count towards your Firestore in Datastore mode costs. Export operations incur one read operation per entity exported. Import operations incur one write operation per entity imported.
Output files stored in Cloud Storage count towards your Cloud Storage data storage costs.

Export or import operations won't trigger any Google Cloud budget alerts until after completion. Similarly, reads and writes performed during an export or import operation are applied to your daily quota after the operation is complete.

Viewing export and import costs

Export and import operations apply the goog-firestoremanaged:exportimport label to billed operations. In the Cloud Billing reports page, you can use this label to view costs related to import and export operations:

Access the goog-firestoremanaged label from the filters menu.

Differences from Datastore Admin backups

If you previously used the Datastore Admin console for backups, you should note the following differences:

Exports created by a managed export don't appear in the Datastore Admin console. Managed exports and imports are a new service that does not share data with App Engine's backup and restore feature, which is administered through the Google Cloud console.
The managed export and import service does not support the same metadata as the Datastore Admin backup and does not store progress status in your database. For information on checking the progress of export and import operations, see Managing long-running operations
You cannot view service logs of managed export and import operations.
The managed import service is backward compatible with Datastore Admin backup files. You can import a Datastore Admin backup file using the managed import service, but you cannot import the output of a managed export using the Datastore Admin console.

Importing into BigQuery

To import data from a managed export into BigQuery, see Loading Datastore export service data.

Data exported without specifying an entity filter cannot be loaded into BigQuery. If you want to import data into BigQuery, your export request must include one or more kind names in the entity filter.

BigQuery column limit

BigQuery imposes a limit of 10,000 columns per table. Export operations generate a BigQuery table schema for each kind. In this schema, each unique property within a kind's entities becomes a schema column.

If a kind's BigQuery schema surpasses 10,000 columns, the export operation attempts to stay under the column limit by treating embedded entities as blobs. If this conversion brings the number of columns in the schema under 10,000, you can load the data into BigQuery, but you cannot query the properties within embedded entities. If the number of columns still exceeds 10,000, the export operation does not generate a BigQuery schema for the kind and you cannot load its data into BigQuery.

Service agent migration

Firestore uses a Firestore service agent to authorize import and export operations instead of using the App Engine service account. The service agent and service account use the following naming conventions:

Firestore service agent: service-PROJECT_NUMBER@gcp-sa-firestore.iam.gserviceaccount.com

Firestore previously used the App Engine default service account instead of the Firestore service agent. If your database still uses the App Engine service account to import or export data, we recommend that you follow the instructions in this section to migrate to using the Firestore service agent.

App Engine service account: PROJECT_ID@appspot.gserviceaccount.com

The Firestore service agent is preferable because it is specific to Firestore. The App Engine service account is shared by more than one service.

View authorization account

You can view which account your import and export operations use to authorize requests from the Import/Export page in the Google Cloud console. You can also view if your database already uses the Firestore service agent.

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Databases page.

Go to Databases
Select the required database from the list of databases.
In the navigation menu, click Import/Export.
View the authorization account next to the Import/Export jobs run as label.

If your project does not use the Firestore service agent, you can migrate to the Firestore service agent using either of these techniques:

Migrate a project by checking and updating Cloud Storage bucket permissions (recommended).
Add an organization-wide policy constraint that affects all projects within the organization.

The first of these techniques is preferable because it localizes the scope of effect to a single Datastore mode project. The second technique is not preferred because it doesn't migrate existing Cloud Storage bucket permissions. It does, however, offer security compliance at the organization level.

Migrate by checking and updating Cloud Storage bucket permissions

The migration process has two steps:

Update Cloud Storage bucket permissions. See the following section for details.
Confirm migration to the Firestore service agent.

Service agent bucket permissions

For any export or import operations that use a Cloud Storage bucket in another project, you must grant the Firestore service agent permissions for that bucket. For example, operations that move data to another project need to access a bucket in that other project. Otherwise, these operations fail after migrating to the Firestore service agent.

Import and export workflows that stay within the same project do not require changes to permissions. The Firestore service agent can access buckets in the same project by default.

Update the permissions for Cloud Storage buckets from other projects to give access to the service-PROJECT_NUMBER@gcp-sa-firestore.iam.gserviceaccount.com service agent. Grant the service agent the Firestore Service Agent role.

The Firestore Service Agent role grants read and write permissions for a Cloud Storage bucket. If you need to grant only read or only write permissions, use a custom role.

The migration process described in the following section helps you identify Cloud Storage buckets that might require permission updates.

Migrate a project to the Firestore Service Agent

Complete the following steps to migrate from the App Engine service account to the Firestore service agent. Once completed, the migration can't be undone.

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Databases page.

Go to Databases
Select the required database from the list of databases.
In the navigation menu, click Import/Export.
If your project has not yet migrated to the Firestore service agent, you see a banner describing the migration and a Check Bucket Status button. The next step helps you identify and fix potential permission errors.

Click Check Bucket Status.

A menu appears with the option to complete your migration and a list of Cloud Storage buckets. It may take a few minutes for the list to finish loading.

This list includes buckets which were recently used in import and export operations, but do not currently give read and write permissions to the Datastore mode service agent.
Take note of the principal name of your project's Datastore mode service agent. The service agent name appears under the Service agent to give access to label.
For any bucket in the list that you will use for future import or export operations, complete the following steps:
1. In this bucket's table row, click Fix. This opens that bucket's permissions page in a new tab.
2. Click Add.
3. In the New principals field, enter the name of your Firestore service agent.
4. In the Select a role field, select Service Agents > Firestore Service Agent.
5. Click Save.
6. Return to the tab with the Datastore mode Import/Export page.
7. Repeat these steps for other buckets in the list. Make sure to view all the pages of the list.
Click Migrate to Firestore Service Agent. If you still have buckets with failed permission checks, you need to confirm your migration by clicking Migrate.

An alert informs you when your migration completes. Migration can't be undone.

View migration status

To verify your project's migration status:

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Databases page.

Go to Databases
Select the required database from the list of databases.
In the navigation menu, click Import/Export.
Look for the principal next to the Import/Export jobs run as label.

If the principal is service-PROJECT_NUMBER@gcp-sa-firestore.iam.gserviceaccount.com, then your project has already migrated to the Firestore service agent. The migration can't be undone.

If the project has not been migrated, a banner appears at the top of the page with a Check Bucket Status button. See Migrate to the Firestore service agent to complete the migration.

Add an organization-wide policy constraint

Set the following constraint in your organization's policy:

Require Firestore Service Agent for import/export (firestore.requireP4SAforImportExport).

This constraint requires import and export operations to use the Firestore service agent to authorize requests. To set this constraint, see Creating and managing organization policies .

Applying this organizational policy constraint does not automatically grant the appropriate Cloud Storage bucket permissions for the Firestore service agent.

If the constraint creates permission errors for any import or export workflows, you can disable it to go back to using default service account. After you check and update Cloud Storage bucket permissions, you can enable the constraint again.

Exporting and Importing Entities

Before you begin

Set up gcloud for your project

Permissions

User account permissions

Service agent permissions

Assign roles to the service agent

View service agent name

Export operations

Import operations

Starting managed export and import operations

Exporting all entities

Console

gcloud

rest

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

PowerShell (Windows)

Exporting specific kinds or namespaces

Console

gcloud

rest

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

PowerShell (Windows)

Metadata files

Importing all entities

Console

gcloud

rest

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

PowerShell (Windows)

Locating your overall_export_metadata file

Importing specific kinds or namespaces

Console

gcloud

rest

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

PowerShell (Windows)

Export and import from PITR data

gcloud

Import transformations

Managing long-running operations

Listing all long-running operations

Console

gcloud

rest

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

PowerShell (Windows)

Check operation status

Console

gcloud

rest

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

PowerShell (Windows)

Estimating the completion time

Cancel an operation

Console

gcloud

Delete an operation

gcloud

Billing and pricing for managed exports and imports

Viewing export and import costs

Differences from Datastore Admin backups

Importing into BigQuery

BigQuery column limit

Service agent migration

View authorization account

Migrate by checking and updating Cloud Storage bucket permissions

Service agent bucket permissions

Migrate a project to the Firestore Service Agent

View migration status

Add an organization-wide policy constraint

Set up `gcloud` for your project

Locating your `overall_export_metadata` file