Export and import using SQL dump files

This page describes exporting and importing data into Cloud SQL instances using SQL dump files.

Before you begin

Exports use database resources, but they do not interfere with normal database operations unless the instance is under-provisioned.

For best practices, see Best Practices for Importing and Exporting Data.

After completing an import operation, verify the results.

Export data from Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL

Required roles and permissions for exporting from Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL

To export data from Cloud SQL into Cloud Storage, the user initiating the export must have one of the following roles:

Additionally, the service account for the Cloud SQL instance must have one of the following roles:

  • The storage.objectAdmin Identity and Access Management (IAM) role
  • A custom role, including the following permissions:
    • storage.objects.create
    • storage.objects.list (for exporting files in parallel only)
    • storage.objects.delete (for exporting files in parallel only)

For help with IAM roles, see Identity and Access Management.

Export to a SQL dump file from Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL

When you use Cloud SQL to perform an export, whether from the Google Cloud console, the gcloud CLI, or the API, you are using the pg_dump utility, with the options required to ensure that the resulting export file is valid for import back into Cloud SQL.

If you plan to import your data into Cloud SQL, you must follow the instructions provided in Exporting data from an external database server so that your SQL dump file is formatted correctly for Cloud SQL.

To export data from a database on a Cloud SQL instance to a SQL dump file in a Cloud Storage bucket:

Console

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud SQL Instances page.

    Go to Cloud SQL Instances

  2. To open the Overview page of an instance, click the instance name.
  3. Click Export.
  4. In the File format section, click SQL to create a SQL dump file.
  5. In the Data to export section, use the drop-down menu to select the database you want to export from.
  6. In the Destination section, select Browse to search for a Cloud Storage bucket or folder for your export.
  7. Click Export to begin the export.

gcloud

  1. Create a Cloud Storage bucket.
  2. Find the service account for the Cloud SQL instance you're exporting from. You can do this running the gcloud sql instances describe command. Look for the serviceAccountEmailAddress field in the output. 
    gcloud sql instances describe INSTANCE_NAME
  3. Use gsutil iam to grant the storage.objectAdmin IAM role to the service account. For help with setting IAM permissions, see Using IAM permissions.
  4. Export the database to your Cloud Storage bucket: 
    gcloud sql export sql INSTANCE_NAME gs://BUCKET_NAME/sqldumpfile.gz \
--database=DATABASE_NAME \
--offload

    The export sql command does not contain triggers or stored procedures, but does contain views. To export triggers and/or stored procedures, use the pg_dump tool.

    For more information about using the export sql command, see the sql export sql command reference page.

  5. If you do not need to retain the IAM role you set previously, revoke it now.

REST v1

  1. Create a bucket for the export: 
    gsutil mb -p PROJECT_NAME -l LOCATION_NAME gs://BUCKET_NAME

    This step is not required, but strongly recommended, so you do not open up access to any other data.

  2. Provide your instance with the legacyBucketWriter IAM role for your bucket. For help with setting IAM permissions, see Using IAM permissions.
  3. Export your database:

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

    • project-id: The project ID
    • instance-id: The instance ID
    • bucket_name: The Cloud Storage bucket name
    • path_to_dump_file: The path to the SQL dump fle
    • database_name_1: The name of a database inside the Cloud SQL instance
    • database_name_2: The name of a database inside the Cloud SQL instance
    • offload: Enables serverless export. Set to true to use serverless export.

    HTTP method and URL: 

    POST https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/export

    Request JSON body: 

    {
 "exportContext":
   {
      "fileType": "SQL",
      "uri": "gs://bucket_name/path_to_dump_file",
      "databases": ["database_name"],
      "offload": true | false
    }
}

    To send your request, expand one of these options:

    You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

  4. If you do not need to retain the IAM role you set previously, remove it now.
For the complete list of parameters for the request, see the instances:export page.

REST v1beta4

  1. Create a bucket for the export: 
    gsutil mb -p PROJECT_NAME -l LOCATION_NAME gs://BUCKET_NAME

    This step is not required, but strongly recommended, so you do not open up access to any other data.

  2. Provide your instance with the storage.objectAdmin IAM role for your bucket. For help with setting IAM permissions, see Using IAM permissions.
  3. Export your database:

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

    • project-id: The project ID
    • instance-id: The instance ID
    • bucket_name: The Cloud Storage bucket name
    • path_to_dump_file: The path to the SQL dump fle
    • database_name_1: The name of a database inside the Cloud SQL instance
    • database_name_2: The name of a database inside the Cloud SQL instance
    • offload: Enables serverless export. Set to true to use serverless export.

    HTTP method and URL: 

    POST https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/export

    Request JSON body: 

    {
 "exportContext":
   {
      "fileType": "SQL",
      "uri": "gs://bucket_name/path_to_dump_file",
      "databases": ["database_name"],
      "offload": true | false
    }
}

    To send your request, expand one of these options:

    You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

  4. If you do not need to retain the IAM role you set previously, revoke it now.
For the complete list of parameters for the request, see the instances:export page.

Import data to Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL

Required roles and permissions for importing to Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL

To import data from Cloud Storage into Cloud SQL, the user initiating the import must have one of the following roles:

Additionally, the service account for the Cloud SQL instance must have one of the following roles:

  • The storage.objectAdmin IAM role
  • A custom role, including the following permissions:
    • storage.objects.get
    • storage.objects.list (for importing files in parallel only)

For help with IAM roles, see Identity and Access Management.

Import a SQL dump file to Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL

SQL files are plain text files with a sequence of SQL commands.

Console

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud SQL Instances page.

    Go to Cloud SQL Instances

  2. To open the Overview page of an instance, click the instance name.
  3. Click Import.
  4. In the Choose the file you'd like to import data from section, enter the path to the bucket and SQL dump file to use for the import, or browse to an existing file.

    You can import a compressed (.gz) or an uncompressed (.sql) file.

  5. For Format, select SQL.

  6. Select the database you want the data to be imported into.

    This causes Cloud SQL to run the USE DATABASE statement before the import.

  7. If you want to specify a user to perform the import, select the user.

    If your import file contains statements that must be performed by a specific user, use this field to specify that user.

  8. Click Import to start the import.

gcloud

  1. Create a Cloud Storage bucket.

  2. Upload the file to your bucket.

    For help with uploading files to buckets, see Uploading objects.

  3. Describe the instance you are importing to: 
    gcloud sql instances describe INSTANCE_NAME
  4. Copy the serviceAccountEmailAddress field.
  5. Use gsutil iam to grant the storage.objectAdmin IAM role to the service account for the bucket. 
    gsutil iam ch serviceAccount:SERVICE-ACCOUNT:objectAdmin \
gs://BUCKET_NAME
    For help with setting IAM permissions, see Using IAM permissions.
  6. Import the database: 
    gcloud sql import sql INSTANCE_NAME gs://BUCKET_NAME/IMPORT_FILE_NAME \
--database=DATABASE_NAME

    For information about using the import sql command, see the sql import sql command reference page.

    If the command returns an error like ERROR_RDBMS, review the permissions; this error is often due to permissions issues.

  7. If you do not need to retain the IAM permissions you set previously, remove them using gsutil iam.

REST v1

  1. Create a SQL dump file. The linked instructions set certain flags that make the dump file compatible with Cloud SQL.

    • If you are importing data from an on-premises PostgreSQL server:
      1. Create a SQL dump file using the instructions in Exporting data using pg_dump.
      2. Create a bucket in Cloud Storage using the instructions in Create buckets.
      3. Upload the SQL dump file to the Cloud Storage bucket using the procedure in Upload objects.
  2. Create a Cloud Storage bucket.

  3. Upload the file to your bucket.

    For help with uploading files to buckets, see Uploading objects.

  4. Provide your instance with the legacyBucketWriter and objectViewer IAM roles for your bucket. For help with setting IAM permissions, see Using IAM permissions.
  5. Import your dump file:

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

    • project-id: The project ID
    • instance-id: The instance ID
    • bucket_name: The Cloud Storage bucket name
    • path_to_sql_file: The path to the SQL file
    • database_name: The name of a database inside the Cloud SQL instance

    HTTP method and URL: 

    POST https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/import

    Request JSON body: 

    {
 "importContext":
   {
      "fileType": "SQL",
      "uri": "gs://bucket_name/path_to_sql_file",
      "database": "database_name"
    }
}

    To send your request, expand one of these options:

    You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

    To use a different user for the import, specify the importContext.importUser property.

    For the complete list of parameters for the request, see the instances:import page.
  6. If you do not need to retain the IAM permissions you set previously, remove them now.

REST v1beta4

  1. Create a SQL dump file. The linked instructions set certain flags that make the dump file compatible with Cloud SQL.

    • If you are importing data from an on-premises PostgreSQL server:
      1. Create a SQL dump file using the instructions in Exporting data using pg_dump.
      2. Create a bucket in Cloud Storage using the instructions in Create buckets.
      3. Upload the SQL dump file to the Cloud Storage bucket using the procedure in Upload objects.
  2. Create a Cloud Storage bucket.

  3. Upload the file to your bucket.

    For help with uploading files to buckets, see Uploading objects.

  4. Provide your instance with the storage.objectAdmin IAM role for your bucket. For help with setting IAM permissions, see Using IAM permissions.
  5. Import your dump file:

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

    • project-id: The project ID
    • instance-id: The instance ID
    • bucket_name: The Cloud Storage bucket name
    • path_to_sql_file: The path to the SQL file
    • database_name: The name of a database inside the Cloud SQL instance

    HTTP method and URL: 

    POST https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/import

    Request JSON body: 

    {
 "importContext":
   {
      "fileType": "SQL",
      "uri": "gs://bucket_name/path_to_sql_file",
      "database": "database_name"
    }
}

    To send your request, expand one of these options:

    You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

    To use a different user for the import, specify the importContext.importUser property.

    For the complete list of parameters for the request, see the instances:import page.
  6. If you do not need to retain the IAM permissions you set previously, remove them now.

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