# Move topics from one Discourse instance to another

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/move-topics-from-one-discourse-instance-to-another/38930
**Category:** Self-Hosting
**Tags:** how-to
**Created:** [2월 2, 2016, 10:11오후 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/move-topics-from-one-discourse-instance-to-another/38930 "2016-02-02T22:11:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Discourse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/discourse/32/148734_2.png) [@Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Discourse)
#### Post date: [2월 2, 2016, 10:11오후 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/move-topics-from-one-discourse-instance-to-another/38930/1 "2016-02-02T22:11:02Z")

</div>

Need to move some stuff from one instance of Discourse to another?

There is a command line tool to export a topic, a set of topics, or an entire category, and another to import them in at the other end.

### Topic Export/Import

- one or more topics and their replies
- the users who posted in the topic

### Category Export/Import

- the category and all its subcategories
- its security settings
- custom groups mentioned in the security settings
  - ⚠ if any of the groups have ‘membership requests’ enabled, it will crash. Turn this off _before_ the export

- all topics and posts in the category and subcategories
- all users who posted, and assigns them to the groups

## Begin: Identify the IDs

First, identify the ID(s) of the =Export= that you wish to export. You’ll find this at the end of the URL used to access it.

- `https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-contribute-to-discourse/53797`

- `https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-contribute-to-discourse/53797/12`  
(in this case you are in the middle of a topic - grab the first number)

- `https://meta.discourse.org/c/howto/faq/4`

Category or Topic ID(s)

### Multiple topics

You can select more than one topic by adding IDs separated by a space; this works in the field above (I don’t think that this works for categories though):

- `53797 200943 124096`

## Run the Export Script

The tool can be run as a root user inside the container:

```plaintext
cd /var/discourse
./launcher enter app

```

Run this command:

```plaintext
discourse export_=Export= =ID=

```

The output should look something like this:

> Starting export of =Export=…
> 
> Where are the new users all coming from?  
> Export saved to =Export=-export-2021-08-27-015437.json
> 
> Done

## Move the Exported File

The exported .json file needs to be moved from the inside of the application container where you did the export to the inside of the container of the receiving instance. This takes a few steps.

### Copy it to the ‘outside’

Exit the container if you haven’t already

```plaintext
exit

```

You should now have a prompt like this:

> root@yourserver:/var/discourse

Use docker to copy the file out of the container (you can’t move it I don’t think)

```plaintext
docker cp app:/var/www/discourse/=FileName= .

```

### Move it to the other instance

This is beyond the scope of this guide, but this might help you get there:

> **[How to Transfer Files from Server to Server (3 Ways in 2026)](https://www.ubackup.com/windows-server/transfer-files-from-server-to-server.html)**
>
> You can choose to transfer files from server to server manually with FTP or SCP, or directly use powerful sync software - AOMEI Backupper to make it automatically.

### Copy it into the container in the receiving instance

SSH into your receiving instance as root and get to the Discourse directory:

```plaintext
cd /var/discourse

```

Use docker once again to copy the file into the other container

```plaintext
docker cp =FileName= app:/var/www/discourse

```

## Import the Content

Enter the container in the receiving instance:

```plaintext
./launcher enter app

```

Run the import script

```plaintext
discourse import_=Export= =FileName=

```

🍰 Done!

You might need to tidy up some loose ends, but hopefully, it should all be done.

## Advanced Tips

### Missing Ruby Gem

When doing a complex category import, my instance was missing the ‘Listen’ Ruby.  
This was solved by doing this: (using the Discourse user inside the container)

```plaintext
./launcher enter app
su discourse
bundle config --delete without
bundle config --delete with
bundle install
exit
exit

```

This broke the rails console, necessitating a rebuild afterwards

```plaintext
./launcher rebuild app

```

### Multisite

In a multisite environment, use the RAILS\_DB env variable.

```plaintext
RAILS_DB=xxxmoves discourse export_=Export= =ID=
RAILS_DB=dancerehab discourse import_=Export= =FileName=

```

Please report bugs in the #Contribute > Bug category, and request enhancements in the #Contribute > Feature category.

* * *

### Related Topics

> [@Merge two Discourse sites into one](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-merge-two-discourse-sites/95435):
>
> If you have two Discourse sites that you wish were one, this guide is for you. There’s a tool called [discourse\_merger](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/main/script/bulk_import/discourse_merger.rb) that can take one Discourse site and merge it into another. Prereqs This is not an easy task, and should be treated like any other migration to Discourse. You will not be running discourse\_merger on a live production site. You will perform the merge in another environment where you can review the output before moving the result to production. Copy vs Merge Almost everythin…

* * *

_Last Reviewed by @SaraDev on 2022-07-13T00:00:00Z_

 

> Last edited by @hugh 2024-05-29T06:25:11Z
> 
> > **Check document**
> >
> > Perform check on document:

---

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