Importing from XML Tool

(Ryan Archer) #1

I think I've got a stalled process. I have successfully exported to XML an entire site's associated design files. Now when I tried to import from XML back into the system as a 'clone' in our test area the process now appears to be stuck at 99% for a few hours now and no sign of it being complete. So i have aborted the operation and can now see a stalled HIPO job which says it stalled at 99% - SO CLOSE!

 

So yeah I have removed the HIPO job and got nothing to show for my efforts and no error message to tell me why. When I did the import from XML operation, I just provided the system file folder asset where all our test websites are located. Is there something wrong in my process?

 

I just find it quite difficult to understand what is within the Squiz Manuals.

 

I get the feeling nothing much has changed in Squiz since we had to use PHP scripts for this kind of thing and we have to strip it down piece by piece, export to xml then import via xml each component and painstakingly build it a clone/copy that way.

 

uggghhh I suppose I should not be too surprised from what I have witnessed on the forums so far.

(Ryan Archer) #2

HA HA. Update. Now I have a HIPO that just won't die! It's bullet proof I tell you!

I am just going to close the browser and look at it on monday. How disappointing.

(Bart Banda) #3

What version of Matrix are you using this on? We have had several improvements and bug fixes done to the import/export script in recent Matrix 5 versions. 

 

Would be interesting to see what type of assets you are exporting and importing as well. Can you give us a screenshot of the asset structure by any chance? 

 

And nothing in the system error logs? 

(Ryan Archer) #4
Hi Bart,
 
We are still using v4.18.4 pending an upgrade to 5.2 in a few months time. Tell me, do the export PHP scripts and the "Export to XML" and "Import from XML File" do the same thing/function? It really appears that there is not much difference between what they do...XML files larger than 20mb will simple not be imported back into the system as a copy/clone. For those "issues" I have to drag and drop them manually and ask to "clone" the files when prompted - yet I really don't understand the differences between all thes methods and I'm pretty sure the info is not in the Squiz Guide either.
 
Here is a screeshot of our setup included as an attachment.
 
We have all web content pages listed under a 'site'. We have all the media files contained within a separate 'site' and lastly we have all of our design files contained within a folder. This makes it quite complex to copy over and my biggest concer is all the link fixing that I will inevitably have to perform. So far the design assets is the only thing that cloned easily across without having to break it into smaller chunks. Even so I saw many error messages coming up in purple that I'm sure will come back to bite me. These are even happening in the 'chunk' exports I am doing with the media files at the moment. I will have to 'chunk' the website content pages as there is just too much content and the system cannot handly exporting/importing it all in one go.
 
Be so cool if I could cone the whole lot in one go and preserve links as relative (i.e all the links will change from original and be intelligent enough to find their cloned counterparts' ID location... or something like tha).
 
I tell you, it makes cloning a wordpress site and database look like a walk in the playground!

slq-website-structure.gif (268 KB)

(Bart Banda) #5

Exporting and importing a whole site can be quite tricky, especially because of the size but also because you will have a lot of links that are linking to assets outside the site. Squiz actually has a tool (script) that might be able to help you do this more effectively if you are looking at large scale clones, the script is specifically written for our hosted sites and is used by our production teams for cloning whole sites and structures. I'd suggest you contact Squiz Support or talk to your Account Manager/SDM in Brisbane to discuss options further and if the tool can help.

 

Maybe you are better off cloning the entire system to a UAT/DEV server? What is the core reason you want to clone a whole site and all its design files?

 

And I believe the script might be used by the XML Import/Export function in Admin, but not sure, would have to get a dev to confirm. 

(Ryan Archer) #6
YEah the PLAN B was to do the whole thing backend server side. But you may or may not be aware that we havea  very unique setup. One physical server for the DB and another physical server for the content. We host many websites on these servers, not just one. For our upgrades, we clone the whole lot to a new partition and then remap once complete so that there is no or minimal website interruptions. But copying it through UAT/DEV I believe would mean copying the WHOLE lot. WHich is good for our upgrade process, no doubt about that.
 
The thing I am trying to do now is that we want to give one of our websites a complete facelift and overhaul. I want to copy a 'snapshot' of just that website and put it in a sandpit so we can completely restructure the way it works (JS, CSS and everything in between). Obviously doing this on a live server is just a terrible idea. Copying a whole setup with all the other sites and associated content, just seems like overkill.
 
Perhaps I should have a good talk to our IT team first and then go an approach Squiz support, it seems like this option might be the only one.
(Aleks Bochniak) #7

Coolwebs, are you using virtualisation for your servers?

(Ryan Archer) #8

Unfortunately not yet. We are vying for it. Right now it is just two physical servers. One for the DB and one for the Squiz install with the content.