Migrate examples, every page #

Move layouts, settings and templates between installations, versions and sites.

1. Move all layouts to another installation: exp:layouts export --all on the source, import with a dry run on the target; content is matched by remote ID and path.
2. Move only some layouts: --only with the layout identifiers; the shared layouts they link to come along.
3. Move the mappings with the layouts: --rules=none|selected|all decides which layout mappings travel; selected (the default) takes those of the chosen layouts.
4. When the target lacks some content: --unmapped=drop|keep|fail decides what happens to references to content the target does not have (default drop).
5. Import beside the existing layouts: --strategy=copy imports items that already exist as new copies, leaving the originals.
6. Choose the strategy per layout: --item=<key>=<strategy>,... sets skip, overwrite or copy per item, with the keys the dry run prints.
7. Keep layouts in the project repository: Commit exports next to the design extension; layouts.json in the archive can be compared between versions.
8. Move a site's settings into its extension: exp:ini move / move-all move blocks or whole siteaccess scopes into an extension (--create-extension --activate), with a dry run.
9. Copy the menu settings to another siteaccess: exp:ini copy copies a setting (a whole array with its reset line) from one scope to another.
10. Change the settings files of another root: exp:ini --root=<dir> works on the settings tree of another root (a copy of the installation); the INI cache there is not cleared, and the scope must exist there.
11. Update stored component block identifiers: Layouts from before the rename store components as ibexa_component_<type>; ext:explayouts:updatecomponentblockidentifiers renames them to exp_component_<type>.
12. Update stored block links to remote IDs: ext:explayouts:updatelinklocationreferences converts block links from ibexa-location://<id> to exp-remote-location://<remote id>.
13. Use exp:layouts instead of the old helper scripts: The ext:explayouts:* helpers (block_list, layout_info, layout_copy, layout_list, rule_list, share_create, collection_list) run on their own again since explayouts 1.4.42; exp:layouts stays the tool for export and import.
14. Migrate a template-built site to Layouts: Keep the design; turn the page layout's parts into template blocks of a shared Header / Footer; add page layouts per class; map them.
15. Freeze a Layouts site into templates: When a site must stop changing (an archive), its layouts can stay; freezing means fewer editors, not rewriting.
16. Add a language and give it layouts: A new siteaccess gets its settings (menu.ini) by exp:ini copy and its own layouts by mappings with a Siteaccess condition.
17. Move content to another place in the tree: A move keeps node IDs: menus, Location mappings and manual collections follow; Path and Path prefix targets do not.
18. Site packages and layouts: The site packages of this installation carry content but no layouts; install the layouts with exp:layouts import after the content.
19. Check layouts after an upgrade: After upgrading Exponential, export, list, open the main layouts in the editor and compare the pages.
20. Check your template overrides after an upgrade: Your copies of theme templates do not get the theme's fixes; compare them with the new theme versions.
21. Check the extension order after moving settings: After moving settings or adding extensions, check DesignExtensions[] and AvailableBlocks[] in effect.
22. Different node IDs on staging and production: Node IDs differ between installations; menus (MainMenuID) need the target's IDs, layouts are matched by remote ID and path.
23. Rename layouts without breaking imports: Imports match layouts by identifier; keep identifiers stable and change names freely.
24. Split one installation into two sites: Export the layouts of the site's subtree, import them on the new installation after its content.
25. Merge layouts from two installations: Import the second site's layouts with --strategy=copy where identifiers clash, then rename and remap.
26. Rescue a layout broken by an import: Import the previous export with overwrite and publish; the import purges the page cache itself.
27. Move a hard-coded menu into settings: An old template with links typed into it becomes a MainMenuID[] list read by the theme's main_menu.tpl.
28. Replace copied HTML snippets by a block type: Many HTML snippet blocks with the same markup become one block type; replace them one by one.
29. Move inline styles into the stylesheet: style="" and <style> in old templates go into your stylesheet, packed with the theme's.
30. Write down what the migration changed: List moved settings, imported layouts and their strategies, overrides added or removed - for the next migration.
31. Velocity after a migration: On a site served by Exponential Velocity, settings changes need exp:velocity restart, as exp:ini says.
32. Rehearse the migration on a copy: Run every command against a copy first; the dry runs on live then hold no surprises.
33. Plan the way back: Exports of the layouts, backups of the INI files (exp:ini keeps them in var/backup/ini/) and the previous extension release.
34. The checklist after a migration: Pages by markup, menus, mappings, drafts, caches, Velocity: the checks after moving.

Related pages #

• Life-cycle examples
• Two ways to build
• Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.