Group import and export

Use this API to migrate a group structure by exporting and importing a file. When you use it with the project import and export API, you can preserve relationships that span the group, such as connections between project issues and group epics. Run the group export and import first, then import the project exports into the group structure.

A group export includes group milestones, boards, labels, badges, members, events, wikis (Premium and Ultimate only), and subgroups. Each subgroup includes all of the same data.

To preserve the member list and permissions of an imported group, make sure those users exist on the destination instance before you import.

Because of issue 405168, imported groups have a private visibility level unless you import them into a parent group. By default, groups imported into a parent group inherit the visibility of the parent.

The destination instance uses the group relations export endpoints during group migration by direct transfer. You don’t usually need to call them yourself. In this context, a relation is an exportable item such as an epic, including any related items such as a label. These endpoints require your instance to meet certain prerequisites, and can’t be used with the file-based export and import endpoints.

Create a group import

POST /api/v4/groups/import

Creates a group import. The maximum import file size can be set by the Administrator on GitLab Self-Managed (defaults to 0 (unlimited)).

Request body (multipart/form-data)

Responses

Workhorse authorize the group import upload

POST /api/v4/groups/import/authorize

This feature was introduced in GitLab 12.8

Responses

Create a group export

POST /api/v4/groups/{id}/export

Creates a group export for a specified group.

Parameters

Responses

Retrieve a group export download

GET /api/v4/groups/{id}/export/download

Retrieves the exported archive for a specified group.

Parameters

Responses

Schedule a relations export for a group

POST /api/v4/groups/{id}/export_relations

Schedules a relations export for a specified group.

Parameters

Request body (application/json)

Responses

Download a relations export for a group

GET /api/v4/groups/{id}/export_relations/download

Downloads a group relations export file.

Parameters

Responses

Retrieve the status of an relations export for a group

GET /api/v4/groups/{id}/export_relations/status

Retrieves the status of a relations export for a group.

Parameters

Responses

Schemas

Objects returned by the operations above and objects nested in their request bodies.

APIEntitiesBulkImportsExportBatchStatus

APIEntitiesBulkImportsExportStatus