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The IMPORT INTO imports CSV, Avro, or delimited data into an existing table by appending new rows to the table.

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Considerations

  • IMPORT INTO takes the table offline before importing the data. The table will be online again once the job has completed successfully.
  • IMPORT INTO works with existing tables. To import data into a new table, see Import into a new table from a CSV file.
  • IMPORT INTO cannot be used during a .
  • IMPORT INTO is a blocking statement. To run an IMPORT INTO job asynchronously, use the DETACHED option.
  • IMPORT INTO invalidates all on the target table. To validate the foreign key(s), use the statement.
  • IMPORT INTO is an insert-only statement; it cannot be used to existing rows. Imported rows cannot conflict with primary keys in the existing table, or any other constraint on the table.
  • IMPORT INTO does not offer SELECT or WHERE clauses to specify subsets of rows. To add a subset of rows to a table, use .
  • IMPORT INTO will cause any running on the targeted table to fail.
  • IMPORT INTO supports importing into tables.
  • At the beginning of an IMPORT INTO job, CockroachDB calculates and stores all referenced by the table being imported into, including the used in . At the end of the job, CockroachDB checks if any user-defined types have been modified. If so, the IMPORT INTO job fails. Do not make modifications to your multi-region configuration or create or alter multi-region tables while running IMPORT INTO jobs.
Optimize import operations in your applications by following our .

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Before you begin

Before using IMPORT INTO, you should have:
  • An existing CockroachDB table to import into. IMPORT INTO supports and certain DEFAULT expressions.
  • Sufficient capacity in the CockroachDB store for the imported data.
  • The CSV or Avro data you want to import, preferably hosted on cloud storage. The import file location must be equally accessible to all nodes using the same import file location. This is necessary because the IMPORT INTO statement is issued once by the client, but is executed concurrently across all nodes of the cluster.

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Supported DEFAULT expressions

IMPORT INTO supports the following expressions:
  • DEFAULT expressions with .
  • Constant DEFAULT expressions, which are expressions that return the same value in different statements. Examples include:
    • Literals (booleans, strings, integers, decimals, dates).
    • Functions where each argument is a constant expression and the functions themselves depend solely on their arguments (e.g., arithmetic operations, boolean logical operations, string operations).
  • random()
  • gen_random_uuid()
  • unique_rowid()
  • nextval()
  • Current functions that record the transaction timestamp, which include:
    • current_date()
    • current_timestamp()
    • localtimestamp()
    • now()
    • statement_timestamp()
    • timeofday()
    • transaction_timestamp()

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Available storage

Each node in the cluster is assigned an equal part of the imported data, and so must have enough temp space to store it. In addition, data is persisted as a normal table, and so there must also be enough space to hold the final, replicated data. The node’s first-listed/default directory must have enough available storage to hold its portion of the data. On , if you set --max-disk-temp-storage, it must also be greater than the portion of the data a node will store in temp space.

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Import file location

CockroachDB uses the URL provided to construct a secure API call to the service you specify. The URL structure depends on the type of file storage you are using. For more information, see the following:
You can create an external connection to represent an external storage or sink URI. This allows you to specify the external connection’s name in statements rather than the provider-specific URI. For detail on using external connections, see the page.

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Required privileges

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Table privileges

The user must have the INSERT and DROP on the specified table. (DROP is required because the table is taken offline during the IMPORT INTO.)

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Source privileges

You can grant a user the EXTERNALIOIMPLICITACCESS to interact with external resources that require implicit access. Either the EXTERNALIOIMPLICITACCESS or the role is required for the following scenarios:
  • Interacting with a cloud storage resource using .
  • Using a custom endpoint on S3.
  • Using the command.
  • Using or HTTPS.
No special privilege is required for:
  • Interacting with an Amazon S3 and Google Cloud Storage resource using SPECIFIED credentials. Azure Storage is always SPECIFIED by default.
  • Using storage.
We recommend using . You also need to ensure that the permissions at your storage destination are configured for the operation. See for a list of the necessary permissions that each bulk operation requires.
While Cockroach Labs actively tests Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, and Azure Storage, we do not test (e.g., MinIO, Red Hat Ceph).

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Synopsis

import_into syntax diagram SQL syntax diagram
While importing into an existing table, the table is taken offline.

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Parameters

ParameterDescription
table\_nameThe name of the table you want to import into.
column\_nameThe table columns you want to import. Note: Currently, target columns are not enforced.
file\_locationThe URL of a CSV or Avro file containing the table data. This can be a comma-separated list of URLs. For an example, see Import into an existing table from multiple CSV files below.
[= ]Control your import’s behavior with import options.

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Delimited data files

The DELIMITED DATA format can be used to import delimited data from any text file type, while ignoring characters that need to be escaped, like the following:
  • The file’s delimiter ( \t by default).
  • Double quotes ( " ).
  • Newline ( \n ).
  • Carriage return ( \r ).
For examples showing how to use the DELIMITED DATA format, see the Examples section below.

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Import options

You can control the IMPORT process’s behavior using any of the following key-value pairs as a <option [= <value>].
KeyContextValue
allow\_quoted\_nullCSV DATAIf included with nullif, both quoted and unquoted CSV input values can match the nullif setting. Example: To interpret both empty columns and "" as NULL: IMPORT INTO ... CSV DATA ('file.csv') WITH nullif = '', allow\_quoted\_null;
commentCSV DATAThe unicode character that identifies rows to skip. Example: IMPORT INTO ... CSV DATA ('file.csv') WITH comment = '#';
data\_as\_binary\_recordsAVRO DATAUse when . The schema is not included in the file, so you need to specify the schema with either the schema or schema\_uri option. Example: IMPORT INTO ... AVRO DATA ('file.bjson') WITH data\_as\_binary\_records, schema\_uri='..';
data\_as\_json\_recordsAVRO DATAUse when . The schema is not included in the file, so you need to specify the schema with either the schema or schema\_uri option. Example: IMPORT INTO ... AVRO DATA ('file.bjson') WITH data\_as\_json\_records, schema='{ "type": "record",..}';
decompressGeneralThe decompression codec to be used: gzip, bzip, auto, or none. Default: 'auto', which guesses based on file extension (.gz, .bz, .bz2). none disables decompression. Example: IMPORT INTO ... WITH decompress = 'bzip';
delimiterCSV DATAThe unicode character that delimits columns in your rows. Default: ,. Example: To use tab-delimited values: IMPORT INTO ... CSV DATA ('file.csv') WITH delimiter = e'\t';
DETACHEDN/AWhen an import runs in DETACHED mode, it will execute asynchronously and the job ID will be returned immediately without waiting for the job to finish. Note that with DETACHED specified, further job information and the job completion status will not be returned. To check on the job status, use the statement. To run an import within a , use the DETACHED option.
fields\_enclosed\_byDELIMITED DATAThe unicode character that encloses fields. Default:" Example: IMPORT INTO ... WITH fields\_enclosed\_by='"';
fields\_escaped\_byDELIMITED DATAThe unicode character, when preceding one of the above DELIMITED DATA options, to be interpreted literally. Example: IMPORT INTO ... WITH fields\_escaped\_by='\';
fields\_terminated\_byDELIMITED DATAThe unicode character used to separate fields in each input line. Default:\t Example: IMPORT INTO ... WITH fields\_terminated\_by='.';
nullifCSV DATA, DELIMITED DATAUse nullif to specify a column value that should be interpreted as NULL. Example: To interpret an empty column as NULL: IMPORT INTO ... CSV DATA ('file.csv') WITH nullif = ''; Example: To interpret value as NULL: IMPORT INTO ... CSV DATA ('file.csv') WITH nullif = 'value'; Note: When importing CSV files, nullif matches column values that are unquoted. Any CSV input value that is enclosed in double quotes, including an empty value, is interpreted as a string. To match both quoted and unquoted CSV input values to the nullif setting, include the allow\_quoted\_null option. When importing from CSV without nullif, empty values are interpreted as NULL by default, unless enclosed in double quotes. When importing DELIMITED DATA files without nullif, empty values are interpreted as empty strings by default.
records\_terminated\_byAVRO DATAThe unicode character to indicate new lines in the input binary or JSON file. This is not needed for Avro OCF. Default:\n Example: To use tab-terminated records: IMPORT INTO ... AVRO DATA ('file.csv') WITH records\_terminated\_by = e'\t';
row\_limitGeneralThe number of rows to import. Useful for doing a test run of an import and finding errors quickly. This option will import the first n rows from each table in the dump file.
rows\_terminated\_byDELIMITED DATAThe unicode character to indicate new lines in the input file. Default:\n Example: IMPORT INTO ... WITH rows\_terminated\_by='\m';
schemaAVRO DATAThe schema of the Avro records included in the binary or JSON file. This is not needed for Avro OCF. See data\_as\_json\_records example above.
schema\_uriAVRO DATAThe URI of the file containing the schema of the Avro records include in the binary or JSON file. This is not needed for Avro OCF. See data\_as\_binary\_records example above.
skipCSV DATA, DELIMITED DATAThe number of rows to be skipped while importing a file. Default: '0'. Example: To import CSV files with column headers: IMPORT INTO ... CSV DATA ('file.csv') WITH skip = '1';
strict\_validationAVRO DATARejects Avro records that do not have a one-to-one mapping between Avro fields to the target CockroachDB schema. By default, CockroachDB ignores unknown Avro fields and sets missing SQL fields to NULL. CockroachDB will also attempt to convert the Avro field to the CockroachDB [data type][datatypes]; otherwise, it will report an error. Example: IMPORT INTO ... AVRO DATA ('file.avro') WITH strict\_validation;
For examples showing how to use these options, see the . For instructions and working examples showing how to migrate data from other databases and formats, see the .

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View and control import jobs

After CockroachDB successfully initiates an import into an existing table, it registers the import as a job, which you can view with . After the import has been initiated, you can control it with , , and . If initiated correctly, the statement returns when the import is finished or if it encounters an error. In some cases, the import can continue after an error has been returned (the error message will tell you that the import has resumed in background).
Pausing and then resuming an IMPORT INTO job will cause it to restart from the beginning.

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Examples

The following examples make use of:
  • Amazon S3 connection strings. For guidance on connecting to other storage options or using other authentication parameters instead, read .
  • The default AUTH=specified parameter. For guidance on using AUTH=implicit authentication with Amazon S3 buckets instead, read .
Also, note the following features for connecting and authenticating to cloud storage:
  • External connections, which allow you to represent an external storage or sink URI. You can then specify the external connection’s name in statements rather than the provider-specific URI. For detail on using external connections, see the page.
  • Assume role authentication, which allows you to limit the control specific users have over your storage buckets. See for more information.

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Import into a new table from a CSV file

To import into a new table, use followed by IMPORT INTO.
  1. Create the new table with the necessary columns and data types: 
    CREATE TABLE users (
        id UUID PRIMARY KEY,
        city STRING,
        name STRING,
        address STRING,
        credit_card STRING
      );
  2. Use IMPORT INTO to import the data into the new table: 
    IMPORT INTO users (id, city, name, address, credit_card)
    CSV DATA (
      's3://{BUCKET NAME}/{customers.csv}?AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID={KEY ID}&AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY={SECRET ACCESS KEY}'
    );

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Import into an existing table from a CSV file

> IMPORT INTO customers (id, name)
    CSV DATA (
      's3://{BUCKET NAME}/{customers.csv}?AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID={KEY ID}&AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY={SECRET ACCESS KEY}'
    );
The column order in your IMPORT statement must match the column order in the CSV being imported, regardless of the order in the existing table’s schema.

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Import into an existing table from multiple CSV files

> IMPORT INTO customers (id, name)
    CSV DATA (
      's3://{BUCKET NAME}/{customers.csv}?AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID={KEY ID}&AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY={SECRET ACCESS KEY}',
      's3://{BUCKET NAME}/{customers2.csv}?AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID={KEY ID}&AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY={SECRET ACCESS KEY}',
      's3://{BUCKET NAME}/{customers3.csv}?AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID={KEY ID}&AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY={SECRET ACCESS KEY}',
      's3://{BUCKET NAME}/{customers4.csv}?AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID={KEY ID}&AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY={SECRET ACCESS KEY}',
    );

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Import into an existing table using a wildcard

You can specify file patterns to match instead of explicitly listing every file. Paths are matched using the * wildcard character to include matching files directly under the specified path. Use a wildcard to include:
  • All files in a given directory (e.g., s3://bucket-name/path/to/data/* ).
  • All files in a given directory that end with a given string (e.g., s3://bucket-name/files/*.csv ).
  • All files in a given directory that start with a given string (e.g., s3://bucket-name/files/data* ).
  • All files in a given directory that start and end with a given string (e.g., s3://bucket-name/files/data*.csv ).
These only match files directly under the specified path and do not descend into additional directories recursively. 
IMPORT INTO users (id, city, name, address, credit_card)
  CSV DATA (
    's3://{BUCKET NAME}/*.csv?AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID={KEY ID}&AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY={SECRET ACCESS KEY}'
  );

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Import into an existing table from an Avro file

, can be imported. The following are examples of importing Avro OCF data. To specify the table schema in-line: 
> IMPORT INTO customers
    AVRO DATA (
      's3://{BUCKET NAME}/{customers.avro}?AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID={KEY ID}&AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY={SECRET ACCESS KEY}'
    );
For more information about importing data from Avro, including examples, see .

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Import into an existing table from a delimited data file

> IMPORT INTO customers
    DELIMITED DATA (
      's3://{BUCKET NAME}/{customers.csv}?AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID={KEY ID}&AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY={SECRET ACCESS KEY}'
    )
    WITH
      fields_terminated_by='|',
      fields_enclosed_by='"',
      fields_escaped_by='\';

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Known limitations

has the following limitations:
  • While importing into an existing table, the table is taken offline.
  • After importing into an existing table, will be un-validated and need to be .
  • Imported rows must not conflict with existing rows in the table or any unique secondary indexes.
  • IMPORT INTO works for only a single existing table.
  • IMPORT INTO can sometimes fail with a “context canceled” error, or can restart itself many times without ever finishing. If this is happening, it is likely due to a high amount of disk contention. This can be mitigated by setting the kv.bulk_io_write.max_rate to a value below your max disk write speed. For example, to set it to 10MB/s, execute: 
    SET CLUSTER SETTING kv.bulk_io_write.max_rate = '10MB';

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See also