Import Data with Migrate API

  
Last updated March 23, 2023
Module DevelopmentDrupal 10Drupal 9Drupal 8

The Drupal Migrate API and related tools are used to import data such as content, users, and configuration values into Drupal. The system consists of three core modules: Migrate, Migrate Drupal, and Migrate Drupal UI. A growing number of contributed modules also aid in writing and executing a migration. In Drupal 7 the migration API is provided by the Migrate contributed module.

As a developer you'll use the Migrate API in Drupal to write migration plugins that extract data from a defined source, transform it to match with your Drupal data model, and then load it into Drupal via the Entity or Config APIs. You'll then use one or more contributed modules to execute, rollback, and debug your data migration.

Example tasks

  • Import data from a CSV file, MySQL database, or other source into Drupal
  • Migrate from WordPress or another CMS to Drupal
  • Provide an update path for users of your module when porting it to the current version of Drupal.

Confidence

As of Drupal 8.5.x the core Migrate API is considered stable and no major backwards compatibility breaking changes are expected. If you're writing custom migrations, you're good to go.

Drupalize.Me resources

Our extensive migration guide covers everything you need to know to get started writing, executing, and debugging Drupal migrations.

Collection

Migrate to Drupal 9 or 10

Module Development, Site Administration, Drupal 10, Drupal 9, Drupal 8
27 tutorials
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We recommend the following starting points:

Tutorial

Introduction to Migrations with Drupal

Free
Site Building, Module Development, Drupal 8, Drupal 9, Drupal 10
More information

Whether you're updating from Drupal 6 or Drupal 7, or importing data from some other source, you need to know about the migrate system in the latest version of Drupal. This tutorial provides an overview and links to additional tutorials where you can learn more about how all the individual parts work.

By the end of this tutorial you should have a better understanding of what the migration system is capable of and know where to find more information about how to use it.

Goal

Know where to get started with your Drupal upgrade or migration project.

Topic

Upgrade Drupal's Major Version

Site Building, Module Development, Drupal 10, Drupal 9, Drupal 8
More information

Upgrading is the process of moving your site from a previous major version of Drupal to a newer version, for example from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8 or Drupal 9 to Drupal 10.

Tutorial

Write a Custom Migration

Module Development, Drupal 8, Drupal 9, Drupal 10
More information

Migration plugins are the glue that binds a source, a destination, and multiple process plugins together to move data from one place to another. Often referred to as migration templates, or simply migrations, migration plugins are YAML files that explain to Drupal where to get the data, how to process it, and where to save the resulting object.

More Guides

We have guides on many Drupal skills and topics.

Explore guides

External resources

  • Migrate API guide (Drupal.org), and Migration API documentation (api.drupal.org)
    • Drupal.org contains documentation about concepts, while api.drupal.org contains implementation details. Use this to locate documentation about the code that makes up the Migrate API, as well as examples of how to configure and use common destination and process plugins.
  • Migrate Plus module (Drupal.org)
    • The Migrate Plus module contains some essential additional tools for working with migrations, many of which will likely be included in core in future versions. It also contains two carefully documented sub-modules that provide examples of implementing migrations in code. Use this for the additional enhancements and if you like to learn by reading through example code.
  • Drupal 8 Migrations by Example (2017.tcdrupal.org)
    • Presentation covering the concepts and terminology of the migrate system followed by some examples including populating address, date, image, and file fields. Watch this presentation to get an overview of concepts used by the system, and get some insight into how two developers have used the migrate API on various real-world projects.
  • Join the #migration channel on Slack

There are so many different permutations of things that someone might want to migrate that it would be impossible for any guide to cover all of them. We'll keep a running list of some of our favorite examples below. Use these resources to see examples, usually with code, of how someone else solved a specific task with the Migrate API.