Are there any size limitations for content imports?

Help / Discuss
1

I’m working in a XWiki Version: 15.10.10 instance (XWiki SAS) that has around 5500 pages, 9000 links, 20 AWM and 30MB in the .xar export.

If I am trying to import the whole space the import panel crashes and shows the main page in the right sidebar where usually the import results are listet: Importiere 2024-08-05-6-XWiki-Backup.xar: Import erfolgreich * 2126 Dokument(e) installiert * 0 Dokument(e) übersprungen * 0 Dokument(e) mit Fehler etc.

If I split the import to 3 .xar files (15MB, 7MB, 8MB) it works without problems.

Are there any known size limitations for the import feature?

2

There’s no size limitation but maybe you need to give more memory to the java process (-Xmx)

Do you have any error in the xwiki logs?

3

The standard import UI is currently notoriously bad at handling big packages, unfortunately (you can compensate by throwing memory at it as suggested by @vmassol, but it only goes so far of course).

A more advanced alternative is to use the Filter Streams Converter Application extension, with the latest xwiki+xar filter as input (the best for performance is to put the XAR on your server and indicate the filter where it is in the Source property) and the xwiki+instance as output.

That being said, if your goal is to upgrade XWiki by importing the old instance XAR in a new version of XWiki it’s really not what I would recommend. You would lose stuff (like the notifications or the ratings) and you might have problems which are normally fixed by the various migration which are automatically executed when you run a recent XWiki recent with and old database/permanent directory. If you really need to move to a different server, it’s generally better to move the database and permanent directory to the new server with the dedicated tools (like mysqldump when the database is MySQL/MariaDB, etc. and copy the permanent directory) and then run the new XWiki version with those data.

4

To be complete, here’s a list of what is not saved in a XAR: https://www.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Documentation/AdminGuide/Backup#HUsingtheXWikiExportfeature

5

I had a similar problem on my localhost installation the log states:

2024-08-10 12:44:15.544:WARN :oejs.Request:qtp440938038-736 - http://localhost:8080/xwiki/bin/import/XWiki/XWikiPreferences?editor=globaladmin&section=Import: java.lang.IllegalStateException: Form is larger than max length 1000000
2024-08-10 12:44:15.645:WARN :oejs.HttpChannel:qtp440938038-736: handleException /xwiki/bin/import/XWiki/XWikiPreferences org.eclipse.jetty.http.BadMessageException: 400: Unable to parse form content

As a workaround I had to import only parts step by step…

6

See https://www.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/FAQ/FormTooLargeError