Reel2Reel

What is it?

This is a tool for Code Institute students and alumni. It allows you to dump a database from one Postgres server and upload it to another.

You will need to have created a new database using our Database Creator app.

Open this repo in your chosen IDE
Run python3 reel2reel.py (Note: If you use Gitpod or Codeanywhere/Daytona, you can simply type reel2reel)
Paste in the database URL of the source database - the one you want to copy from. It will start with postgres://
Now paste in the database URL of the target database, probably the one created by the Database Creator app. Again, it will start with postgres://
The data will now be downloaded from the source database and uploaded to your new target database.

Ensure that the URLs are copied correctly. Reel2Reel will throw an error if the URL doesn't start with postgres://.
If you are copying from a Heroky database instance then make sure that you run the process as soon as you copy the Heroku DATABASE_URL. Heroku periodically rotates the credentials, which means an old DATABASE_URL may not work.

Can I use this with VSCode?

Yes, you will need to install the latest versions of the Postgres command line client psql.

I'm a power user. Is there an easier way to use this?

Absolutely. You can supply the URLs as arguments like so:

python3 reel2reel.py <Source URL> <Destination URL>

What does it actually do?

Connects to the source database and dumps it to a local dump.sql file
Modifies the dump.sql file so that it contains the database name and username for the new database
Runs the modified dump.sql file against the specified destination database

Feel free to examine the code and see if you understand how it works.

Because we like to move it, move it.

Happy coding!