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Alation migration assistant
App

The Alation migration assistant migrates metadata from Alation to Atlan, including articles, glossaries, terms, and relational database assets such as tables, schemas, and databases. It maps Alation content to Atlan structures: articles become glossary terms, glossaries carry over as glossaries, and RDBMS assets land under their respective connections. Embedded images are handled through a mapping CSV or a ZIP file of images. This reference provides complete configuration details for the Alation migration assistant app.

Access​

The Alation migration assistant app isn't enabled by default. To use this app, contact Atlan support and request it be added to your tenant.

Configuration​

This section defines the fields required for workflow setup.

Workflow name​

Specifies a unique and descriptive name to identify this workflow configuration in the Atlan interface. This name appears in the workflow list and helps distinguish it from other migration workflows.

Example:

alation-to-atlan-migration-q1

Source​

Defines how the app retrieves input metadata files.

Import metadata from​

Specifies whether metadata files are provided via object storage. Supported cloud providers are Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage (GCS), and Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS).

When your Atlan tenant is deployed in the same cloud provider as your storage bucket, you can leave the authentication fields blank to reuse Atlan's backing object store.

Use this option when metadata files are stored in an Amazon S3 bucket.

AWS access key​

The access key ID for the IAM user or role with read access to the S3 bucket. Find this in AWS Management Console > IAM > Users > Security credentials.

  • Required when using access key / secret key authentication.
  • Leave blank when using tenant-backed, cross-account, or role-based authentication.

Example:

AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE

AWS secret key​

The secret access key paired with the access key ID in the preceding field. Download or rotate this in IAM at creation time.

  • Required when using access key / secret key authentication.
  • Leave blank when using tenant-backed, cross-account, or role-based authentication.

Example:

wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY

Region​

The AWS region where the S3 bucket is located.

  • Required when using access key / secret key authentication.
  • Leave blank in all other scenarios. The region is inferred from the tenant or role.

Example:

us-east-1

Bucket​

The name of the S3 bucket containing the metadata files.

  • Leave blank to reuse Atlan's tenant-backed object store.
  • Required in all other scenarios.

Example:

alation-migration-files

Images​

Controls how embedded images in Alation article content are handled during migration. The app replaces all Alation image URLs in article descriptions with the corresponding Atlan-hosted image URLs.

Image mapping file​

Determines whether a pre-built image mapping CSV is available, or whether the app generates the mapping from a ZIP file of images.

  • Yes: Provide a CSV mapping file that maps Alation image URLs to their Atlan equivalents. Specify the file location using Prefix (path) and Object key (filename) in the object storage section below.
  • No: Provide a ZIP file of images. The app parses the ZIP archive and builds the mapping automatically before replacing URLs in article content.

Prefix (path)​

Specifies the folder path within the object store where the image mapping CSV or ZIP file is located.

Example: migration/images

Object key (filename)​

Specifies the filename (including extension) of the image mapping CSV or ZIP file within the prefix.

Example: alation_image_mapping.csv or alation_images.zip

Articles​

Configures migration of Alation articles, which map to GlossaryTerms in Atlan.

Glossary qualified name​

Specifies the qualified name of the Atlan glossary where migrated articles are uploaded as glossary terms.

Example:

default/glossary/a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890

Object storage location​

Specifies the location of the articles CSV file in the cloud object store.

  • Prefix (path): Folder path within the object store where the articles CSV file is located.

    Example: migration/articles

  • Object key (filename): Filename of the articles CSV file, including extension.

    Example: article_sample.csv

Sample file​

Download a sample CSV file to understand the required structure for articles:

Download sample articles CSV
Sample file disclaimer

This sample file shows the structure and format only. It may not import as-is and is merely a template for creating your own CSV files.

Glossary​

Configures migration of Alation glossaries and terms. Glossaries migrate as Glossaries in Atlan and terms migrate as GlossaryTerms.

Object storage locations​

Specifies the locations of the glossary and term CSV files in the cloud object store.

Glossary file​

  • Glossary prefix (path): Folder path within the object store where the glossary CSV file is located.

    Example: migration/glossary

  • Glossary object key (filename): Filename of the glossary CSV file, including extension.

    Example: glossary_sample.csv

Term file​

  • Term prefix (path): Folder path within the object store where the terms CSV file is located.

    Example: migration/glossary

  • Term object key (filename): Filename of the terms CSV file, including extension.

    Example: sample_terms.csv

Sample files​

Download sample CSV files to understand the required structure:

Download sample glossary CSV Download sample terms CSV
Sample file disclaimer

These sample files show the structure and format only. They may not import as-is and are merely templates for creating your own CSV files.

RDBMS​

Configures migration of Alation relational database assets (databases, schemas, tables, and columns) into an existing Atlan connection.

Connection qualified name​

Specifies the qualified name of the Atlan connection where the RDBMS assets are uploaded. The connection must already exist in Atlan before running the workflow.

Example:

default/snowflake/1234567890

Connector type​

Specifies the connector type of the target connection.

Example:

snowflake

Database IDs (comma-separated)​

Specifies the Alation database IDs to include in the migration. Only assets belonging to the listed database IDs are migrated. Leave blank to migrate all databases available in the input files.

Example:

99, 102, 115

Object storage locations​

Specifies the location of each RDBMS CSV file in the cloud object store.

Database file​

  • Database file path: Folder path in the object store where the database CSV is located.

  • Database file location: Filename of the database CSV file, including extension.

    Example: sample_database.csv

Schema file​

  • Schema file path: Folder path in the object store where the schema CSV is located.

  • Schema file location: Filename of the schema CSV file, including extension.

    Example: schema_sample.csv

Table file​

  • Table file path: Folder path in the object store where the table CSV is located.

  • Table file location: Filename of the table CSV file, including extension.

    Example: table_sample.csv

Column file​

  • Column file path: Folder path in the object store where the column CSV is located.

  • Column file location: Filename of the column CSV file, including extension.

    Example: column_sample.csv

The column CSV uses the Alation column export format. Key fields include:

FieldDescription
idAlation column ID
nameColumn name
titleDisplay title for the column
descriptionColumn description text
data_typeColumn data type (for example, NUMBER(38,0), VARCHAR(10), TIMESTAMP_TZ)
nullableWhether the column accepts null values (TRUE / FALSE)
is_primary_keyWhether the column is a primary key (TRUE / FALSE)
table_idAlation ID of the parent table
schema_idAlation ID of the parent schema
ds_idAlation data source ID
positionColumn position in the table
attribute_urlAlation URL path to the column attribute page

User file​

  • User file path: Folder path in the object store where the user CSV is located.
  • User file location: Filename of the user CSV file, including extension.

Metadata mapping file​

  • Metadata mapping path: Folder path in the object store where the custom metadata mapping file is located.
  • Metadata mapping file location: Filename of the custom metadata (CM) mapping file, including extension.

Map description in Atlan​

Specifies the Atlan field where Alation descriptions are written during migration.

  • Description: Writes the Alation description to the standard Description field on the asset.
  • Readme: Writes the Alation description to the Readme field on the asset. Use this when descriptions contain rich text or images that are better rendered in a readme format.

Sample files​

Download sample CSV files to understand the required structure for each RDBMS asset type:

Download sample database CSV Download sample schema CSV Download sample table CSV Download sample column CSV
Sample file disclaimer

These sample files show the structure and format only. They may not import as-is and are merely templates for creating your own CSV files.

See also​