Need to import a space into an existing space without overriding or having to create another space
Asked by tatianalopez:

Hello all,

I have been given a xml export from another Confluence space, let's call it XYZ and now I would like to import that content into my space ABC without having to either create another space or overriding my pages in ABC...

I am not sure if i need to rename the exportDescriptor.properties and the entities.xml to contain ABC instead of XYZ and if I do so, would that cause any other problem?

I would appreciate any help.


Answers:
author: tatianalopez
body: Hello Thomas,

Let's step back for a second, the bottom line of what I need to do is to import a space from one confluence into a another Confluence site.

I already have a target space ABC and therefore would want to move everything into this ABC instead of the original XYZ.

Reading your first comment, if I import it as XYZ then I can move the pages to the other space ABC, correct?

Thanks,  
Tatiana

comments: author: Thomas Schlegel
body: Yes, of course. Moving pages (with or without their subpages) from one space to another is standard Confluence functionality:

![image.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/19688iAF98B189E4C57771/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "image.png")


author: tatianalopez
body: Thanks,  

Then I suppose I am better off importing the whole new space and then moving the whole tree to ABC.

Regards,  
Tatiana


author: Thomas Schlegel
body: You're welcome, [@tatianalopez](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/1236382)


author: tatianalopez
body: For the record, as suggested by Thomas I did the following:

* Imported the Confluence Site XYZ (because that key didn't exist in my confluence site)
* Move all the pages from the imported XYZ to ABC
* Smooth Process.

Thanks


author: Jay Keck
body: Hi,

I have a similar situation, I have confluence server with space ABC on it, and a cloud confluence instance also with space ABC. I want to export some pages from the server's ABC space and import them into confluence's ABC space. Is the best way to do this to create a new space DEF on the server confluence, copy the desired pages from ABC into DEF and then export pages from DEF, import them into cloud confluence(which does not have a DEF space) then move pages on cloud from DEF into ABC?

Thanks,

Jay


author: tatianalopez
body: Hello Jay,

Sorry for the late reply, that was my experience, it was better to create a new space and then move what you need to another space.  

Thanks,  
Tatiana


author: Jay Keck
body: Thanks Tatiana. I ran into a bit of a surprise during my attempt, our confluence server version was too old,5.1, to have its export be accepted by Confluence Cloud, it only takes exports from 5.10 or higher :( So we are deciding what to do next, perhaps set up a test instance of 5.1 copy over our data and then upgrade it to a supported version, then export it off for the cloud. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems!

Jay


author: tatianalopez
body: Hello Jay,

Sorry to hear, yes probably that's your best way forward. I hope it goes well.

Thanks,  
Tatiana


author: Thomas Schlegel
body: Hi Tatiana,

you can't import a space, if another space with the same key already exists. So, renaming the properties is no option.

You have to import the space XYZ into your Confluence and move the pages after the import to ABC.

comments: author: tatianalopez
body: Hello Thomas,

Thanks for the quick reply.

I may have explained myself wrongly, the key XYZ doesn't exisit in my spaces. What I want to avoid is having to create a XYZ space to import the content when I know I want that content under ABC existing space.

Is that possible?

<br />

Thanks,  
Tatiana


author: Thomas Schlegel
body: To be honest, I've never done anything like that. Here's more information about your problem, also some tips about editing the exported xml-file:

<https://confluence.atlassian.com/confkb/how-to-copy-or-rename-a-space-in-confluence-169578.html>

Be sure to test this first in a testing environment.