Bring your connections from another tool

Bring the connections you already have into Alcuin instead of typing each one again. Alcuin reads a pgAdmin or DBeaver export, or your ~/.pgpass file. Passwords never come over from pgAdmin or DBeaver; you enter them once in Alcuin.

What you can import

Source	The file
pgAdmin	A servers.json export, with a Servers object
DBeaver	Its data-sources.json, with a connections object. Postgres only
.pgpass	~/.pgpass, or the file PGPASSFILE names in Alcuin’s environment

To export from pgAdmin, use Import/Export Servers in its Tools menu and export to a file. DBeaver keeps data-sources.json in its workspace, in the project’s .dbeaver folder. The folder’s name starts with a dot, so in the macOS file dialog press ⌘⇧. to show it.

TablePlus and Postico can’t be imported: TablePlus keeps its connections in the keychain and has no plain export. Copy those into the form, or paste each one’s URL; see Connection URLs and .pgpass.

Import a file

1. Open the launcher with ⌘⇧O on macOS or Ctrl+Shift+O on Windows and Linux.
2. At the bottom, click Import from another tool.
3. If you have a ~/.pgpass file, a menu opens. Choose pgAdmin or DBeaver connections… for a file, or the path of your password file. When the file has nothing to import, its item is grayed out and says why.
4. For a file, pick the servers.json or data-sources.json and open it.

A message says how many came in and into which projects, then anything to know about them. It stays until you close it.

What comes over

Setting	pgAdmin	DBeaver	.pgpass
Name	Name	Name	user@host/database
Host, Port, User	Yes	Yes	Yes
Database	MaintenanceDB	Yes	Yes
Encryption	SSLMode	SSL mode	Preferred
Project	Its group, except pgAdmin’s default Servers group	Its folder	None
Environment	Production when the group or name says so	Production when the connection type, folder or name says so	Production when the name says so
Password	Not imported. A PassExecCmd comes over as Password from command	Not imported	Stays in the file
SSH tunnel	Host, port, user, and the key file or password sign-in	Host, port, user and sign-in, when the file names the user	None

A group or folder becomes a project of the same name. Alcuin makes the project when there isn’t one yet.

An SSL mode Alcuin doesn’t know becomes Preferred. A connection without a database is given postgres.

What you enter again

• Passwords. pgAdmin and DBeaver passwords stay in those tools. Right-click each connection in the launcher, choose Edit…, enter the password and save. Until then a connect uses a matching line in your .pgpass, if it has one; otherwise it stops at Sign in with The server asked for a password, and there was none to send. A server that signs you in without a password, by trust or peer, never asks.
• SSH passwords and key passphrases. Enter them in the SSH fields in Edit….
• Certificate files. CA certificate, Client certificate and Client key are not imported. For a server whose CA you set in the other tool, set CA certificate again; see TLS and sslmode.
• DBeaver tunnels whose user isn’t in the file. DBeaver keeps the SSH user in its encrypted credentials, so the message says DBeaver keeps the SSH user in its encrypted credentials and the connection comes over without its tunnel. Set it up again under Connect through SSH; see SSH tunnels.

A password command from pgAdmin runs only after you approve it, as one typed in the form does. pgAdmin runs it through a shell and Alcuin doesn’t, so a pipeline is refused; see Passwords from a command.

Import from .pgpass

Choosing the password file makes a connection for each line that names one host, port, database and user.

• The new connections use .pgpass file, so their passwords stay in the file and are read from it at each connect. Nothing is copied to the keychain.
• Lines with * match many connections, so they are left out. So are connections you already have.
• A file that others can read is not used. The menu says Others can read it, so it isn’t used; run chmod 600 ~/.pgpass and try again.

Connection URLs and .pgpass explains how the file is matched at connect.

Every import opens read-only

An imported connection opens read-only, whatever it reaches. One whose group, folder, connection type or name says prod or production is marked Production. The rest have no environment in the file: the message says they open read-only until you pick one in Edit…, and they are listed as Local until you do.

To make one writable, right-click it, choose Edit…, choose its environment under This database is, and turn off Open read-only. See Projects, environments and production.

Importing the same file again adds its connections again. Remove the copies you don’t want.

Check that it worked

The connections are listed in the launcher under their projects, or under Standalone. For each one:

1. Right-click it and choose Edit….
2. Enter what didn’t come over: the password, the SSH password, the certificate files.
3. Click Test connection. On success you see ✓ Connected in and the time.
4. Click Save.

If the file can’t be read, you see That file is not JSON. Export pgAdmin servers or a DBeaver data-sources.json., or, for JSON from another tool, Neither a pgAdmin servers.json (a "Servers" object) nor a DBeaver data-sources.json (a "connections" object). If a test fails, Connection errors by message has each message and its fix.

To share a project’s connections with a teammate instead, use Export project… and Import project…, which keep everything but the passwords.