# Kibana dashboard import API not working from API export

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-dashboard-import-api-not-working-from-api-export/208961>\
**Category:** Kibana\
**Created:** [November 21, 2019, 6:18pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-dashboard-import-api-not-working-from-api-export/208961 "2019-11-21T18:18:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sdndude](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/sdndude/32/24608_2.png) [@sdndude](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sdndude)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 6:18pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-dashboard-import-api-not-working-from-api-export/208961/1 "2019-11-21T18:18:46Z")

</div>

I am trying to use the export/import APIs so I can extract my objects and put them in a repo so they can be loaded in an install script that also does all the elasticsearch mappings and whatnot. I am testing and the export works fine but the import keeps blowing chunks.

I use a script to export - redirected to a file - here's the important part:

```auto
DASH_LIST=$(sed -e 's/^"//' -e 's/"$//' <<<`curl -s http://localhost:9200/.kibana/_search?pretty |grep '_id" : "dashboard:' |awk -F[:,] {'print $3'}`)

for DASH in $DASH_LIST
do
    curl -XGET -H'Content-Type: application/json' \
         http://$KIBANA_HOST:$PORT/api/kibana/dashboards/export?dashboard=$DASH >>./test.json
done

```

Works fine (see file output below). Then I try the import:

```auto
curl -X POST -H 'kbn-xsrf: true' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' "localhost:5601/api/kibana/dashboards/import" --data-binary @./test.json 

```

That's when I get said chunk blowing:

```auto
{"statusCode":400,"error":"Bad Request","message":"Invalid request payload JSON format"}

```

Checking the kibana logs I see this:

```auto
    Debug: internal, implementation, error 
    TypeError: Cannot read property 'type' of undefined
    at 6.5.0 (/usr/share/kibana/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/migrations/migrations.js:481:44)
    at tryTransformDoc (/usr/share/kibana/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/core/document_migrator.js:213:22)
    at migrateProp (/usr/share/kibana/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/core/document_migrator.js:270:11)
    at applyMigrations (/usr/share/kibana/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/core/document_migrator.js:172:11)
    at DocumentMigrator.transformAndValidate [as transformDoc] (/usr/share/kibana/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/core/document_migrator.js:151:43)
    at DocumentMigrator.doc [as migrate] (/usr/share/kibana/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/core/document_migrator.js:47:19)
    at KibanaMigrator.migrateDocument (/usr/share/kibana/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/kibana/kibana_migrator.js:146:34)
    at objects.map.object (/usr/share/kibana/src/core/server/saved_objects/service/lib/repository.js:190:74)
    at Array.map (<anonymous>)
    at SavedObjectsRepository.bulkCreate (/usr/share/kibana/src/core/server/saved_objects/service/lib/repository.js:174:37)
    at SavedObjectsClient.bulkCreate (/usr/share/kibana/src/core/server/saved_objects/service/saved_objects_client.js:45:35)
    at EncryptedSavedObjectsClientWrapper.bulkCreate (/usr/share/kibana/x-pack/legacy/plugins/encrypted_saved_objects/server/lib/encrypted_saved_objects_client_wrapper.js:80:89)
    at process._tickCallback (internal/process/next_tick.js:68:7)
{"type":"response","@timestamp":"2019-11-21T18:23:37Z","tags":["api"],"pid":6,"method":"post","statusCode":400,"req":{"url":"/api/kibana/dashboards/import","method":"post","headers":{"host":"localhost:5601","user-agent":"curl/7.58.0","accept":"*/*","kbn-xsrf":"true","content-type":"application/json","content-length":"77870","expect":"100-continue"},"remoteAddress":"172.18.0.1","userAgent":"172.18.0.1"},"res":{"statusCode":400,"responseTime":18,"contentLength":9},"message":"POST /api/kibana/dashboards/import 400 18ms - 9.0B"}

```

Which doesn't mean much. I do believe that the stack trace has nothing to do with this, but I can't tell from the formatting of the log.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sdndude](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/sdndude/32/24608_2.png) [@sdndude](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sdndude)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-dashboard-import-api-not-working-from-api-export/208961/2 "2019-11-21T18:43:41Z")

</div>

How do I upload a file? I have the test.json file but figured it would be a bit long just to splatter on the screen. Thanks.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Larry\_Gregory](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/larry_gregory/32/34969_2.png) [@Larry\_Gregory](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Larry_Gregory)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 6:52pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-dashboard-import-api-not-working-from-api-export/208961/3 "2019-11-21T18:52:46Z")

</div>

@sdndude can you upload your `test.json` file on GitHub as a gist? ([gist.github.com](http://gist.github.com))

I'm pretty sure `import` can only accept a single exported payload. In other words, rather than creating a single `test.json`, you likely need an individual JSON file for each dashboard you're trying to export/import

What version of Kibana are you using? If you're running at least `7.2`, then there is a different set of APIs available which we recommend you use instead: [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/kibana/current/saved-objects-api-export.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/kibana/current/saved-objects-api-export.html)

It likely won't solve your underlying problem, but I wanted to make you aware, as the APIs you're using will eventually be removed.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sdndude](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/sdndude/32/24608_2.png) [@sdndude](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sdndude)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-dashboard-import-api-not-working-from-api-export/208961/4 "2019-11-21T21:47:02Z")

</div>

Ah cool. I saw those APIs but they seemed to be the individual calls whereas the import/export looked like they would just grab everything.  
I will try the newer APIs and see what happens. Do you know off the top of you head where I put the includeReferencesDeep? I can't find an example. I will futz with it till I figure it out.

Thanks dude!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Larry\_Gregory](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/larry_gregory/32/34969_2.png) [@Larry\_Gregory](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Larry_Gregory)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-dashboard-import-api-not-working-from-api-export/208961/5 "2019-11-21T22:00:11Z")

</div>

Something like this should work for you. It will grab the dashboard, and **all** saved objects that this dashboard depends on (similar to the API you were using before). Although with this new API, you can specify all your dashboards in a single request, and get the entire payload in one shot. Then you can use that same payload in a single `_import` request 🕶

```auto
POST api/saved_objects/_export
{
  "objects": [
    {
      "type": "dashboard",
      "id": "be3733a0-9efe-11e7-acb3-3dab96693fab"
    }
  ],
  "includeReferencesDeep": true
}

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sdndude](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/sdndude/32/24608_2.png) [@sdndude](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sdndude)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 12:23am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-dashboard-import-api-not-working-from-api-export/208961/6 "2019-11-22T00:23:06Z")

</div>

Thanks @Larry_Gregory , but I must be missing something here. Running 7.4.2 and using the example above in DevTools (with my own id of course) gives me this:

```auto
#! Deprecation: [types removal] Specifying types in document index requests is deprecated, use the typeless endpoints instead (/{index}/_doc/{id}, /{index}/_doc, or /{index}/_create/{id}).
{
  "_index" : "api",
  "_type" : "saved_objects",
  "_id" : "_export",
  "_version" : 6,
  "result" : "updated",
  "_shards" : {
    "total" : 2,
    "successful" : 1,
    "failed" : 0
  },
  "_seq_no" : 5,
  "_primary_term" : 1
}

```

I was expecting back the json of the exported dashboard (and all of the other stuff). If I try searching that index I get back the exact object text that I sent.

If I try it on the command line thusly:

```auto
curl -X POST -H 'kbn-xsrf: true' http://localhost:5601/api/saved_objects/_export -d '
{ 
   "objects": 
          [
            {
              "type": "dashboard",
              "id": "7298b6d0-0cbb-11ea-9d6a-8958e35fe94b"  
            }
          ],
   "includeReferencesDeep": true
} '

```

I get the following error:

```auto
{"statusCode":400,"error":"Bad Request","message":"\"{ \"objects\": [{\"type\": \"dashboard\",\"id\": \"7298b6d0-0cbb-11ea-9d6a-8958e35fe94b\" }],\"includeReferencesDeep\": true}\" is not allowed. \"value\" must contain at least one of [type, objects]","validation":{"source":"payload","keys":["&#x7b; &quot;objects&quot;: &#x5b;&#x7b;&quot;type&quot;: &quot;dashboard&quot;,&quot;id&quot;: &quot;7298b6d0-0cbb-11ea-9d6a-8958e35fe94b&quot; &#x7d; &#x5d;,&quot;includeReferencesDeep&quot;: true&#x7d;","value"]}}

```

So I am still messing with it. Thanks.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Larry\_Gregory](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/larry_gregory/32/34969_2.png) [@Larry\_Gregory](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Larry_Gregory)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 6:17pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-dashboard-import-api-not-working-from-api-export/208961/7 "2019-11-22T18:17:56Z")

</div>

Ah, you unfortunately won't be able to use DevTools here -- DevTools only works with Elasticsearch APIs, and not Kibana APIs. You'll need to use curl or similar to access the Kibana APIs.

Speaking of curl, try adding `-H 'Content-type: application/json'` to your curl request and see if that improves things.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sdndude](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/sdndude/32/24608_2.png) [@sdndude](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sdndude)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-dashboard-import-api-not-working-from-api-export/208961/8 "2019-11-22T18:32:21Z")

</div>

I could have sworn I tried that before and it didn't work. But alas, it did!!! Thanks for that.  
So now I will try the import. So get ready for another round of questions. 😃

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-dashboard-import-api-not-working-from-api-export/208961/9 "2019-12-20T18:32:22Z")

</div>

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