Alation migration assistant

The Alation migration assistant helps migrate metadata and related assets from Alation to Atlan, streamlining the process of data governance and knowledge transfer between the platforms.

It supports migrating Alation metadata—including articles, glossaries, terms, and RDBMS assets such as tables, schemas, and databases—into their corresponding structures in Atlan. Articles are migrated as glossary terms, and descriptions can include images added via a mapping CSV file or a ZIP file of images.

Features

• Metadata Export & Import: Exports metadata from Alation and imports it into Atlan.
• Asset Support:
• Articles → GlossaryTerms
• Glossary → Glossary
• Terms → GlossaryTerms
• RDBMS assets (for example, tables, schemas, databases)
• Image Mapping:
• Accepts a mapping file (CSV) or a ZIP file of images.
• Converts ZIP files into a mapping structure automatically.
• Replaces all Alation image URLs with Atlan image URLs in article descriptions.
• Cloud Integration:
• Compatible with AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage (GCS), and Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS).
• Can reuse Atlan's backing object storage if deployed in the respective cloud.

Configuration

Source

• Import metadata from: Select how you want to provide the input file to be processed, whether it’s a single file or multiple files.

  Object storage

  Retrieve the metadata files from cloud object storage.

  • Cloud object store: The object store from which to fetch the metadata file. You can select more than one if needed.

    S3GCSADLS

    • AWS access key: your AWS access key.
    • AWS secret key: your AWS secret key.
    • Region: your AWS region.
    • Bucket: your AWS bucket.

    Reusing Atlan's backing S3 store

    When your Atlan tenant is deployed in AWS, you can leave all of these blank to reuse the backing store of Atlan itself. You can also set up a cross-account bucket policy for Atlan to have access to your S3 bucket and the objects within it, and leave these blank.

    • Project ID: the ID of your GCP project.
    • Service account JSON: your service account credentials, as JSON.
    • Bucket: your GCS bucket.

    Reusing Atlan's backing GCS store

    When your Atlan tenant is deployed in GCP, you can leave all of these blank to reuse the backing store of Atlan itself.

    • Azure client ID: the unique application (client) ID assigned to your app by Azure AD when the app was registered.
    • Azure client secret: your Azure client secret (it's actual value, not its identifier).
    • Azure tenant ID: the unique identifier of the Azure Active Directory instance.
    • Storage account name: name of your storage account.
    • Container: your ADLS container.

    Reusing Atlan's backing ADLS store

    When your Atlan tenant is deployed in Azure, you can leave all of these blank to reuse the backing store of Atlan itself.

Images

Do you have image mappingObject storage

• Select 'YES' if you have a mapping CSV file; otherwise, select 'NO'.
• If you select 'YES', provide the mapping file details.
• If you select 'NO', provide the image ZIP file details.
• Ensure the mapping file is in CSV format.

• Prefix (path): the directory (path) within the object store from which to fetch the ZIP or CSV file.
• Object key (filename): the object key (filename), including its extension.

Articles

Glossary Qualified NameObject storage

• Provide the Qualified Name of the glossary where you want to upload the articles.

• Prefix (path): the directory (path) within the object store from which to fetch the article CSV file.
• Object key (filename): the object key (filename), including its extension.

Glossary

Glossary sample file

Term sample file

Object storage

• Glossaary Prefix (path): the directory (path) within the object store from which to fetch the article CSV file.

• Glossaary Object key (filename): the object key (filename), including its extension.

• Term Prefix (path): the directory (path) within the object store from which to fetch the article CSV file.

• Term Object key (filename): the object key (filename), including its extension.

RDBMS

Database sample file

Schema sample file

Table sample file

Column sample file

Connection Qualified NameConnector TypeComma separated database idsObject storageMap description in Atlan

• Enter the Connection Qualified Name where you want assets to be uploaded.

• Enter Connector Type or example: snowflake.

• Enter separated database ids which you want to pick from alation.

• Database file path : Enter folder path of database file in s3.

• Database file location: Enter folder path of database file in s3.

• Schema file path: the directory (path) within the object store from which to fetch the schema CSV file.

• Schema file location: the schema file object key (filename), including its extension.

• Table file path: the directory (path) within the object store from which to fetch the table CSV file.

• Table file location: the table file object key (filename), including its extension.

• Column file path: the directory (path) within the object store from which to fetch the Column CSV file.

• Column file location: the column file object key (filename), including its extension.

• User file path: Enter folder path of user file csv in s3.

• User file location: the user file object key (filename), including its extension.

• metadata mapping path: Enter folder path of metadata mapping file in s3.

• metadata mapping file location: Enter key of CM(Custom metadata mapping) file in s3.

• Selct where you want to upload description in Atlan in Readme ot Description.

What it does

• Migrates metadata from Alation to Atlan, including:
• Articles → GlossaryTerms
• Glossaries → Glossaries
• Terms → GlossaryTerms
• RDBMS assets such as tables, schemas, and databases
• Accepts an image mapping file (CSV) or a ZIP file of images.
• Automatically converts ZIP files into a usable mapping structure if a CSV isn't provided.
• Replaces all Alation image URLs in articles with their corresponding Atlan-hosted image URLs.
• Uploa

How it works

1. File Ingestion: Retrieves input files (articles CSV, image mapping CSV or ZIP) from your selected cloud storage (AWS S3, GCS, or ADLS).

2. Image Mapping Processing:

3. If a CSV file is provided, it's used to map image URLs.

4. If a ZIP file is provided, it is parsed and converted into a mapping used to update image references.

5. URL Replacement: Scans the article content and replaces all Alation image URLs with Atlan image URLs using the mapping.

6. Asset Transformation: Converts Alation articles, terms, glossaries, and RDBMS assets to Atlan-compatible formats.

7. Upload to Atlan: Pushes the transformed assets into Atlan, associating them with the specified glossary.

The assistant automates the end-to-end migration process, preserving structure, content, and embedded images for a seamless transition.

Use Cases

• Metadata Platform Migration: Seamlessly move from Alation to Atlan without manual re-entry.
• Data Catalog Consolidation: Unify metadata from multiple sources into a centralized Atlan environment.
• Documentation Preservation: Retain and enhance business glossary content, including rich text and images.
• Accelerated Onboarding: Simplify the adoption of Atlan by carrying over structured metadata from Alation.
• Cloud-Native Integration: Integrate with cloud storage platforms (S3, GCS, ADLS) for scalable and secure metadata transfers.

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