---
title: Migrate data from InfluxDB 1.x to InfluxDB Cloud Serverless
description: To migrate data from a TSM-powered InfluxDB 1.x (OSS or Enterprise) to an InfluxDB Cloud Serverless organization, export the data as line protocol and write the exported data to an bucket in your InfluxDB Cloud Serverless organization.
url: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/cloud-serverless/guides/migrate-data/migrate-1x-to-serverless/
estimated_tokens: 3380
publisher: InfluxData
canonical: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/cloud-serverless/guides/migrate-data/migrate-1x-to-serverless/
date: '2025-04-02T15:54:32-06:00'
lastmod: '2025-04-02T15:54:32-06:00'
---

To migrate data from an InfluxDB 1.x OSS or Enterprise instance to InfluxDB Cloud
Serverless powered by the v3 storage engine, export the data as line protocol and write
the exported data to a bucket in your InfluxDB Cloud Serverless organization.
Because full data migrations will likely exceed your organizations’ limits and
adjustable quotas, migrate your data in batches.

> [!Important]
> All write requests are subject to your InfluxDB Cloud Serverless organization’s[rate limits and adjustable quotas](/influxdb3/cloud-serverless/account-management/limits/).

* [Before you migrate](#before-you-migrate)
* [Tools to use](#tools-to-use)
* [Migrate data](#migrate-data)

## Before you migrate

Before you migrate from InfluxDB 1.x to InfluxDB Cloud Serverless, there
are schema design practices supported by the TSM storage engine that are not
supported in the InfluxDB 3 storage engine. Specifically, InfluxDB 3 enforces the following schema restrictions:

* You can’t use duplicate names for tags and fields
* Measurements can contain up to 200 columns where each column represents time,
  a field, or a tag.

*For more information, see [Schema restrictions](/influxdb3/cloud-serverless/write-data/best-practices/schema-design/#schema-restrictions).*

If your schema does not adhere to these restrictions, you must update your schema
before migrating to InfluxDB Cloud Serverless.

[](#fix-duplicate-tag-and-field-names)

Fix duplicate tag and field names

If your current schema in InfluxDB 1.x includes tags and fields with the same
name, rename either the duplicate tag key or field key.
The simplest way to do this is to directly modify the line protocol exported in[step 1 of Migrate data below](#migrate-data-step-1) before writing it to
InfluxDB Cloud Serverless.

For example, the following line protocol includes both a tag and field named `temp`.

```
home,room=Kitchen,temp=F co=0i,hum=56.6,temp=71.0 1672531200000000000
```

To be able to write this line protocol to InfluxDB Cloud Serverless, update the `temp`tag key to `tempScale`:

```
home,room=Kitchen,tempScale=F co=0i,hum=56.6,temp=71.0 1672531200000000000
```

[](#fix-measurements-with-more-than-200-total-columns)

Fix measurements with more than 200 total columns

If in your current schema, the total number of tags, fields, and time
columns in a single measurement exceeds 200, you need to update your schema
before migrating to InfluxDB Cloud Serverless.
Because tags are metadata used to identify specific series, we recommend
splitting groups of fields across multiple measurements.

**In your InfluxDB 1.x instance**:

1. [Create a new database](/influxdb/v1/query_language/manage-database/#create-database)to store the modified data in.
2. Identify what fields could be grouped together in a measurement and not exceed
   the 200 column limit.
3. Query each group of fields from the existing database and write them into a
   unique measurement in the new database:

##### Write one set of fields to a new measurement

```
SELECT
  field1,
  field2,
  field3,
  field4
INTO
  "new-database".."new-measurement-1"
FROM
  "example-measurement"
GROUP BY *
```

##### Write another set of fields to new measurement

```
SELECT
  field5,
  field6,
  field7,
  field8
INTO
  "new-database".."new-measurement-2"
FROM
  "example-measurement"
GROUP BY *
```

When exporting your data as line protocol in [step 1 of Migrate data below](#migrate-data-step-1),
only export the newly created database that contains measurements with separate
groups of fields.

#### If duplicating data is not feasible

If duplicating data into a new database isn’t feasible, you can directly modify
the [exported line protocol](#migrate-data-step-1) to group certain fields into
unique measurements.
For example:

```
example-measurement field1=0,field2=0,field3=0,field4=0,field5=0,field6=0,field7=0,field8=0 1672531200000000000
```

Would become:

```
new-measurement-1 field1=0,field2=0,field3=0,field4=0 1672531200000000000
new-measurement-2 field5=0,field6=0,field7=0,field8=0 1672531200000000000
```

## Tools to use

The migration process uses the following tools:

* **`influx_inspect` utility**:  
  The [`influx_inspect` utility](/influxdb/v1/tools/influx_inspect/#export)is packaged with InfluxDB 1.x OSS and Enterprise.

* **InfluxDB 2.x `influx` CLI**:  
  The [2.x `influx` CLI](/influxdb3/cloud-serverless/reference/cli/influx/) is packaged
  separately from InfluxDB OSS 2.x and InfluxDB Cloud Serverless.[Download and install the 2.x CLI](/influxdb3/cloud-serverless/reference/cli/influx/).

* **InfluxDB Cloud user interface (UI)**:  
  Visit [cloud2.influxdata.com](https://cloud2.influxdata.com) to access the
  InfluxDB Cloud UI.

#### InfluxDB 1.x and 2.x CLIs are unique

If both the **InfluxDB 1.x and 2.x `influx` CLIs** are installed in your `$PATH`,
rename one of the the binaries to ensure you’re executing commands with the
correct CLI.

## Migrate data

1. **Export data from your InfluxDB 1.x instance as line protocol.**

   Use the **InfluxDB 1.x `influx_inspect export` utility** to export data as
   line protocol and store it in a file.
   Include the following:

   * (Required) `-lponly` flag to export line protocol without InfluxQL DDL or DML.
   * (Required) `-out` flag with a path to an output file.
     Default is `~/.influxdb/export`. *Any subsequent export commands without
     the output file defined will overwrite the existing export file.*
   * `-compress` flag to use gzip to compress the output.
   * `-datadir` flag with the path to your InfluxDB 1.x `data` directory.
     Only required if the `data` directory is at a non-default location.
     For information about default locations, see[InfluxDB OSS 1.x file system layout](/influxdb/v1/concepts/file-system-layout/#file-system-layout)or [InfluxDB Enterprise 1.x file system layout](/enterprise_influxdb/v1/concepts/file-system-layout/#file-system-layout).
   * `-waldir` flag with the path to your InfluxDB 1.x `wal` directory.
     Only required if the `wal` directory is at a non-default location.
     For information about default locations, see[InfluxDB OSS 1.x file system layout](/influxdb/v1/concepts/file-system-layout/#file-system-layout)or [InfluxDB Enterprise 1.x file system layout](/enterprise_influxdb/v1/concepts/file-system-layout/#file-system-layout).
   * `-database` flag with a specific database name to export.
     By default, all databases are exported.
   * `-retention` flag with a specific retention policy to export.
     By default, all retention policies are exported.
   * `-start` flag with an RFC3339 timestamp that defines the earliest time to export.
     Default is `1677-09-20T16:27:54-07:44`.
   * `-end` flag with an RFC3339 timestamp that defines the latest time to export.
     Default is `2262-04-11T16:47:16-07:00`.

   > [!Note]
> We recommend exporting each database and retention policy combination separately
> to easily write the exported data into corresponding InfluxDB Cloud Serverlessbuckets.

   ##### Export all data in a database and retention policy to a file #####

   ```
   influx_inspect export \
     -lponly \
     -database example-db \
     -retention example-rp \
     -out path/to/export-file.lp
   ```

   ##### View more export command examples: #####

   [](#export-all-data-to-a-file)

   Export all data to a file

   ```
   influx_inspect export \
     -lponly \
     -out path/to/export-file.lp.gzip
   ```

   [](#export-all-data-to-a-compressed-file)

   Export all data to a compressed file

   ```
   influx_inspect export \
     -lponly \
     -compress \
     -out path/to/export-file.lp.gzip
   ```

   [](#export-data-within-time-bounds-to-a-file)

   Export data within time bounds to a file

   ```
   influx_inspect export \
     -lponly \
     -start 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z \
     -end 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z \
     -out path/to/export-file.lp
   ```

   [](#export-a-database-and-all-its-retention-policies-to-a-file)

   Export a database and all its retention policies to a file

   ```
   influx_inspect export \
     -lponly \
     -database example-db \
     -out path/to/export-file.lp
   ```

   [](#export-a-specific-database-and-retention-policy-to-a-file)

   Export a specific database and retention policy to a file

   ```
   influx_inspect export \
     -lponly \
     -database example-db \
     -retention example-rp \
     -out path/to/export-file.lp
   ```

   [](#export-all-data-from-_non-default_-data-and-wal-directories)

   Export all data from *non-default* `data` and `wal` directories

   ```
   influx_inspect export \
     -lponly \
     -datadir path/to/influxdb/data/ \
     -waldir path/to/influxdb/wal/ \
     -out path/to/export-file.lp
   ```

2. Create InfluxDB Cloud Serverless buckets for each InfluxDB 1.x database and retention policy combination.
   InfluxDB Cloud Serverless combines InfluxDB 1.x databases and retention policies
   into buckets–named locations for time series data with specified retention periods.

   [](#view-example-1x-databases-and-retention-policies-as-influxdb-cloud-buckets)

   View example 1.x databases and retention policies as InfluxDB Cloud buckets

   If you have the following InfluxDB 1.x data structure:

   * example-db *(database)*
     * autogen *(retention policy)*
     * historical-1mo *(retention policy)*
     * historical-6mo *(retention policy)*
     * historical-1y *(retention policy)*

   You would create the following InfluxDB Cloud Serverless buckets:

   * example-db/autogen
   * example-db/historical-1mo
   * example-db/historical-6mo
   * example-db/historical-1y

   Use the **InfluxDB 2.x `influx` CLI** or the **InfluxDB Cloud Serverless user interface (UI)**to create a bucket.

   #### influx CLI ####

   Use the [`influx bucket create` command](/influxdb3/cloud-serverless/reference/cli/influx/bucket/create/)to create a new bucket.

   **Provide the following**:

   * [InfluxDB Cloud Serverless connection and authentication credentials](#)
   * `-n, --name` flag with the bucket name.
   * `-r, --retention` flag with the bucket’s retention period duration.
     Supported retention periods depend on your InfluxDB Cloud Serverless plan.

   ```
   influx bucket create \
     --name example-db/autogen \
     --retention 7d
   ```

   1. Go to [cloud2.influxdata.com](https://cloud2.influxdata.com) in a browser to
      log in and access the InfluxDB UI.

   2. Navigate to **Load Data** \> **Buckets** using the left navigation bar.

   Load Data

   1. Click **+ Create bucket**.

   2. Provide a bucket name (for example: `example-db/autogen`) and select a[retention period](/influxdb3/cloud-serverless/reference/glossary/#retention-period).
      Supported retention periods depend on your InfluxDB Cloud Serverless plan.

   3. Click **Create**.

3. **Write the exported line protocol to your InfluxDB Cloud Serverless organization.**

   Use the **InfluxDB 2.x CLI** to write data to InfluxDB Cloud Serverless.
   While you can use the `/api/v2/write` API endpoint to write data directly,
   the `influx write` command lets you define the rate at which data is written
   to avoid exceeding your organization’s rate limits.

   Use the `influx write` command and include the following:

   * [InfluxDB Cloud Serverless connection and authentication credentials](#authentication-credentials)
   * `-b, --bucket` flag to identify the target bucket.
   * `-f, --file` flag with the path to the line protocol file to import.
   * `-rate-limit` flag with a rate limit that matches your InfluxDB Cloud
     organization’s write rate limit.
   * `--compression` flag to identify the compression type of the import file.
     Options are `none` or `gzip`. Default is `none`.

   > [!Note]
> #### Authentication credentials ####
> The examples below assume your InfluxDB **host**, **organization**, and **token** are
> provided by either the [active `influx` CLI configuration](/influxdb/cloud-serverless/reference/cli/influx/#provide-required-authentication-credentials) or by environment variables (`INFLUX_HOST`, `INFLUX_ORG`, and `INFLUX_TOKEN`).
> If you do not have a CLI configuration set up or the environment variables set, include these required credentials for each command with the following flags:
> * `--host`: [InfluxDB host](/influxdb/cloud-serverless/reference/urls/)
> * `-o, --org` or `--org-id`: InfluxDB organization name or ID
> * `-t, --token`: InfluxDB API token

   The examples below assume your InfluxDB **host**, **organization**, and **token** are
   provided by either the [active `influx` CLI configuration](/influxdb/cloud-serverless/reference/cli/influx/#provide-required-authentication-credentials) or by environment variables (`INFLUX_HOST`, `INFLUX_ORG`, and `INFLUX_TOKEN`).
   If you do not have a CLI configuration set up or the environment variables set, include these required credentials for each command with the following flags:

   * `--host`: [InfluxDB host](/influxdb/cloud-serverless/reference/urls/)
   * `-o, --org` or `--org-id`: InfluxDB organization name or ID
   * `-t, --token`: InfluxDB API token

   #### Uncompressed ####

   ```
   influx write \
     --bucket example-db/autogen \
     --file path/to/export-file.lp \
     --rate-limit "300 MB / 5 min"
   ```

   ```
   influx write \
     --bucket example-db/autogen \
     --file path/to/export-file.lp.gzip \
     --rate-limit "300 MB / 5 min" \
     --compression gzip
   ```

   Repeat for each export file and target bucket.