# Is there a way to auto import, one gateway to another similar to the sync from master and backup **URL:** \ **Category:** Ignition\ **Created:** [November 11, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-auto-import-one-gateway-to-another-similar-to-the-sync-from-master-and-backup/117812 "2026-11-11T15:40:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![travisaggiebrown](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/travisaggiebrown/32/85824_2.png) [@travisaggiebrown](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/travisaggiebrown)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-auto-import-one-gateway-to-another-similar-to-the-sync-from-master-and-backup/117812/1 "2026-11-11T15:40:56Z")
we have two servers one for production and one for reporting. the reporting server is read only and it's a copy of the production server. currently anytime that a project or view is made it has to be exported from our production server and imported on the reporting server. so, my question is can this import/export be automated. is there would be a native way to do this? I know there is probably a way with using PowerShell to write the files to the gateways folder, but I would prefer to do it in a way that stays in ignition. if it does come down to overwriting folders, would I just need to overwrite ignition\data\projects or are there other files that would be necessary? any advice is appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Noah\_Burnette](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/noah_burnette/32/83777_2.png) [@Noah\_Burnette](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Noah_Burnette)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 3:46pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-auto-import-one-gateway-to-another-similar-to-the-sync-from-master-and-backup/117812/2 "2026-11-11T15:46:33Z")
What Ignition version are you using? That determines what native Ignition tools are at your disposal. ---
**Author:** ![travisaggiebrown](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/travisaggiebrown/32/85824_2.png) [@travisaggiebrown](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/travisaggiebrown)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 3:47pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-auto-import-one-gateway-to-another-similar-to-the-sync-from-master-and-backup/117812/3 "2026-11-11T15:47:59Z")
the production server is 8.1.42, the reporting server is 8.3.7 ---
**Author:** ![Nol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Nol](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Nol)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 4:10pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-auto-import-one-gateway-to-another-similar-to-the-sync-from-master-and-backup/117812/4 "2026-11-11T16:10:34Z")
The native way to do this would be EAM to push projects but it only works with gateways on the same major revision unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![Noah\_Burnette](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/noah_burnette/32/83777_2.png) [@Noah\_Burnette](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Noah_Burnette)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 4:22pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-auto-import-one-gateway-to-another-similar-to-the-sync-from-master-and-backup/117812/5 "2026-11-11T16:22:47Z")
If you’re not using a deployment pipeline, it’s practically just copying the projects over and triggering a project scan on the reporting Gateway. ```bash # Assuming you're on the production server. scp -r /usr/local/bin/ignition/data/projects/. reporting-server:/usr/local/bin/ignition/data/projects/ curl -fsS -X POST \ -H "X-Ignition-API-Token: ${IGNITION_API_TOKEN}" \ "http://reporting-server:8088/data/api/v1/scan/projects" ``` Assuming the appropriate permissions and API token are configured. > **[API Keys | Ignition User Manual](https://docs.inductiveautomation.com/docs/8.3/platform/security/api-keys)** > > Using API Keys If you want to automate it at the OS level, you could look into `inotifywait` on Linux. If you’d prefer to keep everything within Ignition, you could use Java’s `java.nio.file.WatchService` API, obtained through `FileSystems.getDefault().newWatchService()`. I’ve used it before to monitor application config changes on a dedicated thread. You will need to use `system.util.getGlobals()` to manage the instance and lifecycle **and** somehow only allow the production gateway to run the the watch service since you are copying the projects themselves. (more work IMO than just using OS implementation or a pipeline) > **[java.nio.file (Java SE 17 & JDK 17)](https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/17/docs/api/java.base/java/nio/file/package-summary.html)** > > declaration: module: java.base, package: java.nio.file EDIT: After looking, the `WatchService` might not be the best fit as you have to specify each directory which is not static since you will be adding additional views and scripts. > For each directory that you want monitored, register it with the watcher. When registering a directory, you specify the type of events for which you want notification. You receive a `WatchKey` instance for each directory that you register. > **[Watching a Directory for Changes (The Java™ Tutorials \> ...](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/essential/io/notification.html)** > > This Java tutorial describes exceptions, basic input/output, concurrency, regular expressions, and the platform environment EDIT: Thought about this some more. This shouldn't affect functionality but see: > **[Projects​ - 8.1 to 8.3 Upgrade Guide | Ignition User Manual](https://docs.inductiveautomation.com/docs/8.3/getting-started/installing-and-upgrading/ignition-8-upgrade-guide/81to83-upgrade-guide#projects)** > > 💡Have feedback for this page? Let us know on the IA Forum. | Overview Just so you know, you will get a warning since the reporting server is 8.3 and has a different resource configuration. ---
**Author:** ![gunnar.newell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/gunnar.newell/32/87635_2.png) [@gunnar.newell](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/gunnar.newell)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-auto-import-one-gateway-to-another-similar-to-the-sync-from-master-and-backup/117812/6 "2026-11-11T16:43:50Z")
It sounds like you just want to move a project over... If you get your production server set up as an EAM (or a different server) you can send projects to your report server. This is what I do to make a copy of our production server onto developement. [Agent Task - Send Project | Ignition User Manual](https://www.docs.inductiveautomation.com/docs/8.1/ignition-modules/enterprise-administration/agent-tasks/send-project)