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Creating Slack Export

[Index]

This feature allows one to create a slack export of the Slack workspace in standard or Mattermost compatible format.

There are four main export specific command line flags that control the export behaviour:

-export string

Enables the export mode and allows to specify the file or directory to save the data to, for example:

-export my_export.zip
-export-type string (optional)

Allows to specify the export type. It mainly affects how the location of attachments files within the archive. It can accept the following values:

standard    - attachments are placed into channel_id/attachments directory.
mattermost  - attachments are placed into __uploads/ directory

standard is the default export mode, if this parameter is not specified.

Example:

slackdump -export my_export.zip -export-type mattermost
-export-token string (optional)

Allows to append a custom export token to all attachment files (even if the download is disabled). It modifies each file's Download URLs and Thumbnail URLs by adding the t= URL value to them. NOTE: if you don't want it to be saved in shell history, specify it as an environment variable "SLACK_FILE_TOKEN", i.e.:

SLACK_FILE_TOKEN=xoxe-.... slackdump -export my_export.zip
-download (optional)

If this flag is present, Slackdump will download attachments:

slackdump -export my_export.zip -download

Export Types

By default, Slackdump generates the Standard type Export.

The export file or directory will include emails and, if -download flag is specified, attachments.

Mattermost Export

Mattermost mode is currently in alpha-stage. Export is generated in the format that can be imported using Mattermost "bulk" import mode format using mmetl/mmctl tools (see quick guide below).

The mattermost import slack command is not yet supported.

Mattermost Export Quick Guide

To export to Mattermost, Slackdump should be started with -export-type mattermost flag. Mattermost tools would require a ZIP file.

Steps to export from Slack and import to Mattermost:

  1. Run Slackdump in mattermost mode to export the workspace:

    slackdump -export my-workspace.zip -export-type mattermost -download

    optionally, you can specify list of conversation to export:

    slackdump -export my-workspace.zip -export-type mattermost -download C12301120 D4012041

  2. Download the mmetl tool for your architecture from mmetl github page. In the example we'll be using the Linux version:

    curl -LO https://github.com/mattermost/mmetl/releases/download/0.0.1/mmetl.linux-amd64.tar.gz

    Unpack:

    tar zxf mmetl.linux-amd64.tar.gz

  3. Run the mmetl tool to generate the mattermost bulk import JSONL file:

    ./mmetl transform slack -t Your_Team_Name -d bulk-export-attachments -f test.zip -o mattermost_import.jsonl

    For example, if your Mattermost team is "slackdump":

    ./mmetl transform slack -t slackdump -d bulk-export-attachments -f test.zip -o mattermost_import.jsonl

    This will generate a directory bulk-export-attachments and mattermost_import.jsonl file in the current directory.

  4. Create a zip archive in bulk format. Please ensure that the bulk-export-attachments directory is placed inside data directory by following the steps below:

    mkdir data
mv bulk-export-attachments data
zip -r bulk_import.zip data mattermost_import.jsonl

  5. Copy the resulting file to the mattermost server, and upload it using mmctl tool:

    mmctl import upload ./bulk_import.zip

    This will upload the zip file into the Mattermost.

    NOTE: you may need to authenticate to use mmctl. Run:

    mmctl auth login URL
# URL is the URL of your mattermost server, i.e.:
mmctl auth login http://localhost:8065

    List all import files to find out the filename that will be used to start the import process:

    mmctl import list available

    The output will print the file with an ID prefix:

    9zgyay5wupdyzc1kqdin5re77e_bulk_import.zip

  6. Start the import process:

    mmctl import process <filename>

    For example:

    mmctl import process 9zgyay5wupdyzc1kqdin5re77e_bulk_import.zip

  7. To monitor the status of the job or to see if there are any errors:

    mmctl import job list

    and:

    mmctl import job show <JOB ID> --json

After following all these steps, you should see the data in your Mattermost team.

More detailed instructions can be found in the Mattermost documentation

Mattermost Export Directory Structure

The Mattermost type archive will have the following structure:

/
├── __uploads              : all uploaded files are placed in this dir.
│   └── F02PM6A1AUA        : slack file ID is used as a directory name
|       └── Chevy.jpg      : file attachment
├── everyone               : channel "#everyone"
│   ├── 2022-01-01.json    :   all messages for the 1 Jan 2022.
│   └── 2022-01-04.json    :    "     "      "   "  4 Jan 2022.
├── DM12345678             : Your DMs with Scumbag Steve^
│   └── 2022-01-04.json    :   (you did not have much to discuss —
│                          :    Steve turned out to be a scumbag)
├── channels.json          : all workspace channels information
├── dms.json               : direct message information
└── users.json             : all workspace users information

Standard Export

To run in Slack Export standard mode, one must start Slackdump specifying the slack export directory or zip file, i.e.:

slackdump -export my-workspace -export-type standard

< OR, for a ZIP file >

slackdump -export my-workspace.zip -export-type standard

Slackdump will export the whole workspace. If ' -download' flag is specified, all files will be saved under the channel's 'attachments' directory.

Standard Export Directory Structure

Sample directory or ZIP file structure:

/
├── everyone               : channel "#everyone"
│   ├── 2022-01-01.json    :   all messages for the 1 Jan 2022.
│   ├── 2022-01-04.json    :    "     "      "   "  4 Jan 2022.
│   └── attachments        :   message files
│       └── F02PM6A1AUA-Chevy.jpg       : message attachment
├── DM12345678             : Your DMs with Scumbag Steve^
│   └── 2022-01-04.json    :   (you did not have much to discuss —
│                          :    Steve turned out to be a scumbag)
├── channels.json          : all workspace channels information
├── dms.json               : direct message information
└── users.json             : all workspace users information
Channels

The channels are be saved in directories, named after the channel title, i.e. #random would be saved to "random" directory. The directory will contain a set of JSON files, one per each day.

Users

User directories will have an "D" prefix, to find out the user name, check users.json file.

Group Messages

Group messages will have name listing all the users handles involved.

^In case you're wondering who's Scumbag Steve.

Inclusive and Exclusive Export

It is possible to include or exclude channels in/from the Export.

Exporting Only Channels You Need

To include only those channels you're interested in, use the following syntax:

slackdump -export my-workspace.zip C12401724 https://xxx.slack.com/archives/C4812934

The command above will export ONLY channels C12401724 and C4812934.

Exporting Everything Except Some Unwanted Channels

To exclude one or more channels from the export, prefix the channel with "^" character. For example, you want to export everything except channel C123456:

slackdump -export my-workspace.zip ^C123456

Providing the List in a File

You can specify the filename instead of listing all the channels on the command line. To include the channels from the file, use the "@" character prefix. The following example shows how to load the channels from the file named "data.txt":

slackdump -export my-workspace.zip @data.txt

It is also possible to combine files and channels, i.e.:

slackdump -export everything.zip @data.txt ^C123456

The command above will read the channels from data.txt and exclude the channel C123456 from the Export.

Note

Slack Export is currently in beta development stage, please open an issue in Github Issues, if you run into problems.

Migrating to

Discord

The preferred way is to use Slackord2 - a great tool with a nice GUI that is compatible with Slackdump generated export files. If you have any compatibility issues, please open a Github issue.

Viewing export

SlackLogViewer

SlackLogViewer is a fast desktop application, with an advanced search function that turns your Slack Export file into a searchable knowledge base. It is extremely fast due to being written in C++ and comes as a single executable. Recently it was updated to support the preview of DMs.

Download SlackLogViewer v1.2.

Slack Export Viewer

While you're welcome to just open each individual .json file to read the contents of your backup, you might also consider using a tool like slack-export-viewer. Some work has been put in, to make slackdump compatible with slack-export-viewer, which will allow you to navigate your backup with a slack-like GUI.

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