installed the Nominatim software itself, if not return to the
[installation page](Installation.md).
-## Importing multiple regions
+## Importing with a database user without superuser rights
-To import multiple regions in your database, you need to configure and run `utils/import_multiple_regions.sh` file. This script will set up the update directory which has the following structure:
+Nominatim usually creates its own PostgreSQL database at the beginning of the
+import process. This makes usage easier for the user but means that the
+database user doing the import needs the appropriate rights.
-```bash
-update
- ├── europe
- │ ├── andorra
- │ │ └── sequence.state
- │ └── monaco
- │ └── sequence.state
- └── tmp
- ├── combined.osm.pbf
- └── europe
- ├── andorra-latest.osm.pbf
- └── monaco-latest.osm.pbf
+If you prefer to run the import with a database user with limited rights,
+you can do so by changing the import process as follows:
+1. Run the command for database preparation with a database user with
+ superuser rights. For example, to use a db user 'dbadmin' for a
+ database 'nominatim', execute:
-```
+ ```
+ NOMINATIM_DATABASE_DSN="pgsql:dbname=nominatim;user=dbadmin" nominatim import --prepare-database
+ ```
-The `sequence.state` files will contain the sequence ID, which will be used be pyosmium to get updates. The tmp folder is used for import dump.
+2. Grant the import user the right to create tables. For example, foe user 'import-user':
-### Configuring multiple regions
+ ```
+ psql -d nominatim -c 'GRANT CREATE ON SCHEMA public TO "import-user"'
+ ```
-The file `import_multiple_regions.sh` needs to be edited as per your requirement:
+3. Now run the reminder of the import with the import user:
-1. List of countries. eg:
+ ```
+ NOMINATIM_DATABASE_DSN="pgsql:dbname=nominatim;user=import-user" nominatim import --continue import-from-file --osm-file file.pbf
+ ```
- COUNTRIES="europe/monaco europe/andorra"
+## Importing multiple regions (without updates)
-2. Path to Build directory. eg:
+To import multiple regions in your database you can simply give multiple
+OSM files to the import command:
- NOMINATIMBUILD="/srv/nominatim/build"
+```
+nominatim import --osm-file file1.pbf --osm-file file2.pbf
+```
-3. Path to Update directory. eg:
-
- UPDATEDIR="/srv/nominatim/update"
+If you already have imported a file and want to add another one, you can
+use the add-data function to import the additional data as follows:
-4. Replication URL. eg:
-
- BASEURL="https://download.geofabrik.de"
- DOWNCOUNTRYPOSTFIX="-latest.osm.pbf"
-
-!!! tip
- If your database already exists and you want to add more countries, replace the setting up part
- `${SETUPFILE} --osm-file ${UPDATEDIR}/tmp/combined.osm.pbf --all 2>&1`
- with `${UPDATEFILE} --import-file ${UPDATEDIR}/tmp/combined.osm.pbf 2>&1`.
+```
+nominatim add-data --file <FILE>
+nominatim refresh --postcodes
+nominatim index -j <NUMBER OF THREADS>
+```
-### Setting up multiple regions
+Please note that adding additional data is always significantly slower than
+the original import.
-Run the following command from your Nominatim directory after configuring the file.
+## Importing multiple regions (with updates)
- bash ./utils/import_multiple_regions.sh
+If you want to import multiple regions _and_ be able to keep them up-to-date
+with updates, then you can use the scripts provided in the `utils` directory.
-## Updating multiple regions
+These scripts will set up an `update` directory in your project directory,
+which has the following structure:
+
+```bash
+update
+ ├── europe
+ │ ├── andorra
+ │ │ └── sequence.state
+ │ └── monaco
+ │ └── sequence.state
+ └── tmp
+ └── europe
+ ├── andorra-latest.osm.pbf
+ └── monaco-latest.osm.pbf
-To import multiple regions in your database, you need to configure and run ```utils/update_database.sh```.
-This uses the update directory set up while setting up the DB.
+```
-### Configuring multiple regions
+The `sequence.state` files contain the sequence ID for each region. They will
+be used by pyosmium to get updates. The `tmp` folder is used for import dump and
+can be deleted once the import is complete.
-The file `update_database.sh` needs to be edited as per your requirement:
-1. List of countries. eg:
+### Setting up multiple regions
- COUNTRIES="europe/monaco europe/andorra"
+Create a project directory as described for the
+[simple import](Import.md#creating-the-project-directory). If necessary,
+you can also add an `.env` configuration with customized options. In particular,
+you need to make sure that `NOMINATIM_REPLICATION_UPDATE_INTERVAL` and
+`NOMINATIM_REPLICATION_RECHECK_INTERVAL` are set according to the update
+interval of the extract server you use.
-2. Path to Build directory. eg:
+Copy the scripts `utils/import_multiple_regions.sh` and `utils/update_database.sh`
+into the project directory.
- NOMINATIMBUILD="/srv/nominatim/build"
+Now customize both files as per your requirements
-3. Path to Update directory. eg:
-
- UPDATEDIR="/srv/nominatim/update"
+1. List of countries. e.g.
+
+ COUNTRIES="europe/monaco europe/andorra"
+
+2. URL to the service providing the extracts and updates. eg:
-4. Replication URL. eg:
-
BASEURL="https://download.geofabrik.de"
- DOWNCOUNTRYPOSTFIX="-updates"
+ DOWNCOUNTRYPOSTFIX="-latest.osm.pbf"
-5. Followup can be set according to your installation. eg: For Photon,
+5. Followup in the update script can be set according to your installation.
+ E.g. for Photon,
FOLLOWUP="curl http://localhost:2322/nominatim-update"
will handle the indexing.
+
+To start the initial import, change into the project directory and run
+
+```
+ bash import_multiple_regions.sh
+```
+
### Updating the database
-Run the following command from your Nominatim directory after configuring the file.
+Change into the project directory and run the following command:
+
+ bash update_database.sh
+
+This will get diffs from the replication server, import diffs and index
+the database. The default replication server in the
+script ([Geofabrik](https://download.geofabrik.de)) provides daily updates.
+
+## Using an external PostgreSQL database
+
+You can install Nominatim using a database that runs on a different server.
+Simply point the configuration variable `NOMINATIM_DATABASE_DSN` to the
+server and follow the standard import documentation.
+
+The import will be faster, if the import is run directly from the database
+machine. You can easily switch to a different machine for the query frontend
+after the import.
+
+## Moving the database to another machine
+
+For some configurations it may be useful to run the import on one machine, then
+move the database to another machine and run the Nominatim service from there.
+For example, you might want to use a large machine to be able to run the import
+quickly but only want a smaller machine for production because there is not so
+much load. Or you might want to do the import once and then replicate the
+database to many machines.
- bash ./utils/update_database.sh
+The important thing to keep in mind when transferring the Nominatim installation
+is that you need to transfer the database _and the project directory_. Both
+parts are essential for your installation.
-This will get diffs from the replication server, import diffs and index the database. The default replication server in the script([Geofabric](https://download.geofabrik.de)) provides daily updates.
+The Nominatim database can be transferred using the `pg_dump`/`pg_restore` tool.
+Make sure to use the same version of PostgreSQL and PostGIS on source and
+target machine.
-## Verification and further setup
+!!! note
+ Before creating a dump of your Nominatim database, consider running
+ `nominatim freeze` first. Your database looses the ability to receive further
+ data updates but the resulting database is only about a third of the size
+ of a full database.
-Instructions for import verification and other details like importing Wikidata can be found in [import and update page](Import-and-Update.md)
+Next install nominatim-api on the target machine by following the standard
+installation instructions. Again, make sure to use the same version as the
+source machine.
+Create a project directory on your destination machine and set up the `.env`
+file to match the configuration on the source machine. That's all.