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Ingest Files

File ingestion in surveilr imports and processes files from a file system into a structured database for monitoring and analysis. This process is called walking the filesystem. In essence, it involves scanning directories and files, then transferring their metadata and content into an RSSD.

Preparing for Ingestion

Before initiating the ingestion process, it’s crucial to understand what files and directories will be processed. surveilr provides a powerful feature called --dry-run to simulate this process without making any changes. This step is essential for ensuring that only the desired files and directories are ingested into the target RSSD as shown below:

Example

  1. Preview files in the current working directory (CWD)

    Terminal window
    $ surveilr ingest files --dry-run

  2. Preview files in specific directories

    Terminal window
    $ surveilr ingest files --dry-run -r <PATHNAME> -r <PATHNAME>

Performing File Ingestions

With surveilr, you can easily ingest files from the current working directory or any specified directories. This section covers the commands to perform these ingestions, including how to display statistics about the ingested data.

For a file tree represented below:

/my-files
├── project-a
│   ├── data.csv
│   └── config.yml
|   └── schema.json
├── project-b
│   ├── draft.docx
│   └── references.puml

Examples

Terminal window
# Ingest files from the CWD
$ cd my-files
$ surveilr ingest files


# Ingest files from specific directories by specifying a regex combination
$ surveilr ingest files -r my-files/project*


# Ingest files from the CWD and display statistics
$ surveilr ingest files --stats