Configuration Import and Export

Radiator transfers complete configuration packages as ZIP or .tar.gz archives. Official example configuration ZIP packages are published to the radiator-radconfs GitHub repository.

The import and export features are useful for creating backups, sharing configurations with support, or deploying example configurations from external sources.

Configuration archive import and export are available in Radiator UI and through the HTTP Management API.

When you select certificate files, the upload dialog shows the subject, issuer, and validity of each certificate in each file. If you select several files at once, each certificate file gets its own section headed by its filename. A validity end date within 90 days is shown in yellow, and a date within 30 days or in the past is shown in red, with text such as Expires in 12 days or Expired. A certificate that is not yet valid is marked Not yet valid. A file that cannot be read as a certificate is reported in its section. Neither the warnings nor unreadable files prevent the upload.

When you select .license files, the upload dialog shows the details of each license and every reason why Radiator Server would reject it. If you select several files at once, each license file gets its own section headed by its filename, and licenses that share a serial number with another selected license are rejected too. For a perpetual license, the section also shows the date through which builds are covered, with a warning when upgrade eligibility ends within 90 days or has ended. Radiator UI does not upload the selected files while a license is still being checked or when Radiator Server would reject one of them, and the dialog names the license file that blocks the upload. See Getting a Radiator License.

Configuration Export

Export creates a ZIP archive by default, or a compressed TAR archive when .tar.gz is selected. If a pending configuration exists, the pending version is exported; otherwise the active configuration is exported.

Export Options

Select which content directories to include in the archive. The Default column shows the Radiator UI preselection:

Internal directories (pending/, backups/, and snapshot metadata) are always excluded from exports. Files and directories whose names begin with . are also excluded at every directory level, including all contents of hidden directories. Generated archive metadata is retained.

If your configuration depends on hidden files or directories, back them up separately.

Common Export Use Cases

Creating a backup: Export with default options to create a backup of your configuration files, certificates, databases, and Lua scripts.

Sending configuration to support: When requesting assistance from the Radiator support team, export the configuration and send the archive. Consider excluding licenses and management credentials unless specifically requested. To send the active configuration together with the in-memory logs and a server summary, download a diagnostics package instead.

Configuration Import

Import extracts a ZIP or .tar.gz archive into the pending configuration directory. Review and deploy the pending configuration to activate it.

On Unix systems, Radiator Server keeps file permissions from .tar.gz archives. ZIP archives carry no permissions, so files imported from them get the defaults: the owner can read and write, the group can read, and others have no access. Exported .tar.gz archives also record the owner and group of each file and directory. Import does not change ownership.

Import Options

Select which content types to import from the archive. The Default column shows the Radiator UI preselection:

Content that is not imported from the archive is automatically copied from the active configuration. This preserves existing settings for unchecked content types.

When a content type is enabled for import but the archive does not contain that directory, the directory will not be preserved from the active configuration, and the import removes its existing files. Import returns a warning with the number of files it removes, for example This removes 3 existing Lua scripts from the pending configuration. No warning is returned when the directory has no existing files. The count refers to the pending configuration when one exists, and otherwise to the active configuration. Radiator UI leaves directories that are not in the archive unchecked by default, so existing content is kept.

An archive can be inspected before import. The preview returns archive metadata such as archive type, Radiator Server version, creation time, and creator when available. It also returns the number of existing files in each content directory, and warnings for missing or unreadable metadata, version mismatch, or selected content directories that are missing from the archive and have existing files.

Template and License Import Modes

Templates and licenses support three import modes:

• Append - Merge imported files with existing files. Imported files overwrite existing files with the same name.
• Replace - Delete all existing files and import only files from the archive.
• Ignore - Keep existing files unchanged. Skip all files of this type in the archive.

Overwriting Pending Configuration

If a pending configuration already exists, import must be confirmed to overwrite it. The import process replaces the entire pending configuration.

Common Import Use Cases

Restoring a backup: Import a previously exported ZIP or .tar.gz backup to restore configuration. The restored configuration remains pending until you deploy it. Hidden files and directories in older archives are ignored. Existing active hidden content is preserved in the pending configuration and remains protected by the normal deployment conflict checks.

Deploying example configurations: Import example configuration packages from the radiator-radconfs GitHub repository. These packages provide ready-to-use configurations for common deployment scenarios.

Migrating between environments: Export from a development or staging environment and import into production. Exclude environment-specific content like management credentials.

Configuration Archive Structure

Configuration archives follow the standard Radiator configuration directory layout, e.g.:

radiator-config-YYYY-MM-DDTHH-MM-SSZ.zip
|-- *.radconf (configuration files)
|-- db/
|   `-- users.db
|-- tls/
|   |-- server.crt
|   `-- server.key
|-- lua/
|   `-- custom.lua

Configuration files (.radconf) are stored at the root level of the archive. The .tar.gz export has the same directory layout and a .tar.gz filename. Existing HTTP API clients continue to receive ZIP unless they request format=tar.gz.

Template Import and Export

Templates have dedicated import and export for template files only. This is useful when sharing or transferring templates independently from the rest of the configuration.

Template export downloads all templates as a ZIP or .tar.gz archive. Template import accepts either format.

Template Import Options

Template import supports these modes:

• Merge (default) - Add imported templates to existing templates. If a template with the same name exists, it is overwritten.
• Replace - Delete all existing templates before importing. Only templates from the archive are kept.

Template import creates a pending configuration if one does not exist. Review and apply the changes to activate the imported templates.

Excluded Files

The following files are automatically excluded from configuration operations:

• Internal management directories (pending/, backups/)
• Snapshot metadata files

These files contain runtime state that should not be transferred between environments.