[GIS] Migrating geodatabase data into PostGIS without Esri apps

esri-geodatabasepostgisspatial-etl

Can you tell me how I can load geodatabase data into PostGIS without having to install Esri apps?

The solution I found online talked about using ArcGIS to convert GDB to SHP and then importing SHP to PostGIS.

Best Answer

I do it all the time for my clients.

Dump your data to FileGDB or Shapefiles then execute the following command:

For ESRI Shapefiles:

ogr2ogr -f "PostgreSQL" PG:"dbname=mydbname user=postgres" myshapefile.shp

For FileGDB:

ogr2ogr -f "PostgreSQL" PG:"dbname=mydbname user=postgres" myFileGDB.gdb

For FileGDB, you need to make sure that the FileGDB driver is installed. You do it with:

ogrinfo --formats

which should show FileGDB somewhere to tell you it is installed.

Related Solutions

ArcSDE to PostGIS Migration Guide

Rather than doing a DB -> file -> DB conversion, where Esri Shapefiles are the middleman file-based component, it could be worthwhile investigating a more direct DB -> DB transfer. There are a few tools out there that can do this, but I'm only focusing on the open source GDAL/OGR tools.

Assuming you have a Windows Server, you can easily install GDAL/OGR using OSGeo4W. With the Advanced Install mode, you have the ability to select custom package configurations, such as the SDE driver (see this list of packages to ensure there is a suitable match for your SDE version -- only SDE versions 9.0 to 9.2 are supported). These packages are only the headers and wrappers, and requires you to install the SDE libraries, which you should have on a CD/DVD ROM, and ensure the PATH variables are appropriately set for GDAL/OGR to find it. A successful install will show "SDE" somewhere with the following command in an OSGeo4W shell: ogr2ogr --formats

After you configure GDAL/OGR, you can use a few tools:

The command-line tool ogr2ogr from the OSGeo4W shell, which will need a command something like: ogr2ogr -f "PostgreSQL" PG:"host=localhost user=someuser dbname=somedb password=somepassword port=5432" \ SDE:server,instance,database,username,password,layer,[version] (you can also explore the various -append, -overwrite or -update options)
Copy and modify an existing Python script that connects to SDE, and you could modify it to transfer data to another data source.

The major caveat to this method is that it is complicated to setup.

[GIS] Geometry errors when importing data from ESRI file geodatabase to PostGIS

If your data is already in PostGIS, try running:

select * from table where ST_NPoints(the_geom) < 4

This will return all rows that cause the warning, that is, it will help you track down data errors in PostGIS.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

ArcSDE to PostGIS Migration Guide

[GIS] Geometry errors when importing data from ESRI file geodatabase to PostGIS

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