"Aliases" item missing in System ->Configuration -> Backup -> Restore Area

[myksto]

I have two OpnSense machines: one is a production one, the second is for backup and test.
I usually make tests and then export configuration and import it to the production machine.
Today I need to import new Aliases and noticed that the item "Aliases" is missing in the "Restore Area".
I searched several times but I really can't find that key.

Has "Aliases" been removed? Can I ask you why and how can I import Aliases then?

Thanks a lot and cheers,

Michele.

[franco]

Hi Michele,

Alias moved to "OPNsense additions" due to an internal move of the data, but that will also import/replace other things now as a consequence. I have to talk about it with Ad internally. It would make sense to bring it back, but the current desire was to not split up imports any more than they already are.

I agree that from the user perspective this looks unreasonable so let me see what I can do.


Cheers,
Franco

[myksto]

Hi Franco and thanks for reply.
As a matter of fact, it was very useful to have the chance to import alias only and not a buch of other settings with them.
For this reason I really hope you can restore that chance and give users the ability to restore just what they need.

I hope to see you soon on this front and to hear good news.

Cheers,

Michele.

[franco]

Hi Michele,

So we discussed this at length on Friday. The answer is not great news for the short-term.

The section import of the config.xml has no validation whatsoever. What we want to do is not bring back the old functionality to be able to build a system that can validate data per MVC model which e.g. the alias data now belongs to. If this was done it solves the import issue for all our internal components as we can:

1. Automatically generate data model imports (the old selection items to be imported are still hardcoded)
2. Avoid bad data (aliases indicated this during the transition where the migration would fail for validation reasons)
3. Be able to say that the data import is from an older version and was automatically migrated or a newer version, possibly rejecting the incompatible data

The only caveat is that this will not happen before 19.1 is out due to other roadmap priorities.


Cheers,
Franco