The exported EPA archive that was created during the export is manually copied from the export directory to the import directory.
You import EPA archives into the portal either from the import directory on the portal server or from the client.
The imported objects are created in the same Portal Catalog folder in the target system as in the source system. Since you can export entire folder hierarchies, the hierarchies are built on the target system with the same structure as on the source system. All the attributes of a folder are included in the export.
After you import an EPA archive that contains URL aliases, you must restart the com.sap.portal.navigation.AliasService service in SAP NetWeaver Administrator in order to see the URL aliases in the URL Alias Manager and use them in the Master Rule Collection . For more information, see Starting and Stopping Portal Services .
Rules Applying to Imports
If the folder hierarchies in the Portal Catalog are completely identical in the source and target systems, the object is created or, if it already exists, it is overwritten in the target system.
If a folder hierarchy does not exist in the target system, it is recommended to export the portal objects together with the entire folder hierarchy, and not export only the individual objects. If you do not include the entire folder hierarchy in the export, the hierarchy is built during the import, but only object IDs appear instead of the folder names. This is because the folder attributes are not exported and imported.
If you only export part of the folder hierarchy, but not the complete hierarchy, and import this part into the target system, this part is created together with the folder name. The missing hierarchy levels are built in the target system, but only the IDs appear instead of the folder name.