> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cockroachlabs.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Migrate from Shapefiles

CockroachDB supports efficiently storing and querying [spatial data](/docs/stable/query-spatial-data.md).

This page has instructions for migrating data from ESRI [Shapefiles](/docs/stable/architecture/glossary.md#shapefile) into CockroachDB using [`ogr2ogr`](https://gdal.org/programs/ogr2ogr.html) and [`IMPORT INTO`](/docs/stable/import-into).

In the example below we will import a [tornadoes data set](http://web.archive.org/web/20201018170120/https://www.spc.noaa.gov/gis/svrgis/zipped/1950-2018-torn-initpoint.zip) that is [available from the US National Weather Service](https://www.spc.noaa.gov/gis/svrgis/) (NWS).

> [!NOTE]
>
> Please refer to the documentation of your GIS software for instructions on exporting GIS data to Shapefiles.

## Before you begin

To follow along with the example below, you will need the following prerequisites:

* CockroachDB [installed](/docs/stable/install-cockroachdb.md) and [running](/docs/stable/start-a-local-cluster.md)
* [`ogr2ogr`](https://gdal.org/programs/ogr2ogr.html)

> [!NOTE]
>
> An `ogr2ogr` version of 3.1.0 or higher is required to generate data that can be imported into CockroachDB.

* [Python 3](https://www.python.org)
* The tornado data:

  ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
  curl -o 1950-2018-torn-initpoint.zip http://web.archive.org/web/20201018170120/https://www.spc.noaa.gov/gis/svrgis/zipped/1950-2018-torn-initpoint.zip && unzip 1950-2018-torn-initpoint.zip
  ```

## Step 1. Convert the Shapefile data to CSV

Navigate to the folder containing the data:

```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
cd 1950-2018-torn-initpoint/
```

Convert the Shapefile data to CSV using the following `ogr2ogr` command:

```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
ogr2ogr -f CSV tornadoes.CSV -lco GEOMETRY=AS_WKT 1950-2018-torn-initpoint.shp
```

You will import the CSV data into a CockroachDB table.

## Step 2. Host the file where the cluster can access it

Each node in the CockroachDB cluster needs to have access to the files being imported.  There are several ways for the cluster to access the data; for a complete list of the types of storage [`IMPORT INTO`](/docs/stable/import-into) can pull from, see [Import file location](/docs/stable/import-into.md#import-file-location).

For local testing, you can [start a local file server](/docs/stable/use-a-local-file-server.md).  The following command will start a local file server listening on port 3000:

```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
python3 -m http.server 3000
```

## Step 3. Prepare the CockroachDB database

Create a database to hold the bus-stop data:

```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
cockroach sql --insecure
```

```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
CREATE DATABASE tornadoes;
USE tornadoes;
```

## Step 4. Create a CockroachDB table

To import the CSV data, you need to create a table with the necessary columns and data types.

Convert the Shapefile data to SQL using the following `ogr2ogr` command:

```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
ogr2ogr -f PGDUMP tornadoes.sql -lco LAUNDER=NO -lco DROP_TABLE=OFF 1950-2018-torn-initpoint.shp
```

Create a CockroachDB table that corresponds to the DDL statements in `tornadoes.sql`:

```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
CREATE TABLE tornadoes (
    wkb_geometry GEOMETRY(POINT) NULL,
    om NUMERIC NULL,
    yr NUMERIC NULL,
    mo NUMERIC NULL,
    dy NUMERIC NULL,
    date VARCHAR NULL,
    time VARCHAR NULL,
    tz NUMERIC NULL,
    st VARCHAR NULL,
    stf NUMERIC NULL,
    stn NUMERIC NULL,
    mag NUMERIC NULL,
    inj NUMERIC NULL,
    fat NUMERIC NULL,
    loss NUMERIC NULL,
    closs NUMERIC NULL,
    slat NUMERIC NULL,
    slon NUMERIC NULL,
    elat NUMERIC NULL,
    elon NUMERIC NULL,
    len NUMERIC NULL,
    wid NUMERIC NULL,
    fc NUMERIC NULL
);
```

## Step 5. Import the CSV

Since the file is being served from a local server and is formatted as CSV, you can import the data using the following [`IMPORT INTO`](/docs/stable/import-into) statement:

```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
IMPORT INTO tornadoes CSV DATA ('http://localhost:3000/tornadoes.csv') WITH skip = '1';
```

```
        job_id       |  status   | fraction_completed | rows  | index_entries |  bytes
---------------------+-----------+--------------------+-------+---------------+-----------
  981219367971323905 | succeeded |                  1 | 63645 |             0 | 15681599
```

## See also

* [`IMPORT INTO`](/docs/stable/import-into)
* [Spatial indexes](/docs/stable/spatial-indexes.md)
* [Migrate from OpenStreetMap](/docs/stable/migrate-from-openstreetmap.md)
* [Migrate from GeoJSON](/docs/stable/migrate-from-geojson.md)
* [Migrate from GeoPackage](/docs/stable/migrate-from-geopackage.md)
* [Migration Overview](/docs/molt/migration-overview.md)
* [Migrate from MySQL](/docs/molt/migrate-to-cockroachdb?filters=mysql)
* [Migrate from PostgreSQL](/docs/molt/migrate-to-cockroachdb)
* [Back Up and Restore Data](/docs/stable/take-full-and-incremental-backups.md)
* [Use the Built-in SQL Client](/docs/stable/cockroach-sql.md)
* [`cockroach` Commands Overview](/docs/stable/cockroach-commands)

[postgres]: migrate-from-postgres.html

[mysql]: migrate-from-mysql.html