---
title: Importing and deploying administrative console configuration data
description: On the Configuration Archive window, you can import and deploy administrative-console configuration data from a .zip file.
component: pingfederate
version: 13.1
page_id: pingfederate:administrators_reference_guide:help_configurationarchivetasklet_configurationarchiveimportstate
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingfederate/13.1/administrators_reference_guide/help_configurationarchivetasklet_configurationarchiveimportstate.html
llms_txt: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingfederate/llms.txt
docs_for_agents: https://developer.pingidentity.com/build-with-ai/docs-for-agents.md
revdate: March 18, 2026
section_ids:
  about-this-task: About this task
  automatic-data-upgrade: Automatic data upgrade
  steps: Steps
---

# Importing and deploying administrative console configuration data

On the **Configuration Archive** window, you can import and deploy administrative-console configuration data from a .`zip` file.

## About this task

When you import and deploy configuration data using the **Import** tab, PingFederate displays error messages if there are any missing plugin components, such as adapters, database drivers, or token translators, on which the archive depends, or any mismatches of PingFederate licensing authorization. You can choose to force the deployment and then install the missing components later.

### Automatic data upgrade

When you import a configuration archive from an older version, PingFederate automatically upgrades the data to be compatible with the current version.

This feature requires two conditions:

* The `enableDataUpgrade` parameter in the `data-upgrade-handler.xml` file is set to `true`. This parameter is enabled by default.

* The configuration data archive is from PingFederate version 11.1 or later.

Learn more in [Upgrading configuration data](../upgrading_pingfederate/pf_upgrading_config_data.html).

|   |                                                                                                                     |
| - | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|   | Installation of any missing database drivers or other third-party libraries will require a restart of PingFederate. |

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| - | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|   | Deploying a configuration archive, either manually or by using the administrative console, always overwrites all existing configuration data. |

To import and deploy administrative-console configuration data from an archive:

## Steps

1. On the **Configuration Archive** window's **Import** tab, choose the desired configuration archive from your system.

2. (Optional) If you want PingFederate to deploy the archive regardless of whether dependency errors are detected, select the **Force Import** checkbox.

   |   |                                                                                                                                                          |
   | - | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
   |   | If you enable this feature, consult the server start-up console or the server log for any messages concerning missing plugin components or other errors. |

3. (Optional) To re-encrypt imported configuration data, select the **Re-encrypt Data** checkbox. PingFederate will re-encrypt sensitive imported information, such as datastore passwords and adapter shared secrets, with the primary [configuration encryption key](pf_managing_configuration_encryption_keys.html). This is most useful when you don't want to share configuration encryption keys between the two environments.

   |   |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
   | - | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
   |   | If you re-encrypt an archive, you might lose access to external OAuth clients and runtime state, such as grants or sessions, that were encrypted with keys from the archive. PingFederate will not import configuration encryption keys in the data archive. Also, it won't re-encrypt data stored externally, such as OAuth clients, persistent grants, or persistent sessions in an external datastore. |

4. Click **Import**.