Airflow Connection Migrator

A macOS application for securely exporting and importing Apache Airflow connection configurations between environments.

Implementations

This tool is available in three different implementations:

Implementation	Interface	Repository
Python	CLI	airflow_connections_import_export
Swift	Native macOS app	AirflowConnectionMigrator
Go	Web server or TUI	airflow-migrator

All implementations share the same Fernet encryption format, so exported files are interchangeable between them.

As part of the Swift implementation, a standalone Fernet encryption library was developed and released: SwiftFernet

Overview

Airflow Connection Migrator provides a native macOS GUI for managing Airflow database connections, enabling you to:

• Export connections from one Airflow instance to an encrypted CSV file
• Import connections to another Airflow instance with collision handling
• Manage connection profiles with secure Keychain storage
• Maintain consistent connection configurations across development environments

Perfect for DevOps teams managing multiple Airflow environments who need to synchronize connection configurations securely.

Screenshots

Click images to enlarge:

Export View

Import View

Settings View

Features

🔐 Security First

• Fernet encryption compatible with Python's cryptography.fernet
• Secure credential storage using macOS Keychain
• Encrypted CSV files for safe connection sharing
• Support for URL-safe Base64 encoding

📤 Export Connections

• Select source Airflow database from saved profiles
• Choose specific connections to export with checkboxes
• Optional connection ID prefix to prevent collisions
• Generate encryption key or provide your own
• Native macOS save dialog

📥 Import Connections

• Load encrypted CSV files
• Preview connections before importing
• Three collision strategies:
  • Stop completely: Safest, aborts if any ID exists
  • Skip existing: Import only new connections
  • Overwrite: Replace existing connections (use with caution!)
• Real-time progress logging

⚙️ Connection Management

• Save database connection profiles
• Test connections before use
• Secure Fernet key storage per profile
• Default export paths and filenames

Requirements

• macOS 13.0 or later
• Xcode 15.0+ (for building)
• Access to Airflow PostgreSQL metadata database
• Airflow Fernet encryption key

Installation

From Source

1. Clone the repository:
2. Open in Xcode:
3. Build and run (Cmd+R)

Usage

First-Time Setup

1. Launch the app
2. Go to Settings tab
3. Click New to create a connection profile
4. Enter your Airflow database credentials:
   • Name (e.g., "Local Dev", "Staging")
   • Host, Port, Database, Username, Password
   • Airflow Fernet Key (from your airflow.cfg)
5. Click Test Connection to verify
6. Click Save

Exporting Connections

1. Go to Export tab
2. Select source connection profile from dropdown
3. Click Load Connections
4. Select which connections to export (checkboxes)
5. (Optional) Add connection ID prefix
6. Click Generate for file encryption key (save this key!)
7. Click Export Connections
8. Choose save location in the dialog

Important: Share the file encryption key separately from the CSV file!

Importing Connections

1. Go to Import tab
2. Click Browse and select the encrypted CSV file
3. Enter the file encryption key
4. Click Load File to decrypt and preview connections
5. Select which connections to import
6. Select target connection profile
7. Choose collision handling strategy
8. Click Import Connections
9. Confirm the operation

File Format

Exported CSV structure:

conn_id,encrypted_connection
team_db,gAAAAAB...
team_postgres_warehouse,gAAAAAB...

Each connection is encrypted as JSON with Fernet, containing:

• Connection ID, type, description
• Host, schema, login, password (encrypted)
• Port, extra configuration (encrypted if flagged)

Filename format: airflow_connections_[timestamp]_[profile_name].csv

Architecture

Built with modern Swift and SwiftUI:

• MVVM Architecture: Clean separation of concerns
• Async/Await: Non-blocking database and file operations
• SwiftUI: Native macOS interface
• Keychain Services: Secure credential storage
• PostgresNIO: Async PostgreSQL client
• SwiftFernet: Python-compatible Fernet encryption

Dependencies

• SwiftFernet - Fernet encryption
• PostgresNIO - PostgreSQL driver
• CryptoSwift - Cryptographic operations

Security Considerations

Best Practices

• ✅ Store Fernet keys in password managers
• ✅ Use separate file encryption keys per export
• ✅ Share CSV files and keys through different channels
• ✅ Test connections before production imports
• ✅ Use "Stop completely" strategy by default
• ✅ Keep export files out of version control

What's Stored Where

• Keychain (encrypted by macOS):
  • Database passwords
  • Airflow Fernet keys

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Submit a pull request

Roadmap

Future enhancements being considered:

• Connections search and filtering
• Connection comparison tool
• Auto-backup before import

License

Apache 2.0

Acknowledgments

• Built with ❤️ for the Airflow community
• Inspired by the need for better DevOps tooling

Support

Found a bug? Have a feature request? Open an issue!

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Made by a developer who got tired of manually copying connection configs 🚀