README

Copy a database between environments (e.g. production → staging) through a disk such as S3. The copy is anonymized before it leaves the source server, so the real data never reaches the bucket nor the other environment.

Production ──database-copy:export──▶ dump → anonymization database (same server) → anonymize → dump → encrypt
                                                                                                   │
                                                          disk: {environment}/{name}/{Y-m-d-H-i-s}.zip
                                                                                                   │
Staging    ◀──database-copy:import── decrypt → check it is anonymized → replace database → migrate ┘

Installation

composer require sextanet/laravel-database-copy
php artisan vendor:publish --tag="database-copy-config"

DATABASE_COPY_DISK=s3
DATABASE_COPY_PASSWORD=          # the SAME in every environment
DATABASE_COPY_NAME=my-app        # folder of this app in the disk (default: slug of APP_NAME)

# Source environment only
DATABASE_COPY_ANONYMIZATION_DATABASE=   # default: {database}_anonymized
DATABASE_COPY_EMAIL_DOMAIN=anonymized.test
DATABASE_COPY_KEEP_EMAILS=seba@sextanet.cl   # rows that keep their data, comma separated

The source environment needs mysqldump/mysql (or sqlite3, pg_dump/psql) and an empty anonymization database on the same server that the database user can write to:

CREATE DATABASE my_app_anonymized;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON my_app_anonymized.* TO 'my_app'@'localhost';

It is emptied after every export, even when something fails. With SQLite there is nothing to create: the file (database/database_anonymized.sqlite by default) is created and deleted on every export.

Anonymization

config/database-copy.php is the source of truth of what is personal data. Add every table or column with personal data there:

'tables' => [
    'users' => [
        'name' => 'first_name',
        'last_name' => 'last_name',
        'rut' => 'rut',
        'email' => 'email',
        'phone' => 'phone',
        'birthday' => 'null',
        'password' => 'password',
        'remember_token' => 'null',
    ],
    'comments' => [
        'email' => 'email',
        'ip' => 'ip',
        'user_agent' => 'user_agent',
        'address' => 'address', // any Faker formatter
    ],
],

'truncate' => ['sessions', 'password_reset_tokens', 'personal_access_tokens', 'jobs', 'failed_jobs'],

Tables or columns that do not exist are skipped. Anonymized tables need an id column.

Usage

# Source (production): upload an anonymized copy
php artisan database-copy:export

# Target (staging, local): replace this database with the latest copy from production
php artisan database-copy:import
php artisan database-copy:import --from=staging
php artisan database-copy:import --file=production/my-app/2026-10-04-03-30-00.zip

Copies are named with the date of the source app in its timezone (config('app.timezone'), UTC by default).

Schedule the export in the source environment:

Schedule::command('database-copy:export')->dailyAt('03:30');

Safety:

database-copy:import never runs in protected_environments (production by default) and asks for confirmation (unless --force).
It refuses a copy that is not anonymized (database-copy:export --without-anonymization) unless --with-real-data.
The copy is decrypted and checked before the database is touched.
The export refuses to anonymize when the anonymization database is the source database.

Testing

composer test

Credits

SextaNet

License

The MIT License (MIT). Please see License File for more information.

sextanet / laravel-database-copy

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