> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.elentra.org/technical/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.elentra.org/technical/developers/troubleshooting/switching-databases.md).

# Switching Databases

## Using a Different Database

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Please see [Login Checklist ](/technical/developers/troubleshooting/logging-in.md#login-checklist)for troubleshooting steps if you are experiencing issues with logging into your development installation of Elentra.
{% endhint %}

Often you want to test development code on different datasets (e.g. a fresh Elentra install, or a copy of your staging/production data). You can have multiple datasets in your database at the same time, and switch between them.

* Create a new Elentra ME auth database and import the new auth data into it.
* Create a new Elentra ME database and import the new Elentra ME data into it.
* Create a new Elentra ME clerkship database and import the new clerkship data into it.
* In the `database` section of the array in `config.inc.php`, set the `entrada_database`,`auth_database`, and `clerkship_database` values to the names of the new databases.
* Ensure that the database user (defined in `config.inc.php`) has select/update/create/delete access to all three of the above databases.
* Ensure that there is a user with suitable entries in the `[auth_schema].user_access` linked to an organisation in the `[auth_shema].organisations` table
  * This organisation should also have a corresponding entry in the `[auth_schema].registered_apps` table. 
  * The ID of this entry should be configured as the `AUTH_APP_ID` in the `settings.inc.php` file.
* Run migrations on the new dataset (in a terminal, go to the root of your installation and type: `php elentra migrate --up`).
* If you are importing old user credentials on top of the new dataset, in order to login you must update the `[auth_schema].user_data` table. You can either import the entire old User row or copy the old fields (`username`, `password`, `salt` and `uuid`) into the new dataset.

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 It is not necessary to update the `user_data` table to use Elentra's "Login as" functionality, for all users, only the ones you will login as from the Elentra login page.
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