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+# Registry Data Import Usage Guide
+
+In order to import an RDE escrow file into Nomulus, four different mapreduce
+processes must be run in sequence. Future iterations of this feature may
+automate the sequence, but for now each step of the process must be run
+manually.
+
+Note that only contacts, hosts and domains are imported by this process. Other
+objects such as registrars and top level domains are not imported automatically,
+and must be configured before running this import process (see below).
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+This document assumes that the import process is being executed against a fully
+functioning instance of Nomulus that is set up with its own unique project
+id. See the other docs (particularly the [install guide](./install.md)) for
+details and helpful links.
+
+Before launching any of the import jobs, the top level domain (TLD) and all
+registrars that are included in the escrow file must be created in the registry;
+these cannot be created automatically. Detailed instructions on how to create
+TLDs, registrars and registrar contacts can be found in
+the [first steps tutorial](./first-steps-tutorial.md).
+
+## How to load an escrow file
+
+First of all, ensure that all of the cloud storage buckets are set up for
+nomulus.  See the [architecture documentation](./app-engine-architecture.md) for
+details.  The escrow file that will be imported should be uploaded to the
+`PROJECT-rde-import` cloud storage bucket. The escrow file should not be
+compressed or encrypted. When launching each mapreduce job, reference the
+absolute path to the file (just the path, not the bucket name) in the `path`
+argument.
+
+__TODO:__ Add `PROJECT-rde-import` bucket requirement to architecture doc.
+
+## Overview of import steps
+
+Due to the huge variety in size of domain registries, the number of objects
+included in escrow files can also vary widely. In order to process these files
+in a way that scales, the import of contacts, hosts and domains has been
+implemented as a series of four mapreduce jobs. The four jobs are summarized as
+follows:
+
+* Contacts Import - Creates contacts in the registry.
+* Hosts Import - Creates host objects in the registry. Note that only host
+  objects are supported at this time; escrow files with host attributes are not
+  supported and will be rejected by the import process.
+* Domains Import - Creates domain objects in the registry. This step will also
+  publish NS records and A records to dns as necessary based on referenced host
+  objects.
+* Hosts Link - Links hosts to their superordinate domain objects. This step is
+  necessary to establish data integrity for imported objects.
+
+The import steps __must__ be run in this order: Contacts Import, Hosts Import,
+Domains Import, Hosts Link.
+
+## Executing the import process
+
+The import process steps must be executed by a user that is logged in as an
+administrator of the deployed Nomulus instance. Currently, the way to launch the
+process is to manually enter the proper url into the user's web browser, which
+will kick off the mapreduce job and load its status page. The status page will
+serve as a way to monitor the progress of a job until completion. Once each job
+is completed, the user can launch the next step in the same fashion.
+
+Parameters:
+
+* path - This is the path to the escrow file in cloud storage.
+* mapShards - This is the number of shards that will be used to process the
+  file.  The process has been tested with a mapShards setting of 100, which
+  seems to perform well in most cases.
+
+The import process is deployed in the `backend` service, so "backend-dot-" will
+be prepended to the hostname. Replace `PROJECT` below with the unique project
+name under which the Nomulus instance is deployed, and `PATH` with the path to
+the escrow file.
+
+Launch Contacts Import:
+`https://backend-dot-PROJECT.appspot.com/_dr/importRdeContacts?path=PATH&mapShards=100`
+
+Launch Hosts Import:
+`https://backend-dot-PROJECT.appspot.com/_dr/importRdeHosts?path=PATH&mapShards=100`
+
+Launch Domains Import:
+`https://backend-dot-PROJECT.appspot.com/_dr/importRdeDomains?path=PATH&mapShards=100`
+
+Launch Hosts Link:
+`https://backend-dot-PROJECT.appspot.com/_dr/linkRdeHosts?path=PATH&mapShards=100`
+
+For each job, the mapreduce user interface will display the status of the
+running job.  The job is finished when all of the boxes on the left turn green
+(at which point the next step of the process can be safely launched). If any of
+the boxes turn red, it means that the job failed and the logs should be
+consulted for errors (see below).
+
+Note that each of these steps is idempotent, and can be run many times with no
+harmful side effects or duplicated data.
+
+## Monitoring and troubleshooting
+
+On the status page, several counters will be shown as the job progresses,
+indicating the number of operations attempted, how many succeeded, how many were
+ignored, and if there were any errors. This is a good tool to understand at a
+high level how the job is progressing. The counters from a completed job can
+also be compared against the known count of resources from an escrow file to
+determine if the import was successful or not.
+
+For a more detailed view, open up the logging for the project in
+the [Google Cloud Console](https://console.cloud.google.com). The application
+logs from the import process will show up under requests with a url that starts
+with `/_dr/mapreduce/workerCallback` - the logs provide a detailed view of which
+resources were read from file, which were imported, which had already existed
+before the import, and which failed to import.
+
+## Known limitations
+
+Currently, the ID of all registrars in the escrow file must match those that are
+already configured in the registry. Future work is planned to map between
+different internal and external registrar IDs by using the IANA IDs, which are
+always consistent between registries.
+