Template Management

• Template Management
  • Starting from Scratch (No Production Dump)
    • Generate a clean template
    • Install additional modules during generation
    • Named templates for different projects
  • From a Production Dump
  • Saving a Branch as Template
  • Reloading a Template
  • Listing and Dropping Templates
  • Template Metadata
  • Template Decision Matrix

Templates are the foundation of Oduflow's instant environment creation. A template consists of a PostgreSQL dump file and an optional filestore directory.

Create templates from production dumps, staging snapshots, or from scratch. Maintain multiple named templates side-by-side (e.g. per Odoo version, per client, per project phase) and spin up any combination of branch + database in seconds.

Starting from Scratch (No Production Dump)

If you don't have a production database dump — for example, you're starting a new Odoo project or just want to try Oduflow — you can generate a clean template automatically.

Generate a clean template

oduflow init-template --odoo-image odoo:17.0 --template-name default

If a dump.sql or filestore already exists, the command will refuse to run. Use --force to overwrite:

oduflow init-template --odoo-image odoo:17.0 --template-name default --force

This will:

1. Start a PostgreSQL container (if not already running)
2. Run a temporary Odoo container that initializes a fresh database with the base module
3. Dump the database to {data_dir}/team_{ID}/templates/{name}/dump.pgdump
4. Extract the filestore to {data_dir}/team_{ID}/templates/{name}/filestore/
5. Load the dump into the template database automatically

Install additional modules during generation

oduflow init-template --odoo-image odoo:17.0 --template-name default --modules base,web,contacts,sale

Named templates for different projects

oduflow init-template --odoo-image odoo:17.0 --template-name myproject-v17
oduflow init-template --odoo-image odoo:15.0 --template-name legacy-v15

From a Production Dump

Place your dump file at {data_dir}/team_{ID}/templates/default/dump.sql (plain SQL) or dump.pgdump (PostgreSQL custom format) and optionally copy the filestore:

mkdir -p /srv/oduflow/team_1/templates/default/
cp /path/to/production.sql /srv/oduflow/team_1/templates/default/dump.sql
cp -r /path/to/filestore/ /srv/oduflow/team_1/templates/default/filestore/
oduflow reload-template default

Saving a Branch as Template

When you've made significant changes in a branch environment (installed modules, created configurations), you can save it as the new template:

oduflow template-from-env my-branch --template-name default
oduflow template-from-env my-branch --template-name myproject  # save to a named template

This operation:

1. Dumps the branch database to a new template dump file
2. Reloads the template database from the new dump
3. Snapshots the branch's merged filestore
4. Unmounts all overlay filesystems across active environments
5. Replaces the template filestore with the snapshot
6. Remounts overlays for all active environments (clearing their upper dirs)
7. Restarts all active containers

Warning

Destructive operation: All other environments lose their filestore deltas and are reset to the new baseline.

Reloading a Template

Update the template from a newer production dump without touching the filestore:

oduflow reload-template default --dump-path /path/to/new.dump
oduflow reload-template myproject --dump-path /path/to/new.dump

Listing and Dropping Templates

# List all template profiles with their status
oduflow list-templates

# Delete a template profile (removes DB + files from disk)
oduflow delete-template myproject

Template Metadata

Each template profile can contain a metadata.json file that stores defaults and configuration:

{
  "odoo_image": "odoo:17.0",
  "repo_url": "https://github.com/company/addons.git",
  "extra_addons": {"enterprise": "17.0"},
  "use_overlay": true,
  "source_url": "https://my-odoo.example.com",
  "source_db": "production",
  "odoo_version": "17.0+e",
  "pg_version": "15.0"
}

When create_environment is called with a template name, repo_url, odoo_image, and extra_addons are automatically loaded from metadata if not explicitly provided. This means after importing or configuring a template, you can create environments with just branch and template_name — all other parameters are inherited.

The use_overlay flag determines whether new environments use fuse-overlayfs (for large filestores) or a simple copy (for small ones). It is set automatically based on overlay_threshold_mb (in [storage]) when the template is created.

Template Decision Matrix

Scenario	Command
New project, no existing database	oduflow init-template --odoo-image odoo:17.0 --template-name default
Regenerate template from scratch	oduflow init-template --odoo-image odoo:17.0 --template-name default --force
Named template for a specific project	oduflow init-template --odoo-image odoo:17.0 --template-name myproject
Have a production dump file	Place dump at {data_dir}/team_{ID}/templates/default/dump.sql and run oduflow reload-template default
Need to install modules or configure the template	Create an env, configure it, then oduflow template-from-env my-branch --template-name default
Update the template from a newer production dump	oduflow reload-template default --dump-path /path/to/new.dump
Save a branch environment as template	oduflow template-from-env my-branch --template-name default
List all templates	oduflow list-templates
Delete a template	oduflow delete-template myproject