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Tag Copier (Post)

Brandon Langley
Updated

Tag Copier

License: PRO+ (Professional Edition or higher)
Plugin Type: Post-Index Plugin
Author: Diskover Data, Inc.

Overview

The Tag Copier post-index plugin preserves your valuable tag metadata when you re-index storage locations. Whether tags were applied manually by users or automatically through plugins like AutoTag, Tag Copier ensures this important classification data isn't lost during scheduled re-indexing operations.

When Diskover creates a new index for a storage location, any tags that existed in the previous index would normally be lost. Tag Copier solves this by migrating tags from the old (source) index to the new (target) index after indexing completes. The plugin intelligently merges tags, handles duplicates, and can exclude specific tags you don't want copied.

License Requirement: Professional Edition or higher

Use Cases

Preserving Manual Classifications: Your team has spent time manually tagging files for projects, reviews, or organizational purposes. When the storage location is re-indexed on a weekly or monthly schedule, Tag Copier ensures these manual classifications persist automatically.

Retaining Automated Tags: Plugins like AutoTag may have applied lifecycle tags, cost classifications, or workflow markers. Tag Copier preserves these tags across index rebuilds so your automated workflows continue uninterrupted.

Maintaining Workflow State: If you use tags to track data lifecycle stages (archive candidates, files pending deletion, items under review), Tag Copier keeps this workflow state intact when indices are refreshed.

Index-Time vs Post-Index Tag Copying

Diskover offers two approaches for preserving tags across re-indexes:

Approach

When It Runs

Best For

Index-Time Plugin

During the indexing scan

Environments where tag preservation is always needed and configured in advance

Post-Index Plugin (this guide)

After indexing completes

Situations where the index-time plugin wasn't configured, or when you need to run tag copying as a separate scheduled task

The post-index Tag Copier plugin is particularly useful when you need to copy tags after the fact—perhaps the index-time plugin wasn't enabled during a re-index, or you prefer to run tag migration as a distinct workflow step for better control and visibility.

Installation

The Tag Copier plugin is included with Diskover Professional Edition and higher. The plugin files are located in the post-index plugins directory.

Prerequisites

  • Diskover core installation with plugin support

  • Python 3.9 or higher

  • Elasticsearch 7.x or 8.x (as supported by your Diskover installation)

  • Access to both source (old) and target (new) Elasticsearch indices

Verify Installation

Confirm the plugin files exist in your Diskover installation:

Linux:

ls -la /opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_tagcopier/

Windows:

dir "C:\Program Files\Diskover\plugins_postindex\diskover_tagcopier\"

You should see:

  • diskover_tagcopier.py — The main plugin script

  • README.md — Plugin documentation

Check Plugin Version

Linux:

python3 /opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_tagcopier/diskover_tagcopier.py --version

Windows:

python "C:\Program Files\Diskover\plugins_postindex\diskover_tagcopier\diskover_tagcopier.py" --version

Configuration

Configuration is managed through the Diskover Admin Panel. Navigate to Plugins → Post Index → Tag Coier to access the settings.

Sample Configuraiton in Diskover Admin:

Here is the beginning of our sample configuration There are many other configuraitons for the Tag Copier plugin - covered in detail below!

Configuration Parameters

Parameter

Type

Default

Description

maxthreads

Integer

4

Number of processing threads. Set to 0 for automatic detection based on CPU cores.

copy_file_tags

Boolean

True

Whether to copy tags from file documents.

copy_directory_tags

Boolean

True

Whether to copy tags from directory documents.

exclude_tags

List

['mediainfo-plugin', 'bad-video']

Specific tags to exclude from being copied to the target index.

exclude_autotags

List

['autotag', 'archive', 'delete', 'cleanlist']

Tags that identify documents to skip entirely during processing.

Understanding Tag Exclusion Options

The plugin offers two different exclusion mechanisms:

exclude_tags: These specific tags will not be copied to the target index, but the document's other tags will still be processed. Use this when certain tags should not carry over (perhaps they're regenerated by other plugins during indexing).

exclude_autotags: Documents containing any of these tags are skipped entirely during the source index search. This improves performance by reducing the number of documents to process. Use this for tags that are automatically re-applied during indexing anyway.

Example Configurations

Default Configuration

Suitable for most environments where you want to preserve both file and directory tags:

image-20260224-192144.png

High-Performance Configuration

For large indices with millions of documents, let the plugin auto-detect optimal thread count:

image-20260224-192227.png

Files-Only Configuration

Copy tags only from file documents, skipping directory tags:

image-20260224-192312.png

Execution

Tag Copier can be run manually from the command line or automated through Diskover's scheduling features.

Manual Execution

Basic Syntax

Linux:

python3 /opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_tagcopier/diskover_tagcopier.py [OPTIONS] <source_index> <target_index>

Windows:

python "C:\Program Files\Diskover\plugins_postindex\diskover_tagcopier\diskover_tagcopier.py" [OPTIONS] <source_index> <target_index>

Command-Line Options

Option

Description

-a, --autoindexfrom

Automatically find the source index based on the target index's top paths

-c, --configurationname

Use a named configuration defined in the Admin Panel

-v, --verbose

Enable detailed logging output

--version

Display the plugin version and exit

Examples

Copy tags between two specific indices:

Linux:

python3 /opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_tagcopier/diskover_tagcopier.py diskover-2024.12.01 diskover-2025.01.15

Windows:

python "C:\Program Files\Diskover\plugins_postindex\diskover_tagcopier\diskover_tagcopier.py" diskover-2024.12.01 diskover-2025.01.15

Auto-discover the source index:

Linux:

python3 /opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_tagcopier/diskover_tagcopier.py -a diskover-2025.01.15

Windows:

python "C:\Program Files\Diskover\plugins_postindex\diskover_tagcopier\diskover_tagcopier.py" -a diskover-2025.01.15

Use a named configuration with verbose output:

Linux:

python3 /opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_tagcopier/diskover_tagcopier.py -c high-performance -v diskover-old diskover-new

Windows:

python "C:\Program Files\Diskover\plugins_postindex\diskover_tagcopier\diskover_tagcopier.py" -c high-performance -v diskover-old diskover-new

Automated Execution

Tag Copier can be scheduled to run automatically after indexing completes:

Post-Crawl Command (Index Task)

Configure Tag Copier to run automatically after a specific Index Task completes. This is ideal when you want tag copying tied directly to a particular storage location's re-indexing schedule.

Linux Example:

Field

Value

Post-Crawl Command

python3

Post-Crawl Command Args

/opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_tagcopier/diskover_tagcopier.py -a {indexname}

Sample Post-Crawl Command configuraiton for Tag Copier executing with an Index Task:

In your system ensure to replace the ConfigurationName above with a named configuraiton that you’ve created at Diskover Admin → Plugins → Post-Index → Tag Copier – If you are not using a custom configuration and you’re just using Default than the -c flag and the ConfigurationName is not required!

Windows Example:

Field

Value

Post-Crawl Command

python

Post-Crawl Command Args

"C:\Program Files\Diskover\plugins_postindex\diskover_tagcopier\diskover_tagcopier.py" -a {indexname}

Available Index Task Tokens:

  • {indexname} — The name of the index that was just created

Using the -a flag with {indexname} allows the plugin to automatically discover the previous index for the same storage location.

Reviewing the Output

Console Output

During execution, Tag Copier provides progress information. With verbose mode (-v), you'll see detailed thread activity:

Starting diskover tag copier ...
Finding previous index name...
Found previous index diskover-2024.12.01
Finding and copying any tags in index diskover-2024.12.01 to index diskover-2025.01.15...
searching for tags:* AND NOT tags:(autotag OR archive OR delete OR cleanlist) AND type:(file OR directory) in source index...
thread 0 started searching for 500 docs in destination index...
thread 1 started searching for 500 docs in destination index...
thread 0 finished searching destination index in 2.3s
thread 0 finished updating tags for 487 docs in 0.8s
...
Finished searching source index and enqueueing 15234 docs in 45.2s
Waiting for tag copy threads to finish...
Finished tagging 14891 docs in 1m 23s

Key Log Messages

Message

Meaning

Starting diskover tag copier ...

Plugin initialized successfully

Found previous index <n>

Auto-discovery located the source index (when using -a)

Finished tagging X docs in Y

Processing complete — X documents had tags copied

Log File Location

Tag Copier writes to the standard Diskover log location. Check your Diskover configuration for the log directory path.

Verifying Success

After Tag Copier completes, verify tags were copied by:

  1. Opening Diskover search page (ensuring new index is refreshed and loaded)

  2. Either search for tags or performing doc search that should result in files containing tag

  3. Confirming the expected tags appear in the search results

Searching in Diskover

After running Tag Copier, you can search for tagged documents to verify the migration and work with your preserved tags.

Finding Tagged Documents

Search for all documents with any tags:

tags:*

Search for documents with a specific tag:

tags:project-alpha

Search for documents with workflow tags:

tags:(archive OR delete OR review)

Searching for specific tags using # search:

image-20260224-194300.png

Verifying Tag Migration

To confirm tags were successfully copied, search for a specific file and check its tags:

name:important-report.xlsx AND tags:*

Find files in a specific location that have tags:

parent_path:/mnt/data/projects/* AND tags:*
image-20260224-194400.png

Troubleshooting

No Tags Copied (0 Documents Tagged)

Possible Causes:

  • The source index has no tagged documents

  • All tagged documents match the exclude_autotags filter and are being skipped

  • Documents exist in the source index but not in the target index (different storage paths)

Resolution:

  • Verify the source index contains tagged documents by searching tags:* in that index

  • Review your exclude_autotags configuration—documents with any of these tags are skipped entirely

  • Ensure both indices cover the same storage locations

Index Not Found Error

Message: <index_name> no such index!

Resolution:

  • Verify the exact index name (case-sensitive)

  • Ensure the target index has finished populating before running Tag Copier

  • List available indices to confirm spelling: check Diskover's index selection dropdown

Auto-Index Discovery Fails

Message: No previous index found!

Resolution:

  • Ensure a previous index exists for the same storage location (same top paths)

  • Manually specify both source and target indices instead of using -a

  • Verify the previous index hasn't been deleted

Enabling Debug Logging

Run with verbose mode to see detailed processing information:

Linux:

python3 /opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_tagcopier/diskover_tagcopier.py -v <source_index> <target_index>

Windows:

python "C:\Program Files\Diskover\plugins_postindex\diskover_tagcopier\diskover_tagcopier.py" -v <source_index> <target_index>

Support

For additional assistance with the Tag Copier plugin:

Last Updated: April 2026

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