Export is empty

[MichaelDim02]

The output seems normal:

Copying and renaming attachments
Creating markdown files
Creating HTML files
Done! Files exported to export_dir

No error messages. I've also checked the permissions.
The export_dir is empty, except for the stylesheet.

I'm using Linux and my Signal account is based on an android phone. Any ideas what the problem could be?

[carderne]

Hi @MichaelDim02, could you try re-running the script with --verbose and sharing anything interesting from the output.

[MichaelDim02]

Sure. Not much of a change, though.

`Fetching data from /home/michael/.config/Signal/sql/db.sqlite

Copying and renaming attachments

Creating markdown files

Creating HTML files

Done! Files exported to signal_export.
`
The sqlite file is there.

[carderne]

Weird, it must be picking up nothing in the database. A few things to try:

1. Run with --list-chats and see if there is any output.
2. Insert print(convos) on line 611, and run it. You should get a big dict keyed by user ID, but I'm guessing you're going to get something empty.
3. You could also add a print(result) to line 254 to see if messages are even being found.
4. Also print(result) to line 221 to see if contacts are being found.
5. Open the SQLite file however you like and see what's in the conversations and messages tables (but presumably this is fine since I assume Signal Desktop is working).

[MichaelDim02]

Hey sorry for the late response. I tried everything to no avail. The debug-print statements printed nothing. I couldn't open the sqlite, either with sqlite3 or sqlitebrowser, as both would throw the same error "File is not a database" or something of the like. Could this be because it's encrypted?

[carderne]

Sorry @MichaelDim02, I wrote a reply to this but apparently never sent it.

1. Comment out these lines:

   signal-export/sigexport/main.py

   Lines 266 to 267 in c4bb649

   	if db_file_decrypted.exists():
   	db_file_decrypted.unlink()

2. Run the script with the --manual flag.
3. There should now be a file called db-decrypt.sqlite in the same location as the original.
4. Try open that file in sqlitebrowser et al!

[carderne]

You could also try these steps: #26 (comment)