> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://upsolver.gitbook.io/content/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://upsolver.gitbook.io/content/quickstarts-1/jobs/ingestion/job-basics/ingest-to-a-staging-table.md).

# Ingest to a Staging Table

An ingestion job enables you to copy your data from a given source into a table created in a metastore connection. This table then serves as your staging table, and you can use it with Upsolver's [transformation jobs](/content/reference-1/sql-commands/jobs/create-job/transformation.md) to write to various target locations.

## Create a staging table

You need to create a job that reads from the source S3 bucket and writes to a staging table. Upsolver automatically converts your files into Apache Parquet format and creates a table with the appropriate schema in the AWS Glue Data Catalog.

The first step is to create a staging table to store your data. 

**Here’s the code to create a staging table:**

```sql
// Syntax
CREATE TABLE default_glue_catalog.<DB_NAME>.<STAGING_TABLE_NAME>()
    PARTITIONED BY $event_date;
    -- TABLE_DATA_RETENTION = 30 days
    
// Example
CREATE TABLE default_glue_catalog.upsolver_samples.orders_raw_data;
```

In this example, no columns or data types have been defined, enabling Upsolver to create them automatically based on the source data.

The next step is to create a job that copies your data into your staging table.

**Here's the code to create an ingestion job:**

```sql
// Syntax
CREATE JOB "<STAGING_JOB_NAME>"
    CONTENT_TYPE = JSON
AS COPY FROM S3 <S3 CONNECTION FROM STEP 1> 
    BUCKET = '<BUCKET NAME>'
    PREFIX = '<PREFIX NAME>'       
INTO default_glue_catalog.<DB_NAME>.<STAGING_TABLE_NAME>;
    
// Example
CREATE JOB load_orders_raw_data_from_s3
    CONTENT_TYPE = JSON
AS COPY FROM S3 upsolver_s3_samples 
    BUCKET = 'upsolver-samples' 
    // Note: the trailing slash is required
    PREFIX = 'orders/' 
// this is the table you created in step 1        
INTO default_glue_catalog.upsolver_samples.orders_raw_data;
```

Let’s understand what this example job does:&#x20;

1. Creates an ingestion job named **load\_orders\_raw\_data\_from\_s3**.
2. Automatically infers the schema and populates the column names and types in the Glue Data Catalog.&#x20;
3. Converts the source S3 files to Apache Parquet, which stores the data in a columnar format optimized for faster reads.
4. Copies the **orders** data from the **upsolver-samples** bucket into the **orders\_raw\_data** table in the data lake.