It's typically recommended to export a project through [the web interface](../../user/project/settings/import_export.md#exporting-a-project-and-its-data) or through [the API](../../api/project_import_export.md). In situations where this is not working as expected, it may be preferable to export a project directly via the Rails console:
If the project you wish to export is available at `https://gitlab.example.com/baltig/pipeline-templates`, the value to use for `PROJECT_PATH` would be `baltig/pipeline-templates`.
If this all runs successfully, you will see output like the following before being returned to the Rails console prompt:
```ruby
=>nil
```
The exported project will be located within a `.tar.gz` file in `/var/opt/gitlab/gitlab-rails/uploads/-/system/import_export_upload/export_file/`.