Bulk importing asset data

Importing an existing device list, and why cleaning the file matters more than the import. Type, status and location are case-sensitive, which catches people.

Importing an existing device list, and why cleaning the file matters more than the import. Type, status and location are case-sensitive, which catches people.

Import assets

1. Set up your types, fields, locations and statuses first. Importing into a structure that does not exist yet does not work.
2. Prepare a CSV with one row per asset. The header row needs name, asset type, status and external_id, plus a column per field you want to fill.
3. In Admin Center, click Objects and rules and select Tools > Data importer.
4. Click Import, set Target destination to Assets and pick an import type: Create only, Update only or Create and update.
5. Upload the file, click Next and check the field mapping.
6. Import twenty rows first and look at the result, then Start import for the rest.

The file itself has limits: at most 10,000 rows, 100 columns, 1 GB, and 32 KB per row. A larger estate is several files, imported one after another.

Clean the file first

Most device lists have grown over years and carry the marks of it.

• Duplicate serial numbers. Usually the same device entered twice by different people.
• Assigned users who left. Import those and your first useful report is a list of ghosts.
• Free-text statuses. "In gebruik", "in use" and "active" are three values meaning one thing.
• Devices that no longer exist. Every register carries some.

Fixing this in a spreadsheet takes an afternoon. Fixing it record by record afterwards takes a week.

Import the truth, not the file

A migration is the one moment when leaving something out is easy. Devices you know are gone, and equipment nobody can account for, do not have to come across. A smaller register that is right is worth far more than a complete one that is not.

Check the count

Assets count against your plan's allowance. Look at how many rows you are about to import against what you are entitled to, before rather than after.

See also

• Turning on IT asset management
• Setting up asset types, fields, locations and statuses
• Importing your existing users and organisations