Documentation forService Desk

CSV file imports, updates, and exports

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Introduction

In Service Desk you can choose to import new computers, contracts, incidents, mobile devices, other assets, users, and solutions via a comma-separated value (CSV) file. In many cases you can import directly from the specific object-type index page in the UI (see the table below). In other cases, administrators can Import information via API.

From the UI, you can also use a CSV file to update existing records for those object types. SolarWinds provides CSV templates for easy importing and updating.

In addition, from many index pages you can export data to a CSV file.

The columns in an exported data file differ from the columns in the CSV templates provided for importing. Exported CSVs should not be used for importing.

Import and update overview

Each object type has a different template. In each template, some or all fields are required for successful import and update. Some fields have selection options available out of the box. If your organization has not created any specific selection options, you can use out-of-the-box options.

You cannot import sites or departments. Those must be set up in your instance of Service Desk before you import any assets or users.

Be aware that user records can only be imported via CSV file by an ITSM administrator or an ESM Organization level administrator.

When uploading a CSV file, the upload creates new records unless it finds a record that already exists. When a record already exists and there's an exact match to its unique identifier, the record is updated.

Be aware that if you are importing new users, Service Desk will not send activation emails to CSV-imported users.

Update records

To update existing records you can use the same template files. An update will occur instead of an import when Service Desk matches on a record's Update Identifier field.

Export overview

You can export data to CSV from an index page or from a report.

Export from an index page

Many index pages (tables), for example, the Incidents, Problems, Changes, and others, contain an Actions button that lets you:

Export via CSV, XML, PDF, and more

Depending on the amount of data being exported, it can take a few hours for you to receive an email notification that the export is complete. If it takes longer than 24 hours, open a ticket with Technical support.

When opening exported csv files in Excel, any cell containing over 32,767 characters will cause the spreadsheet to display misaligned rows. You need to edit the contents of the cell by reducing the number of characters to less than 32,767. This will resolve the alignment issue.

Export from a report

See Report data exports in Reports.

Import and update instructions using the SolarWinds template and UI

SolarWinds recommends using a CSV template we provide for managing the data you will import. If you choose to use your own CSV file containing custom fields, you will be required to map your fields to the Service Desk fields.

Before you begin

Be careful of your data entry. For example, if you are assigning a site or department to a device, be sure to exactly match the site and department in your import source file to those in Service Desk.

If you use any custom fields in your import, create the custom fields in Service Desk before performing your import. Otherwise, the content will not import properly.

When you want to update records, you need to use a unique identifier to match an existing record in Service Desk.

  • If the import-and-update process does not find a match, it will create a new record.

  • If the import-and-update process finds a match, it updates the record.

The Import & Update process updates matching records by replacing mapped field data with information provided in your CSV file.

Any improperly populated template can result in a failed import or record update. For example, if you misspell a site name, any record with improperly spelled site name will not import/update. It is important to perform a content quality check on your CSV file before attempting an import.

Updating custom fields is not currently supported.
Be sure to complete all 5 steps.

Step 1

Identify the template you need to use for the type of data you will import and update.

Record type you are importing Template(s) Template fields
(see table footnotes)

Computers

To import or update, navigate to Assets > Computers for Step 2 below.

 Import_Hardwares.csv

 

Special instructions:

Notice that serial number and model number are located in the BIOS column and are separated by a tilde (~).

  • Serial number is indicated by ssn: .
  • Model number is indicated by model: .
Also notice that in both examples above, the colon is followed by a space.

To update using a serial number, a unique identifier is required. Be sure your CSV file contains ssn: at the beginning of the cell BEFORE the serial number. The data in each cell must be presented this way for the update to be successful.

Example:

ssn: 12345

Unique identifiers for updating:

  • Serial Number
  • Asset ID

ESM customers can only import and update computers via CSV at the IT service provider level.

You can only use individual owners with the update or import process. The fields in Out-of-the-box field selection options for imports are those that currently work outside of your custom fields.

These fields work outside of your custom fields.

  • Name (required)
  • Description (text field)
  • Site (use your organization's sites)
  • Department (use your organization's departments)
  • CPU (text field)
  • Operating System (text field)
  • Category (see Category selection options)
  • Asset Status (see Asset Status selection options)
  • Owner (use your organization's owners)
  • Asset ID (text field)
  • Bios (serial number is a required field)
  • Custom field (add custom fields if applicable)

Contracts

To import, navigate to Procurement > Contracts > [selected contract] for Step 2 below.

Import_Contract Items.csv

  • Name
  • Qty
  • Tag
  • Version

Import_Contract Purchases.csv

Limitation:

A list of contracts cannot be imported. You must first create the contract manually. You can then import contract information, such as items or purchases, to the existing contract. Items include the number of software licenses and version, while purchases cover information such as date of purchase, vendor, and cost. Contract renewal reminders can only be added to contracts manually. See Contracts for ITAM.

ESM customers can import contract information via CSV at the Service Provider level.

Incidents

To import or update, navigate to Service Desk > Incidents for Step 2 below.

Import_Incidents.csv

 

Special instructions:

You can backdate the Created_At field using the template. The following date formats are supported: yyyy-mm-dd, dd-mm-yyyy, yyyy/mm/dd, dd/mm/yyyy.

ESM customers can import incidents via CSV at the Service Provider level.

Be aware that importing incidents via CSV only imports the text of the incident. Attachments and screenshots are not imported directly from an incidents CSV file.

Unique identifiers for updating:

  • Incident ID
  • Incident Number
  • Title (required)
  • Requester (required)
  • Priority (see Priority selection options)
  • Description
  • Assignee
  • Category (use your organization's ticketing categories)
  • Subcategory (use your organization's ticketing subcategories)
  • Department (use your organization's departments)
  • Site (use your organization's sites)
  • State (see State selection options)
  • Comments
  • Created At

Mobile devices

To import or update, navigate to Assets > Mobile Devices for Step 2 below.

Import_Mobile_Devices.csv

 

Special instructions:

ITSM administrators or an ESM administrator for the IT Service Provider can import mobile devices.

Unique identifiers for updating:

  • Serial Number
  • IMEI
  • Department (use your organization's departments)
  • Description
  • Device Type (seeDevice Type selection options)
  • IMEI
  • Manufacturer
  • Model
  • Owner (use your organization's owners)
  • Phone Number
  • Serial Number
  • Service Provider
  • Site (use your organization's sites)
  • Status (see Asset Status field selection options)
  • Tags
  • Technical Contact (use your organization's technical contacts)

Other assets

To import or update, navigate to Assets > Other Assets for Step 2 below.

Import_Other_Assets.csv

 

Special instructions:

ESM customers can import other assets via CSV at the Service Provider level.

Unique identifiers for updating:

  • Serial Number
  • Asset ID
  • Name (required)
  • Manufacturer (required)
  • Type (see Type selection options)
  • Status (see Asset Status selection options)
  • Model
  • Serial Number
  • Asset ID
  • IP
  • Description
  • Owner (use your organization's owners)
  • User (use your organization's users)
  • Site (use your organization's sites)
  • Department (use your organization's departments)

Users

To import or update, navigate to Setup > Users & Groups > Users for Step 2 below.

 Import_Users.csv

 

Special instructions:

If you choose to import a group of users from a CSV file, match the sites and departments in your import source file so they are an exact match to the sites and departments already set up in Service Desk.
Users can only be imported by an ITSM administrator or an ESM Organization level administrator.

Unique identifier for updating:

  • Email

Solutions

To import or update, navigate to Service Desk > Solutions for Step 2 below.

Import_Solutions.csv

 

Special instructions:

Solutions can be imported by an ESM service provider administrators.

Unique identifiers for updating:

  • Solution ID
  • Solution Number
  • Name (required)
  • Category (use your organization's categories)
  • Subcategory (use your organization's subcategories)
  • Description (required)
  • State (see State selection options)
  • Creator (email address)
  • Site (from your list of sites)
  • Department (from your list of departments)

Step 2

Navigate to the proper index table that matches the type of data you are importing or updating. (See navigation guidance in Column 1 of the table above.) For example, if you are importing or updating users, navigate to the Users index page to perform the import.

Step 3

On the index page, click the Actions dropdown in the top right corner and select CSV - Import and Update.

Step 4

In the Importing dialog, click Choose File, select the file you need to upload, and then click Open.

The mapping page opens. On the mapping page you can see the following:

  • Unique Identifier mapping. Use this option to select a column from the CSV file to match to the unique identifier field in Service Desk.

  • A map of which columns will import into which fields.

The example below shows a mapping page resulting from an import and update of computer records.

Under Column Mapping, on the left select the column in your CSV file that contains the Unique Identifier. On the right select the Service Desk field you want to map that to.

Every record you want to update needs a unique identifier. If there is no unique identifier, Service Desk cannot match to an existing record so it creates a new record. If there are multiple matches, Service Deskupdates only the first match it finds. For example, if there are two computers already in Service Desk, only the first is updated.

Because Service Desk is trying to find an exact match, you must make sure that the data in your CSV file Unique Identifier field is an exact match to what is already in Service Desk. Missing or misspelled data in the CSV file will not result in a match.

Mismatches can result in duplicate records.

For example, if you are updating user records, you can map the unique identifier to the user's email address.

Review the mapping and edit as needed.

Step 5

Be sure you have confirmed and changed mappings as described in Step 4. Click Import and Update to begin the process. Upon completion you will receive a notification email with a status report. The report will contain any errors encountered during the import.

Imports/updates can take several minutes depending on the number of records in your CSV file.

Import information via API

SolarWinds provides example scripts that are not supported in any way.

What you can import Instructions
Departments Import departments script
Warranty information Warranty sync scripts
Sites Warranty sync scripts

Out-of-the-box field selection options for imports

Some CSV templates contain fields that have options available. However, SolarWinds recommends that you use the field selection options available in your organization. To view the most current options available in your organization:

  1. Navigate to the index table for the type of device you want to import, for example Assets > Computers, and then click Add .

  2. From the new window that opens, open each dropdown menu to view the selection options for field included in the import template for the device type you want to import (for example, the Import_ Hardwares.csv if you are importing computers).

For Computers

  • Category selection options

    • None
    • Chromebase
    • Chromebit
    • Chromebook
    • Chromebox
    • Laptop
    • Mac Desktop
    • Mac Laptop
    • Macintosh
    • NAS / File Server
    • Other
    • PDA
    • Server
    • Server + VMware
    • Server - Unix
    • Standalone
    • Tablet
    • Thin Client
    • VM: Microsoft
    • VM: Parallels
    • VM: SWSoft
    • VM: Virtualization
    • VM: VMWare
    • VM: XenServer
    • Workstation

  • Asset Status selection options

    • Broken
    • Disposed
    • Duplicate
    • Hold
    • In Repair
    • Lost
    • Operational
    • Replacement
    • Spare
    • Stolen

For contracts

  • Recurrence selection options

    • One Time
    • Monthly
    • Quarterly
    • Annual

  • Currency selection options

    • USD
    • EUR
    • AED
    • ANG
    • ARS
    • AUD
    • BGN
    • BHD
    • BRL
    • BWP
    • CAD
    • CHF
    • CNY
    • COP
    • CZK
    • DKK
    • EGP
    • GBP
    • HKD
    • IDR
    • ILS
    • INR
    • JMD
    • JOD
    • JPY
    • KES
    • KRW
    • KWD
    • LKR
    • MXN
    • MYR
    • MZN
    • NAD
    • NOK
    • NPR
    • NTD
    • NZD
    • OMR
    • PEN
    • PHP
    • PKR
    • PLN
    • QAR
    • RON
    • RUB
    • RWF
    • SAR
    • SEK
    • SGD
    • THB
    • TND
    • TRY
    • TZS
    • UGX
    • VND
    • YER
    • ZAR

  • Vendor selection options

    • Cisco
    • Dell
    • Microsoft
    • SolarWinds Service Desk

For Incidents

  • State selection options

    • New
    • Closed

  • Priority selection options

    • None
    • Low
    • Medium
    • High
    • Critical

For mobile devices

  • Asset status selection options
    • Broken
    • Disposed
    • Duplicate
    • Hold
    • In Repair
    • Lost
    • Operational
    • Replacement
    • Spare
    • Stolen
  • Device Type
    • Phone
    • Tablet
    • Media Player
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • iOS
    • Windows
    • Android
    • Blackberry
    • Palm
    • Other

For other assets

  • Type selection options

    • Broadband Modem
    • Cable Modem
    • Coffee Machine
    • Desk
    • External Storage
    • Fax Machine
    • Hub
    • Modem
    • Monitor
    • Network Attached Storage
    • Network Printer
    • Office Chair
    • PBX
    • Phone
    • Projector
    • Router
    • Scanner
    • Shredder
    • Speaker Phone
    • Storage Area Network
    • Switch
    • Webcam
    • Wireless Access Point

  • Asset Status selection options

    • Broken
    • Disposed
    • Duplicate
    • Hold
    • In Repair
    • Lost
    • Operational
    • Replacement
    • Spare
    • Stolen

For users

  • Role selection options

    • Administrator
    • Requester
    • Service Agent User
    • Service Task User

  • Language selection options

    Although many languages are available, SolarWinds recommends that you import users with Default and let users select their own language.

    • Default
    • Arabic
    • Belarusian
    • Bulgarian
    • Catalan
    • Chinese Simplified
    • Chinese Traditional
    • Croatian
    • Czech
    • Danish
    • Dutch
    • English
    • Estonian
    • Finnish
    • French
    • German
    • Greek
    • Hebrew
    • Hindi
    • Hungarian
    • Indonesian
    • Italian
    • Japanese
    • Korean
    • Latvian
    • Lithuanian
    • Malay
    • Macedonian
    • Norwegian
    • Persian
    • Polish
    • Portuguese (Brazil)
    • Portuguese (Portugal)
    • Romanian
    • Russian
    • Serbian
    • Slovak
    • Slovenian
    • Spanish
    • Spanish (Latin America)
    • Swedish
    • Thai
    • Turkish
    • Ukranian
    • Vietnamese

For solutions

  • State selection options

    • Draft
    • Internal
    • Approved

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