Bulk importing IT asset data

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">Rather than adding IT asset records one at a time, you can bulk-add and update many records at once by importing a CSV (comma-separated values) file. You must be an admin to bulk import custom object records.</p>
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<p class="p">Rather than adding IT asset records one at a time, you can bulk-add and update many
records at once by importing a CSV (comma-separated values) file. You must be an admin
to bulk import custom object records.</p>
<div class="p">This article contains the following topics:<ul class="ul" id="topic_rc1_zzj_cjc__ul_p15_bsm_cjc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_hzp_fsm_cjc">Importing the IT asset records with the data importer</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_obk_2hx_cjc">Bulk importing asset records with action flows</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_hzp_fsm_cjc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Importing the IT asset records with the data importer</h2>
<div class="body">
<div class="p">You can use the data importer to import the CSV file to create new IT asset records.
When using the data importer, the following requirements apply:<ul class="ul" id="topic_hzp_fsm_cjc__ul_wqz_4sm_cjc">
<li class="li">The import CSV file can't exceed 1 GB in size or 10,000 rows of data.
Furthermore, each row can't exceed 32 KB in size.</li>
<li class="li">The import CSV file can contain a maximum of 100 columns.</li>
<li class="li">Don't include the same record more than once within a CSV file. Doing so can
cause your import to fail.</li>
<li class="li">There's no guarantee that asset records are created or updated in the order
they appear in the CSV file.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To bulk import asset data</strong><ol class="ol" id="topic_hzp_fsm_cjc__ol_crt_s1h_bhc">
<li class="li">Before you can bulk upload IT asset records, you must:<ul class="ul" id="topic_hzp_fsm_cjc__ul_t15_ktm_cjc">
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9817310808090" target="_blank">Create and configure</a> the
IT asset type and asset fields.</li>
<li class="li">Create a <a class="xref" href="#topic_d2h_dsm_cjc">properly
formatted CSV file</a>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_hzp_fsm_cjc__d8e2071" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_objects_rules_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Objects and rules</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Tools &gt; Data importer</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Import</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Target destination</strong>, select <strong class="ph b">Assets</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Import type</strong>, choose one of the following:<ul class="ul" id="topic_hzp_fsm_cjc__ul_jr5_s5t_g1c">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Create only</strong>: Only new asset records are created. Any data in
the CSV file pertaining to existing records is ignored.</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Update only</strong>: Replace data for the existing asset records
listed in your CSV file. Any data pertaining to new records is
ignored.</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Create and update</strong>: Create new asset records and update data
for the existing asset records listed in your CSV file.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">File upload</strong>, drag and drop your file or <strong class="ph b">click to upload</strong>
and select your CSV file from the file browser.<p class="p">If you need to change the
file you've selected, click the delete icon (<img class="image" id="topic_hzp_fsm_cjc__image_cfm_mj5_sxb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/sell_icon_trashcan.png" width="16">) next to the file name.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Next</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Review the <strong class="ph b">Field mapping</strong> list.<ul class="ul" id="topic_hzp_fsm_cjc__ul_sv3_5j5_sxb">
<li class="li">If the field mapping is correct, click <strong class="ph b">Next</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">If the field mapping isn't correct, click <strong class="ph b">Back</strong>. Edit your CSV
file to adhere to the format requirements, and then re-upload the
file.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">Review the summary of import details in the confirmation dialog and then
click <strong class="ph b">Start import</strong>.<p class="p">After the import starts, the imported changes
can't be reverted. To check the status of an import, check your <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5789034291738" target="_blank">import history</a>.</p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested2" id="topic_d2h_dsm_cjc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title3">Creating the asset data CSV file</h3>
<div class="body">
<div class="p">To bulk import IT asset records, you must use a CSV file. Your CSV file must
adhere to the following guidelines:<ul class="ul" id="topic_d2h_dsm_cjc__ul_jqc_dsm_cjc">
<li class="li">The file must be properly formatted CSV and saved using UTF-8 character
encoding.</li>
<li class="li">The first row of the CSV file is the header row.</li>
<li class="li">The header row must contain the following columns: <strong class="ph b">name</strong>, <strong class="ph b">asset
type</strong>, <strong class="ph b">status</strong>, and <strong class="ph b">external_id</strong>. All other field
names in the header row must be exact matches to the field keys in your
asset types.</li>
<li class="li">Each row must contain valid values for all of the asset type's required
fields. Otherwise, the asset record can't be created.<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> The asset
type, status, and location values are case-sensitive. Inconsistent
capitalization between your CSV file and the asset type, status, and
location names in Zendesk can result in a failure to create or
update asset records. <p class="p">Unrecognized location values, including
variations in capitalization, result in the creation of new
locations of that name.</p>
</div>
</li>
<li class="li">To import values for dropdown fields, use the custom dropdown field's
field_key as the column heading and specify the options tag, not the
user-friendly value. </li>
<li class="li">To import values for lookup relationship fields, use the custom lookup
relationship field's field_key as the column heading and provide either
the record's ID or External ID. If you use the record's ID, provide the
value. If you use the External ID, use the format
external_id:<em class="ph i">value</em>, where <em class="ph i">value</em> is replaced with the
related record's external ID value.<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> To assign an asset to a user
during an import, you can provide the user's email in place of the
user's id or external id. Assets are linked to existing Zendesk
users only. </div>
</li>
<li class="li">The External system and Reference ID properties must be used together as
a pair or not at all. Together, these values are used to associate
assets in Zendesk with records in external systems, such as Jamf and
Microsoft Intune.</li>
<li class="li">If you are not importing data for a field, do not list it in the header
row.</li>
<li class="li">Add line breaks to notes or multiline custom fields by pressing
ALT+ENTER on Windows or CTRL+OPTION+RETURN on macOS.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_obk_2hx_cjc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Bulk importing asset records with action flows</h2>
<div class="body">
<div class="p">When you connect Jamf Pro or Microsoft Intune to action builder, you can create an
action flow to automatically import your asset data in bulk directly from the
external system that contains it rather than having to manually create a CSV file
and import it with the data importer. The following templated action flows are
available for this:<ul class="ul" id="topic_obk_2hx_cjc__ul_rqx_1qx_cjc">
<li class="li">Bulk importing assets from Microsoft Intune</li>
<li class="li">Bulk importing computer assets from Jamf Pro</li>
<li class="li">Bulk importing mobile assets from Jamf Pro</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">These templated action flows run on a schedule to maintain asset data synchronization
between your external service and Zendesk.</p>
<p class="p">For more information, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10207262050330" target="_blank">Using Jamf Pro actions in action flows</a> and
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10207241177882" target="_blank">Using Microsoft Intune actions in action
flows</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
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