This article covers how to manage users and groups through Secure File Transfer Protocol. SFTP enables the automatic import of files to create, update, and delete users, groups, memberships, and facilities. Each file type has its own set of column name requirements. See the sections below for detailed explanations, or download our example files. The standard SFTP integration supports uploading a single file for each data type (groups, users, memberships, and facilities). If you need to upload more than one file for any given data type, please contact your Account Manager or our Support team.
Automatic imports can occur at any interval that best fits your organization's needs. Typically uploads occur either daily or weekly.
Important Notes
It is important that the file(s) are formatted correctly to avoid errors.
For the user file, the fields are mostly the same as the Member List Download
Unique ID and Location (lat;lon) are not in the member list download file, but SFTP supports those. Unique ID is required.
A valid email is required per user. A valid placeholder email can be used if needed.
If files are uploaded using SFTP, we compare the unique IDs in the new file to:
Update any user with a matching ID.
Add a user for rows with a Unique ID that is not in the system.
Remove any users where the unique ID exists in the system but is no longer in the file.
There are settings to determine which fields data is pulled from that development will set.
The configuration of what fields are pulled must be configured by our development team.
What Data Can Be Transferred Using SFTP
Users
The following columns are required when importing a user file:
UniqueId: A unique identifier (such as Badge Number, User ID, or Employee ID)
First Name
Last Name
Email
The following columns are common, but not required:
Role (if the role column is included, values must match a known role in the system)
Title
Cell Phone
Business Phone
Location: if provided, user locations will be displayed for geo-fenced alerting
AssetId: required if importing facility data. Users will be associated with the correct facility if a match is found. Values are matched to the UniqueId column in the facility file
If you want to manage public users through SFTP, an additional column will need to be added.
Column Name: Classification
Column Values:
Internal: Used for any internal users within the file
Public: Used for any public users within the file
Public users apply to Government customers and Public Alerting Authorities.
Note:
The last column of the user file should be called MemberImport and all rows should be empty.
uniqueId | firstName | lastName | cellphone | title | role | MemberImport |
Groups
Required columns (in order):
uniqueId: Unique ID for the group
parentId: The unique ID for the parent group if the group is a subgroup. If the group is not a subgroup leave this cell blank.
groupName
GroupStructureImport: leave all rows blank, this notates the file data type
If you want to manage public groups through SFTP, two additional columns will need to be added:
Column Name: Classification
Column Values:
Internal: Used for any internal groups within the file
Public: Used for any public groups within the file
Column Name: ShowOnPublicSignUp
Column Values:
True
False
Public groups apply to Government clients and Public Alerting Authorities.
Note:
The last column of the group file should be called GroupStructureImport and all rows should be empty.
uniqueId | parentId | groupName | GroupStructureImport |
Group Memberships
Required columns (in order)
memberId: Unique ID of the associated user
groupId: Unique ID of the group the user belongs to
groupName
GroupMembershipImport: Leave all rows blank, this notates the file data type
Note:
The last column of the membership file should be called GroupMembershipImport and all rows should be empty.
memberId | groupId | groupName | GroupMembershipImport |
Group Structure
Users and groups should not be mixed when nesting groups. Users should only be added to the lowest level of nesting within a group structure.
Good Example:
Departments
Security
User 1
Facilities
User 2
Bad Example:
Departments
Security
User 1
Facilities
User 2
User 3
Requirements
There are several requirements and information that are exchanged to establish a connection to the SFTP server. Upon requesting an SFTP account, you will be provided with a more detailed explanation of what is needed and how to connect.
The basic requirements include:
SSH (Secure Shell) key for Authentication
Rather than username/password, keypair authentication is used to connect to the server
We will need the public SSH key that pairs with your private SSH key to create your SFTP account
You will use your private SSH key to connect to the server
A unique/secure username provided by Konexus
Konexus only allows known IP Addresses to connect to the server
The public IP address for any computer you wish to connect with will need to be provided to Konexus