CSV User Provisioning, Syncing and De-provisioning with an SFTP

SFTP is an automated way to process CSV feeds via dropping files in a predefined location. It allows App managers to provision, de-provision, and sync user data from their HRIS system using three CSV files. When provisioning or syncing in Simpplr, App managers will select which columns they want to map from the CSV and ensure the columns they want to map contain the appropriate data. 

For your SFTP location, we recommend using FileZilla.

For instructions on bulk uploading users via CSV manually, check out this article.

Table of Contents

Set up CSV user provisioning/de-provisioning

Set up CSV user syncing

Prepare your CSV file

Upload files to SFTP location

Processing of CSV files

Error handling

Set up CSV user provisioning/de-provisioning

To set up CSV user provisioning:

1. In Simpplr, go to Manage > Application > People > Provisioning & sync users.

2. Select Provisioning source > Simpplr User Services.
   

3. Select Add new users if provisioning.
   

4. In the table below, select which fields you want to provision. First name, Last name and at least one login identifier are required. A login identifier can be any field with a lock icon next to it (Email, Employee number or Mobile phone). Formatting for hire date and birth date (if used) must be YYYY-MM-DD (year is optional). Formatting for phone numbers must be [phone].
   

5. Choose whether to send a Welcome message to the users. The welcome message is sent to the users via email or SMS based on the login identifier. No welcome message can be sent to the users using the alternate login identifier. Unless your organization uses SSO to log in, you'll want to send password setup emails to users.
   

6. Select Remove users if de-provisioning. Simpplr only needs a unique ID to de-provision users (a field with a value that's unique to every person). Select which one you want to use, and populate the matching column in the CSV file.
   

7. Click Save if you do not want to sync user data. If you're syncing user data in addition to provisioning, continue on to the section below.

8. If this is the first time you're setting up CSV provisioning or syncing on your intranet, you'll receive two emails from your intranet titled User provisioning/syncing SFTP private key and User provisioning/syncing SFTP location. These emails will be from Simpplr User Services ([e-mail]). Use the information in these two emails to upload your CSV files to the dedicated SFTP location.

9. The email shown below, labeled User provisioning/syncing SFTP private key, will contain your private key as an attached file with the .pem extension. Copy & paste this key into a text editor, then save it as a file. Ensure the file is saved with the extension .pem. You'll upload this file to your SFTP location when prompted.
   

10. The other setup email, labeled User provisioning/syncing SFTP location, will contain your SFTP path that you copy into your SFTP location. If you use FileZilla, the Server in the email is equal to the Host field in FileZilla.
    

Set up CSV user syncing

To set up CSV user data syncing:

Caution

If you want to switch syncing sources from Simpplr User Services to another source after saving, wait five minutes before doing so. Otherwise, you won't be able to use the CSV file to provision, de-provision, or sync in the future.

1. Go to Manage > Application > People > Provision & sync users.

2. Select Syncing source > Simpplr User Services.
   

3. Select which fields you want to sync.

4. Select which unique identifier you want to use. Any of the login identifiers found in the Manage > Application > Security > Simpplr IdP tab (Email, Mobile phone, Employee number, etc.) can be selected as the syncing identifier, but at least one needs to be selected. Note, if the unique identifier you choose ever changes (e.g., a user's last name changes, so their email changes) you can manually update the field from UI via Manage > Users > Edit user.
   

5. You can add a custom field by clicking Add field and selecting a custom field option. Each custom field option will need a corresponding column in the CSV. 
   

6. Once added, your label will appear in the list. Check the box in the Sync column, then add a field name in the empty space. You'll need to add this same field name (exact match) to your CSV file.

7. Click Save. 

8. If this is the first time you're setting up CSV provisioning or syncing on your intranet, you'll receive two emails from your intranet titled User provisioning/syncing SFTP private key and User provisioning/syncing SFTP location. These emails will be from Simpplr User Services ([e-mail]). Use the information in these two emails to upload your CSV files to the dedicated SFTP location. If you already selected the provisioning source as Simpplr User Services, no new emails will be sent, and the existing credentials will be applicable.

Prepare your CSV file

There are three CSV files altogether; one for provisioning, one for de-provisioning and one for syncing the users. CSVs should contain a number of columns that can be mapped with Simpplr. Templates of all three can be found below in this article. DO NOT change the names of the files after you prepare them for upload.

Provisioning file

Refer to below sample CSV format to create the provisioning file. It is the same format as used for the manual bulk upload flow. Name should be same as the sample file. First name, last name and at least one login identifier are required for each user. Formatting for hire date and birth date (if used) must be YYYY-MM-DD (year is optional). Formatting for phone numbers must be [phone]. 

Note the file MUST be titled provisioning.csv and cannot be changed.

De-provisioning

Refer to below sample CSV format to create the de-provisioning file. It is the same format as used for the manual bulk upload flow. Name should be same as the sample file. Only one login identifier is required for each user.

Note the file MUST be titled deprovisioning.csv and cannot be changed.

Syncing

Refer to below sample CSV format to create the syncing file. It is the same format as used for the manual bulk upload flow. Name should be same as the sample file. First name, last name and at least one login identifier are required for each user. Formatting for hire date and birth date (if used) must be YYYY-MM-DD (year is optional). Formatting for phone numbers must be [phone].

Note the file MUST be titled syncing.csv and cannot be changed.

Reactivation

Reactivation of users is also supported through SFTP. In case you need to reactivate a suspended or deactivated user, use the same provisioning.csv file you used to provision users. To reactivate, simply:

1. Provide the old username, profile and email in the CSV. 

2. In the user status section where a user is marked 'Inactive', change it to 'Active'.
3. Upload the same way as instructed above.

4. Once the file is processed successfully, inactive users are moved to Active status.

5. In case of any failure, the admin will receive the error email with the failure reasons (more on this below).

Please note that reactivation only means changing the status from 'Inactive' to 'Active' while retaining the old user data. If any user data need to be updated, it needs to be done through the syncing process.

Upload files to SFTP location

For our demo purposes, we're going to use FileZilla as the SFTP location. Using the email you received from Simpplr User Services, populate the appropriate fields in FileZilla as shown below. Server = Host in FileZilla and Username = User. 

In FileZilla, click File > Site Manager > New site. Name this the same name of your intranet, or something you'll easily remember. Then on the right hand side, fill out the applicable information based on the email.

Upload the .pem file you created earlier containing your Private Key in the Key file field.

Processing of CSV files

This service runs once everyday wherein it will look for a file in the SFTP folder, and if found, will process the file. The service can also be manually triggered through the schedulers tab if needed.

The procedure runs in the following sequence:

1. De-provision users to ensure maximum licenses are available for provisioning

2. Provision the new users

3. Sync users

Error handling

If there are any errors when provisioning, de-provisioning, or syncing, the App manager will receive an email with an attached error log. The error log will contain an error message and the row number in the CSV that contains the error.