Snipe it Asset Import

Last week, we introduced the installation of the Snipe it asset management platform. Just trying out the official demo is definitely not enough. In real-world scenarios, you need to manage various assets in real-world scenarios.

If your company is small and previously used Excel spreadsheets to manage its assets, or if you already have a system that allows you to export assets, then congratulations! Snipe It can import assets, accessories, licenses, components, consumables, and users via CSV files.

Let's take asset import as an example. Those with good English skills can directly refer to the official documentation. Trust me, when I wrote this article, there was no relevant information in the Chinese language, so I'm filling a gap!

Once you have the Excel spreadsheet with the asset list, you'll first need to modify the headers to meet Snipe's requirements (presumably the fields in the relevant MySQL tables within Snipe It).

1. Prepare the CSV file

Basic header items:

This refers to general basic information, common attributes for all assets.

Asset Specific Items:

This is too much information, so I'll just explain the important ones.

If you're still confused, you can download the official sample CSV file:

Sample asset import CSV

Change the header of the Excel spreadsheet provided to the required header names, and save it as a CSV file for future use.

2. Import the CSV file

Log in to the Snipe it system and follow the steps below:

• Upload the file

• Modify and verify the relevant information

This step is crucial; don't make any mistakes, or your data will be distorted.

After verifying and submitting, the system will automatically import the relevant assets. If any errors are reported, please correct them according to the on-screen instructions.

What exactly does the system do during the import process? I'm too lazy to translate the official explanation.

What It Does

When you execute this command with a valid path to your CSV, the importer will:

• Split the user's name, creating firstname and lastname.
• If not user is provided, it assumes the asset is Ready to Deploy.
• If a user's name is provided, it assumes that asset is assigned to them
• If a user's name is provided but no email is provided, it will generate an email address using your domain and the pattern you specified in email_format
• Generate a password for the new user if a user's name is provided
• Create the user if they don't exist (based on their email address)
• Determine if the asset model exists based on Asset Model Name and Model Number combination
• Create the asset models, locations, category, etc if they don't currently exist, skip them if they do.
• If no user is provided, the asset gets created as ready to deploy instead of checked out to a User

The actual difficulty lies in two areas: first, understanding the core information, and second, continually modifying the corresponding items according to the system requirements until the import is successful. Ultimately, the experience was quite positive; I successfully imported the data successfully.

It's important to note how the system creates users:

Make sure you have your organization's domain name, email format, and username format set in Admin > Settings, so it knows which domain to use when generating email addresses and usernames if none are provided in your CSV file.

The options in the system settings aren't customary for Chinese users. You can modify these settings after importing, or if you have an LDAP-based system connection, modify them in the CSV file first.

Also, looking at the change log, the import process first enters the assets, then automatically assigns them to individuals.