Getting Started

12 min read Published on 06/01/2026

Initial Data Import

Migrate your existing assets, employees and contracts to KaliaOps

In brief

KaliaOps provides CSV import tools to quickly migrate your existing data. Import your assets, applications, employees, organizations and contracts in just a few clicks. The system automatically validates data, detects duplicates and provides a detailed error report. Maintain a complete history of your imports for audit and tracking purposes.

Importable Entities

KaliaOps allows importing the following entities via CSV files:

CMDB

Assets: Servers, workstations, network equipment, printers, peripherals. Includes inventory information, IP addresses, serial numbers and location.
Applications: Business software, cloud services, databases. With version, criticality, technical owner and dependencies.
Contracts: Maintenance contracts, software licenses, vendor SLAs. Includes dates, amounts and renewal terms.
Vendors: Vendors and service providers with contact details, contacts and legal information.

Organization

Organizations: Legal entities, subsidiaries, departments, divisions. Hierarchical structure with managers.
Sites: Physical locations: offices, datacenters, warehouses. With addresses and timezones.
Teams: Functional or project teams, attached to an organization.
Employees: Collaborators with position, manager, team and contact details.

Preparing Your Files

Required CSV Format

Your files must meet the following specifications:

Encoding: UTF-8 (required for accented characters)
Separator: Comma (,) by default (RFC 4180)
Headers: First line containing column names
Quotes: Values containing the separator enclosed in double quotes
Maximum size: 10 MB per file

Example Asset File

name;asset_type;serial_number;ip_address;site_code;status
"SRV-PROD-01";server;"ABC123456";192.168.1.10;"PARIS-DC";active
"PC-ACCT-001";desktop;"DEF789012";192.168.2.50;"PARIS-HQ";active

Required Fields by Entity

Entity	Required Fields
Assets	name, type, organization_id
Applications	name, organization_id
Employees	code, first_name, last_name, email
Organizations	name
Sites	name, city, country
Teams	name, organization_id
Contracts	name, supplier_id, type, start_date, end_date
Vendors	name

Tip: First export a few records from KaliaOps to get a CSV template with the correct column headers.

Import Process

Access the import tool

In the sidebar menu, click Administration → Imports. Select the entity type you want to import.

Upload your file

Click "Select File" or drag and drop your CSV. The system automatically detects encoding and separator. A preview of the first 5 lines is displayed.

Configure the mapping

KaliaOps offers automatic mapping based on column names. Review and adjust if necessary:

Associate each CSV column to a KaliaOps field
Mark columns to ignore
Define default values for missing fields

Validate and launch import

Click "Validate" to check the data. The system displays a summary:

Number of lines to create
Number of lines to update (if key exists)
Lines with errors (details available)

If the result is satisfactory, click "Import".

Review the report

At the end of the import, a detailed report shows:

Lines created successfully
Lines updated
Lines skipped (duplicates)
Lines with errors and the reason

Field Mapping

Automatic Mapping

KaliaOps automatically recognizes common headers and associates them with corresponding fields:

Recognized Headers	KaliaOps Field
name, nom, designation	name
code, reference, ref	code
serial, serial_number, numero_serie	serial_number
ip, ip_address, adresse_ip	ip_address
email, mail, courriel	email
status, statut, etat	status

References Between Entities

To link entities together, use the code of the target entity:

Employee → Team: team_code column with the team code
Asset → Site: site_code column with the site code
Application → Organization: organization_code

If the referenced code doesn't exist, the line will be flagged as an error.

Important: Codes are case-sensitive. "PARIS-HQ" and "paris-hq" are considered different.

Validation and Errors

Automatic Validations

Before import, KaliaOps checks:

Data Format: Dates in ISO format (YYYY-MM-DD), valid emails, correct IP addresses, numeric values.
Required Fields: Required fields must be present and not empty.
Existing References: Referenced codes (site_code, team_code, etc.) must exist in KaliaOps.
Uniqueness: Unique codes and identifiers must not be duplicated.
Allowed Values: Enum fields (status, type, criticality) must contain valid values.

Common Error Types

Error	Cause	Solution
Reference not found	Referenced code doesn't exist	Import target entity first
Duplicate entry	Code already exists	Modify code or update
Invalid format	Incorrect data format	Fix format (date, email, IP)
Required field missing	Required field empty	Complete the value

Import History

Each import is recorded in the history with the following information:

Date and time of the import
User who performed the import
Entity type imported
Source file name
Statistics: created, updated, skipped, errors
Duration of the import
Detailed error log (downloadable)

Accessing History

History is accessible via Administration → Imports → History. You can filter by entity type, period or user.

Recommended Import Order

For references between entities to work correctly, follow this import order:

Sites - Physical locations (no dependencies)
Organizations - Can reference a main site
Teams - Reference an organization
Employees - Reference a team, manager, organization
Vendors - Can reference an employee (account liaison)
Applications - Reference organization, vendor, technical owner
Assets - Reference site, application, VLAN
Contracts - Reference vendor

Tip: Start by importing entities without dependencies (sites), then progressively work up to entities that reference them.

Best Practices

Preparing the Migration

Clean your data before import: remove duplicates, fix formats
Test on a sample: import 10-20 lines to validate mapping
Document your codes: establish a consistent naming convention

During Import

Import in multiple batches rather than one huge file (max 5000 lines recommended)
Check error reports before continuing
Keep source files for reference

After Import

Verify a sample of imported records
Test relationships: does an asset point to the correct site?
Complete manually missing or specific data

Managing Updates

To update existing records via import:

Use the same code as the existing record
The system automatically detects it's an update
Only fields present in the CSV are modified

Key points

CSV import for assets, applications, employees, organizations, teams, sites and contracts
Automatic column mapping with manual adjustment option
Real-time validation: formats, references, duplicates
Detailed report: lines created, updated, skipped and errors
Complete import history with rollback capability