Populating the Ticket import template

SECURITY  Security level with Admin permission to configure Service Desk (Tickets). Refer to Admin security settings.

NAVIGATION   > Admin > Features & Settings > Service Desk (Tickets) > Utilities > Ticket Import > click Import

NAVIGATION  To export and update existing tickets, go to > Service Desk > Search > Tickets > button bar > Export > In Import Template Format.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN  Please review the general instructions for importing and updating data in Autotask in this topic: Importing or updating data.

The Ticket Import Template allows you to import tickets from a CSV file. If a matching ticket is found during the import, it can be left as it is or updated. A ticket is matched on Autotask Ticket Number.

The table below provides details on how to populate the import file.

NOTE  You can now export the results on the Ticket Search page In Import Template Format. You can modify the exported file and use the Import Update feature to do bulk updates on tickets.

IMPORTANT  The Create Date/Time field cannot be updated. If you export tickets in import format to update and re-import the data, you must delete the data in this column or the import will fail.

About Required Fields, Ticket Categories, and picklist values

A Ticket Category’s Is Required settings for individual fields will not be respected in the Ticket Importer. If a field is left null in the import file, it will be imported with the Ticket Category’s default value. Only columns that are always required will be required in the Importer. These columns are marked as Required *, below.

NOTE  If you see a check mark in the Must be looked up in Autotask instance? column, it means that, in the Autotask user interface, a value is selected from a list. You may use selections that are currently inactive, but they must exist. Navigate to the page shown in the Description column and look up the valid options.

NOTE  Please note that Ticket Category picklist values will not restrict what a user can set via the Ticket Importer.

*= required field

Field Must be looked up in Autotask instance? Description
External (Legacy) Ticket ID   Enter the legacy or external ticket ID. The External ID field can be made visible as a read-only field on the details panel of the ticket category.

External (Legacy) Ticket ID can be updated via the import feature if a valid Autotask Ticket Number is provided.

Autotask Ticket Number (updates only)   Enter the Autotask ticket number to perform updates to other fields on an existing ticket. This field cannot be updated.
Title*   Enter the title of the ticket.
Description   Enter the ticket description. Please note that the description will be truncated at 8000 characters.
Tags (separate with | ) Yes Populate this field with the label or alias of one or more active tags to associate with each ticket you import. Inactive and non-existent tags are disallowed and will cause an exception. Separate each entry with the | character.

You can add up to 30 tags per ticket.

To view all active tags in your Autotask instance, navigate to > Admin > Features and Settings > Service Desk (Tickets) > Tags & Tag Groups.

NOTE  Entering a value of [[empty]] in the Tags cell during a ticket import will remove all tags from the ticket. The import will fail if the resource performing the import does not have the Service Desk permission Can remove tags from tickets.

Organization* Yes Enter the name of the organization the ticket is associated with. To find a list of your customers, navigate to > CRM > Search > Organizations.

This field cannot be updated if billing items associated with that ticket have been approved and posted, or if the ticket is associated with an opportunity, project, or to-do, has active change approval requests or is insourced.

This field cannot be updated if the ticket was created from a Datto RMM alert.
Location Yes If the ticket is associated with an organization location, enter the location. Note that if no location is provided, the field is automatically populated according to the rules that apply when creating a new ticket. Refer to Adding, copying, and editing tickets.
Contact Yes Enter the name of an existing contact for the organization entered above. To find a list of contacts, navigate to > CRM > Search > Contacts or simply open the The Organization page and select Contacts from the page context menu.
Status* Yes Enter a ticket status. Valid ticket statuses can be found here: > Admin > Features & Settings > Service Desk (Tickets) > Task & Ticket Statuses.
Priority* Yes Enter a ticket priority. Valid ticket priorities can be found here: > Admin > Features & Settings > Service Desk (Tickets) > Task & Ticket Priorities.
Source* Yes Enter the ticket source. Valid ticket sources can be found here: > Admin > Features & Settings > Service Desk (Tickets) > Sources.
Estimated Hours   Enter the number of hours that you estimate it will take to complete the ticket.
Primary Resource [required if no Queue] Yes Enter the name of the primary resource for the ticket. You must use a resource that exists in Autotask, though the resource may be inactive. You can find a list of all your internal resources here: > Admin > Resources (Users)

NOTE  If you are creating a ticket, you must provide a value in either the Primary Resource column or the Queue column. You may provide a value for both, if you wish.

Role

 

Enter a role associated with the primary resource. If no role is provided, the default Service Desk role is assigned.
Queue [required if no Primary Resource] Yes Enter the ticket queue. Valid Ticket Queues can be found here: > Admin > Features & Settings > Service Desk (Tickets) > Queues.

NOTE  If you are creating a ticket, you must provide a value in either the Primary Resource column or the Queue column. You may provide a value for both, if you wish.
Ticket Type* Yes Enter the ticket type. Valid Ticket Types are Service Request, Incident, Problem, Change Request, and Alert.
Ticket Category Yes Enter the ticket category. Valid ticket categories can be found here: > Admin > Features & Settings > Service Desk (Tickets) > Ticket Categories. If you do not enter a category, the global default category will be applied.
Issue Type Yes Enter the issue type. Valid ticket issue types can be found here: > Admin > Features & Settings > Service Desk (Tickets) > Issue & Sub-Issue Types.
Sub-Issue Type Yes Enter the sub-issue type. Valid ticket sub-issue types can be found here: > Admin > Features & Settings > Service Desk (Tickets) > Issue & Sub-Issue Types.

Any entry in this column will be invalid if you have not also entered an issue type.
Division > Line of Business   This column is available only if Organizational Structure is enabled.

When a new ticket is created from the import:

  • If a line of business is provided in the import template, use that line of business
  • If not, but the resource has a line of business, use that line of business.
  • If not, but a ticket category has been provided in the import template and that ticket category has a line of business, use that line of business.
  • If not, import the record with no line of business.

When a ticket is updated:

  • If a line of business is provided in the import template, the ticket is updated to that line of business.
  • If there is no line of business or the line of business is inactive, the existing line of business will not be cleared.

Users can import any line of business, not just the ones they are associated with.

Work Type Yes Enter the Work Type. Valid work types can be found here: > Admin > Features & Settings > Finance, Accounting & Invoicing > Billing Codes.

Device ID

 

The device ID is a unique identifier for an individual device that cannot be changed. If a device ID is provided, the associated device data will provide or override any other device fields.

This field is not required, but when a value is provided, it must match an existing device ID, and it is the primary match for the row, regardless of whether any additional fields match.
When there is a match, the setting under When a match is found, selected when configuring the import, will determine whether an update is performed.
Device Name Yes Enter the device name. The device name must be valid and must be associated with the specified organization or its parent organization. Inactive device names are acceptable.

If values are provided for multiple device fields (i.e. Device Serial Number, Device Reference Number), the information in those fields must match a single unique device.

This field cannot be updated if the ticket was created from a Datto RMM alert.
Device Serial Number Yes Enter the device serial number. The device serial number must be valid and must be associated with the specified organization or its parent organization. You can find device information here: > CRM > Devices.

If values are provided for multiple device fields (i.e. Device Serial Number, Device Reference Number), the information in those fields must match a single unique device.

This field cannot be updated if the ticket was created from a Datto RMM alert.
Device Reference Number Yes Enter the device reference number. The device reference number must be valid and must be associated with the specified organization or its parent organization. You can find device information here: > CRM > Devices.

If values are provided for multiple device fields (i.e. Device Serial Number, Device Reference Number), the information in those fields must match a single unique device.

This field cannot be updated if the ticket was created from a Datto RMM alert.
Device Reference Name Yes Enter the device reference name. The device reference name must be valid and must be associated with the specified organization or its parent organization. You can find device information here: > CRM > Devices.

If values are provided for multiple device fields (i.e. Device Serial Number, Device Reference Number), the information in those fields must match a single unique device.

This field cannot be updated if the ticket was created from a Datto RMM alert.
Contract Name Yes Enter the name of a valid contract that is associated with the specified organization or its parent organization. Inactive contracts are acceptable. You can find contract information here: > Contracts.

If a completed ticket associated with a per ticket contract is imported, a ticket deduction will be made.

Service Level Agreement Yes Enter a valid service level agreement name. Inactive service levels agreements are acceptable. You can find your service level agreements here: > Admin > Features & Settings > Service Desk (Tickets) > Service Level Management.

This field is required if you enter a value for First Response Date/Time or First Response Initiating Resource.

If you are updating a recurring ticket instance, leave this field blank.

Create Date/Time   Enter the date and time the ticket was created. Enter the date in your Autotask date format followed by a space, then time in your Autotask time format, e.g. 10/10/2022 8:00 PM.

If only a date is provided, the system will use 12:00 AM as the time.

IMPORTANT  This field cannot be updated. If you exported ticket in import format to update and re-import the data, you must delete the data in this column or the import will fail.
Created By Resource   Enter the name of the resource who created the ticket.

If this field and the Created By Contact field are both left blank, the system will populate this field with the name of the resource who executed the import.

This field cannot be updated.
Created By Contact Yes Enter the name of the account contact who created the ticket. The contact must be valid and must be associated with the organization or its parent organization. Inactive contacts are acceptable.

If you have entered a value in the Created By Resource field, you must leave this field blank.
Complete Date/Time   Enter the date and time the ticket was completed. Enter the date in your Autotask date format followed by a space, then time in your Autotask time format, e.g. 10/10/2022 8:00 PM.

If the status of the imported ticket is Complete, Complete Date/Time and Completed By are required.

If you provide an entry for this field and the ticket status is not Complete, the entry for these fields will be disregarded.

This field cannot be updated.
Due Date/Time*   Enter the date and time at which the ticket is due.
First Response Date/Time   Enter the date and time the first response to the ticket is or was due. If you enter a value here, you must enter a value for Service Level Agreement.
First Response Initiating Resource   Enter the name of the resource who initiated the first response. If you enter a value here, you must enter a value for Service Level Agreement.
Resolution   Enter the ticket resolution.
Completed By  

Enter the name of the resource who completed the ticket.

If the status of the imported ticket is Complete,Complete Date/Time and Completed By are required.

If you provide an entry for this field and the ticket status is not Complete, the entry for these fields will be disregarded.

Co-managed Visibility

 

 Enter Visible or Not Visible.
Ticket User-Defined Fields   User-defined fields for all entities that support them can be imported and exported, with one exception: UDFs of type List (Multi Select) cannot be exported or imported. Inactive list options can be imported and exported as well. Required UDFs cannot be left blank, or the import will fail. UDFs are identified as such and appear after all system field columns.To learn more about how to set up and use UDFs, refer to Managing user-defined fields

To find out how to reverse an import, refer to Rolling back an import.