CSV sync via SFTP Overview
Only for Remind Hub administrators rostering via CSV format 1.0, 2.0, or OneRoster. Use this resource if you're adding people directly.
CSV sync via SFTP is a simple, powerful option for SIS syncing your school or district. You can expand reach and drive adoption across your entire community by automatically creating accounts and classes with data from your SIS.
This article contains the following sections:
Before you begin
- Only district administrators can complete the rostering process for their organization. If you need to give another person on your team district admin access, click here to see directions on how to add administrators. Please contact our Support team if you don't have access to your district's dashboard.
- Make sure your organization can set up an SFTP transfer from your SIS or other data source to Remind. You can export data directly from your SIS or through a SQL query. If you’re unable to produce the required CSVs, please contact your SIS directly; Remind is unable to troubleshoot data exporting from your SIS and SQL for CSV syncs at this time.
- Decide if you want SIS rostering enforcement enabled for your district. SIS rostering enforcement allows you to remove the option for SIS-linked students, parents, and teachers to leave your organization on Remind.
Gated CSV rostering
Gate 1: Export & Format CSVs
The first step to setting up your CSV sync is determining which CSVs need to be exported from your SIS. Your CSVs should only include the data required to create the accounts and classes you need.
A CSV sync can contain up to six CSV files. Be sure to include all required fields in your CSVs. Your files should always include a full snapshot of active school data; Remind will handle necessary additions, deletions, and updates for recurring syncs that send data to Remind at least once every 90 days.
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Gate 2: Transfer CSV files to Remind for review
Once your CSV files are prepared, it's time to transfer your data to Remind via SFTP. You can set up an automatically recurring sync, or transfer your data manually whenever you need to update SIS sync information in Remind.
- Click SIS Sync on your district dashboard.
- Select Start SIS sync setup.
- Select your rostering format - Remind CSV 2.0 or Switch to OneRoster. Or, can choose sync with Remind CSV format 1.0. Then click Continue on the bottom left corner of the dashboard.
- Click SFTP credentials, located on the top right.
- Use the STFP credentials listed on Step 2 of the SFTP sync details page to complete the CSV sync upload.
- Transfer data to Remind directly from your SIS, using an SIS syncing service, or by uploading files using an SFTP client. For static syncs, we recommend using an SFTP client such as Cyberduck to transfer files to Remind at least once every 90 days.
- You must transfer all required CSV files at the same time.
- We can receive your transferred files at any time. If you would like to set up a recurring SFTP sync, we recommend scheduling your data transfer between 7 pm and 10 pm PST.
- Check the SIS sync report for instructions on how to finish SIS syncing your schools.
Match schools
Once your files are successfully uploaded, you'll see the Last Upload date change and the Match schools button.
- Click Match schools.
- Review each SFTP school listed, click the dropdown menu under the Remind school column to connect the SFTP school listed in your CSV files to the correct school in Remind, and then click Next.
- If you’d prefer not to sync a school's data, deselect the school.
- The Match schools button will not disappear until all of your schools in Remind have been matched to their data.
- Review the SFTP school and Remind school connections again, and then click Confirm.
- Click Go to SIS Sync to return to the dashboard.
Our system will now perform data analysis for the matched schools only. Please note that this initial data review process can take several hours to complete. You’ll receive a confirmation email from our Implementation team with details of the sync review and next steps.
Gate 3: Review and resolve data errors and alerts
Once our Implementation team has analyzed your data, you'll see data errors and alerts on the SIS sync page for the schools you chose to sync data to Remind.
- Scroll down on the SIS sync dashboard to the School table.
- Click on the name of each school to review a detailed report of the errors and alerts as well as to download a report of the specific people and/or classes these errors and alerts impact.
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Use the articles below for information on addressing potential CSV file format errors, sync holds, and errors/alerts.
- CSV file format errors: If your files have format issues, your sync will not proceed. You will be notified via email if your files have any format errors. Learn more about CSV file format errors.
- Sync holds: A school's sync will be placed on hold if Remind suspects a data configuration issue in your files. You will be notified via email when a sync is placed on hold. Learn more about sync holds.
- Sync errors and alerts: Errors are issues in your SIS that prevent teacher or student accounts from being created. You must address these as soon as possible. Alerts are minor data errors in your SIS that, if fixed, would make Remind more useful and productive to use for your school community. Learn more about sync errors & alerts.
- Transfer all required files to Remind again after you've fixed the sync errors/alerts.
Sync
When you're ready, please reach out to our Implementation team to let us know you're ready to push your organization's data live. Your data will not be active in Remind until you communicate with our Implementation team.
After you've approved the release of your organization's data, the initial data sync may take anywhere from 20 minutes to 24 hours to finish. Once the initial sync is complete, we'll send you a confirmation email with details of the sync and the next steps.
The processing time of subsequent data syncs should not exceed 8 hours.
Post initial setup
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Send notifications
- After the CSV sync is complete, you’ll need to notify teachers, students, and parents about their new accounts. Any district or school administrator can manually trigger notifications from each school’s SIS sync report. You can learn more about the first teacher, student, and parent notifications here.
- After the CSV sync is complete, you’ll need to notify teachers, students, and parents about their new accounts. Any district or school administrator can manually trigger notifications from each school’s SIS sync report. You can learn more about the first teacher, student, and parent notifications here.
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Update your CSV files at least once every 90 days
- To automate the removal of users and classes in Remind (based on changes that happen in your SIS), you must upload your CSV files at least once every 90 days.
- When new classes or accounts are added or removed from your SIS, these updates will be automatically reflected in Remind. User actions in Remind (such as changing the name of a class) will not be affected by these syncs.
- Once a Remind account has been created, email addresses and phone numbers can no longer be updated. Instead, users can update their contact information directly in Remind.
