Importing cardholders and credentials - To accelerate system setup, you can import cardholders and credentials from a CSV file instead of creating them manually in Security Center. - Security Center 5.13

To accelerate system setup, you can import cardholders and credentials from a CSV file instead of creating them manually in Security Center.

1. Do one of the following:
   • To import cardholders or credentials manually, from the Config Tool homepage, click Tools > Import tool.
   • To import cardholders or credentials using a scheduled task, from the Config Tool homepage, open the Automation task, click the Scheduled tasks view, and then configure a new scheduled task as follows:

     Status

     Set to Active.

     Recurrence

     Select how often you want the task to run.

     Action

     Select Import from a file.

     Recipient

     Select a user to receive the import results by email.

     File name

     Click to open the Import tool.

2. On the Welcome page of the Import tool, enter the file path to the CSV file you want to import, and click Next.
   The Settings page opens.

   
3. On the Settings page, configure the import settings:

   Encoding

   Select the character encoding type.

   Column delimiter

   Set the CSV field delimiter for columns.

   Decimal delimiter

   Set the CSV field delimiter for decimals.

   Thousand separator

   Set the CSV field delimiter for thousand separators.

   Start at line

   (Optional) Enter a value of 2 or greater to reserve lines at the beginning of the CSV file for column headings or comment lines.

   Maximum picture file size

   (Optional) Set the maximum picture file size to minimize storage usage. The default value is taken from your access control system settings (General settings page of the Access Manager role). Changing its value in the Import tool also changes your system settings.

   CAUTION:

   If you're using SQL Server Express, be aware that it limits the database file size to 10 GB. The Directory database stores cardholder pictures, and a high number of cardholders with large picture sizes can cause the database to exceed this limit, which might lead to system failure. To avoid issues, consider upgrading to SQL Server Standard or SQL Server Enterprise Edition.

   Add credential to cardholder key

   Select this option if the CSV file contains both cardholder and credential information.

   NOTE: This option applies only when you import cardholders and credentials from the same CSV file. If the option doesn't apply, you can use other cardholder information to strengthen identification, such as the cardholder's email address.

   Card format

   Select the default card format to use when a card format isn’t specified in the CSV file.

   Credential operation

   Select one of the following options:

   Add

   This is the default option. All credentials read from the CSV file are added as entities to your system. If a credential already exists in your database, it’s updated.

   Replace

   Use this option to replace old credentials with new ones. On the Bindings page, you’ll find more options to specify previous and new credential values. For more information, see Replacing credentials in bulk.

   Cardholder group operation

   Select one of the following options:

   Add

   This is the default option. All cardholder groups from the CSV file are added to your system as entities. If a cardholder group already exists, the cardholder will be added to the group.

   Replace

   Use this option to change a cardholder’s group membership. To reassign a cardholder to a new group, update their group value in the CSV file. Then, on the Bindings page, set the cardholder group column to Cardholder group. For more information, see Replacing cardholder groups in bulk.

   Transparency color

   (Optional) If the cardholder pictures you're importing were taken in front of a chroma key screen, you can make the background transparent. This is helpful when using a badge template with a background image. To apply background transparency to imported cardholder pictures, turn on the option, select the chroma key screen color (usually green or blue), and set the transparency percentage.

4. Click Next.
   The Bindings page opens.

   
5. On the Bindings page, for each sample value, select a corresponding database field in the Binding column.
   If you must skip a column in your CSV file, leave the Binding column blank.

   NOTE: For entities like cardholders and credentials, a minimum amount of information is required to complete the import. For more information, see CSV file structure and minimum requirements.
6. (Optional) Add more fields to the cardholder key.
   If you must differentiate cardholders, you can add more information by selecting the Key checkbox beside each field you want to include in the cardholder key. The checkbox is disabled for ineligible fields.

   Tip: Another way to strengthen cardholder identification is to add credential data to the cardholder key.
7. Click Next.
   The Import tool imports the contents of your CSV file into the database. A summary window opens, confirming the number of entities imported and the number of errors encountered.
8. Click to copy and paste the contents of the report.
9. Click Close.