Uploading Contextual Data
Note:
IT Visibility with Technology Intelligence Platform is required to use Contextual Data Mashup in Flexera One. For more information about what version of export you are using, see Versions of the IT Visibility Export Feature.
Adding your data via IT Visibility's Contextual Data Mashup page requires you to provide a CSV file with a reference column specific to the type of mashup/contextualization. During the upload process, IT Visibility also requires you to identify a column as reference field and, optionally, name the dataset and name the attribute columns.
Important:For guidelines related to uploading contextual data to Flexera One, such as role requirements, reference field requirements, and CSV file constraints, see Contextual Data Mashup Overview.
Tip:To quickly build a CSV file for data mashup, consider creating a custom report in Power BI that includes reference field data appropriate for the IT asset type (software or devices) plus any other data that will help match up the business context data you plan to upload. Then, save and export that report as a CSV file to use as a starting point to merge with the business context data you intend to upload. For software data mashup, for example, create a Power BI report that includes a Product ID or a Release ID or a Manufacture ID.
In addition to the instruction set on this page, note the sections about upload status for your contextual data and be aware that some processing time will be required after the data has been uploaded before it is available for use in Power BI. For details, see below:
Follow the steps below to upload your contextual data once your CSV file is ready to upload.
To upload contextual data for your device and software inventory:
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In Flexera One, click IT Visibility > Contextual Data Mashup to open the Contextual Data Mashup page |
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Click Upload CSV. The Upload CSV file slide out opens. |
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Select the CSV to upload and click Next. CSV Preview slide out is displayed. |
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In the CSV Preview slide out, you can name the dataset, set the reference and attribute columns (if not detected automatically) and confirm the data structure. |
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Custom dataset name—provide a name for the dataset in IT Visibility. The default dataset name is the name of the CSV file you uploaded. After a successful upload, the contextual data part of the upload will appear under the group "software context" (for software mashup) or "device context" (for device mashup) in Power BI. |
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The reference columns are automatically selected if the column names in the CSV are same as the reference fields for the selected type of data mashup. |
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For Device Mashup - the CSV file should have columns named either HardwareID or combination of Name, Domain and Serial Number. |
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For Software Mashup - the CSV file should have columns name either TechnopediaGUID or TechnopediaLegacyID. |
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In case the column names are not as above, you will be able to manually assign certain columns as reference fields by clicking the icon next to the column name. |
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Click the icon next to the column name select the datatype of the attribute columns. |
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Click Next to navigate to the Data Upload Summary Screen. You can see the summary of the various contextual data being added from the dataset. |
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Click Upload to upload the contextual data. Once the Uploading Data slide out closes, the dataset that was uploaded will be displayed in the table on the screen. |
Upload File Statuses
The data set uploaded will be displayed in the data sources listing table. Below are the various upload statuses of the datasets. The table will automatically refresh in predefined intervals to fetch the latest upload status.
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Uploaded: The upload status will be Uploaded when upload is completed |
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Upload in progress: The upload status will be Upload in progress when the upload is still in progress. You must wait until the upload is completed. However, you can continue to work on other tasks in Flexera One; the upload is an asynchronous process. |
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Unknown: The upload status will be Unknown in case the system is not able to retrieve the status just yet. |
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Failed: In case the upload fails, the status will be displayed as Failed. You can click on the Failed status to show a slide out. There, you can download a log file that has a detailed description of those rows of data that did not get uploaded. |
Currently, if the upload of at least one row has failed, the overall status will be shown as Failed. Check the error log to understand which row has failed. Once the issue has been fixed according to the error log, upload only the corrected data related to the row that failed.
Upload File Processing Time
Please note that, even if the data set shows Uploaded status, the data will not be immediately available in Power BI. There is a delay in the data getting reflected in the contextual information within Power BI, and this delay corresponds to the amount of contextual information being uploaded.