Syncing data via an SFTP server

ChartHop provides an SFTP sync app that connects to your SFTP server, retrieves a CSV file, and uploads the data to ChartHop.

When you set up the app, you configure the address and credentials for your SFTP server so that ChartHop can connect to it. It runs daily at 9 a.m. Eastern Time, similarly to ChartHop's payroll apps.

You can only have one CSV in your upload path at one time. To upload additional data, you need to replace the file on your SFTP server with one of the same name. If the same CSV file exists on the server, it will be uploaded a second time. When this happens, it overwrites any data you've changed in ChartHop that was included in your CSV via the SFTP.

You can configure the SFTP app to ignore files older than a time period you set. For example, you can set it to ignore any files older than two days.

The CSV format is the same as when manually uploading a spreadsheet with the spreadsheet importer. Learn more.

The column headings in your spreadsheet should match the ChartHop field names (code name) to which you are importing. You’ll need to ensure that your column headers use the appropriate ChartHop field names to ensure a proper upload.

Learn more about built-in fields.

If you are automating this process and need to keep the header names from the system you are exporting; you can add a one-to-one field mapping of your exported headers to the appropriate ChartHop field.

For example, if your system exports titles to a spreadsheet column named Employee Title instead of Title, you can map that header name to the appropriate ChartHop field instead of changing the name in your spreadsheet.

When mapping column names to ChartHop fields, you need to use the ChartHop code name and preface your spreadsheet column name with the “column.” The below example maps data in the spreadsheet column Employee Title to the Title field in ChartHop.

The code name for the ChartHop field is title, while the name of the column in the spreadsheet is prefaced with column. Use camel case to indicate spaces in your column names. For example, column.employeeTitle represents a column header called “Employee Title”.

To install the SFTP app:

1. Select Apps from the options (gear) menu in the left sidebar.
2. Find the SFTP Sync app in the list of available apps.
3. Click Install on the far right-hand side of the table.
4. Configure your SFTP sync settings:
   • Remote Hostname - Enter the hostname of your SFTP server.
   • Port - Enter the port of your SFTP server.
   • Username - Enter the username that ChartHop will use to log in to your SFTP server.
   • Password - Enter the password associated with the username you entered.
   • Remote File Path - Enter the complete path, including filename, of the CSV file you want to upload to ChartHop.
5. Mark the Run Daily check box. Remember that the upload syncs daily at 9 a.m. EST.
6. Mark whether or not you want the upload to skip errors. If you mark this option, the upload continues but rows with errors aren't uploaded.
7. Mark Upsert. ChartHop recommends enabling this check box so that new people and jobs can be added. When unmarked, the upload can only make changes to existing data.
8. Add an email to which to send notification emails when the upload occurs. If you want to add multiple emails, you must separate them with a comma.
9. Optionally, you can work with your ChartHop representative to add custom fields you want to upload. You can only upload data to fields that already exist in ChartHop.
10. Select Save Settings.