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Uploading Contextual Data

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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 data source, and name the attribute columns.

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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.

To quickly build a CSV file for data mashup, consider creating a custom report in Power BI that includes reference field data appropriate for software, devices, or business services 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 software 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.

Follow the steps below to upload your contextual data once your CSV file is ready to upload.

To upload contextual data for your device, software, or business service inventory:

  1. In Flexera One, click IT Visibility > Contextual Data Mashup to open the Contextual Data Mashup page.
  2. Click Upload CSV. The Upload CSV slideout opens.
  3. Select the type of data mashup/contextualization you want to upload.
  4. Locate the CSV file you want to upload using the Browse Files button or drop the CSV file to upload and then click Next. The Preview the Selected CSV slideout opens.
  5. In the Preview the Selected CSV slideout, you can name the data source, set the reference and attribute columns (if not detected automatically) and confirm the data structure.
    • Data Source Name—Provide a name for the data source in IT Visibility. The default data source 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), "device context" (for device mashup), or "business service" (for business service mashup) in Power BI.
    • 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.
      • For Device Mashup—The CSV file should have columns named either HardwareID or combination of Name, Domain and Serial Number.
      • For Software Mashup—The CSV file should have columns name either TechnopediaGUID or TechnopediaLegacyID.
      • For Business Service Mashup—The CSV file should have a column name BusinessServiceID.
    • 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.
    • Click the icon next to the column name select the datatype of the attribute columns.
  6. Click Next. The Summary of the Data to Upload slideout opens. You can view the summary of the various contextual data being added from the data source.
  7. Click Upload to upload the contextual data. After the Uploading Data slideout closes, the data source that was uploaded appears in the table on the Contextual Data Mashup page.

Upload File Statuses​

The contextual data uploaded will be displayed in the data sources listing table. Below are the various upload statuses of the contextual data uploaded. The table will automatically refresh in predefined intervals to fetch the latest upload status.

  • Uploaded—The upload status will be Uploaded when upload is completed.

  • 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.

  • Uploaded with errors—If at least one row of contextual data was uploaded successfully, the upload status will be Uploaded with errors. You can click this status or click the three dots against the data source and select Upload Details to open the Upload Details slideout, where you can download a log file containing detailed descriptions of the rows of data that were not uploaded correctly, including their corresponding row numbers in the CSV file. For more information about interpreting the error log, see Interpret Error Log Row Information.

    Once the issue has been fixed according to the error log, upload only the corrected data related to the rows that failed.

  • Unknown—The upload status will be Unknown in case the system is not able to retrieve the status just yet.

  • Failed—In case all rows of contextual data failed to upload, the status will be displayed as Failed. You can click this status or click the three dots against the data source and select Upload Details to open the Upload Details slideout, where you can download a log file containing detailed descriptions of all rows that were not uploaded, including the corresponding row numbers in the CSV file.

Interpret Error Log Row Information​

To interpret the error log row information, see the following example:

[
    {
    "row": 16,
    "error": "could not find the provided TechnopediaGUID",
    "kind": ""
    }
]

If you encounter such an error, refer to the 16th row in the CSV file used for uploading contextual data to identify and fix the issue.

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.