Import and export maintenance requests
Moving a site's maintenance request history, or bringing it over from another helpdesk, used to mean starting from an empty list. Maintenance requests can now be exported and imported as .fpl packages, the same portable format technical systems already use.
A new Import / Export hub
Settings > Import / Export is now an overview with one card for each resource the site has turned on: Technical Systems and Maintenance Requests. Each card opens its own page, with a Back button to return to the overview. The technical systems page works as before.
Export
On Settings > Import / Export > Maintenance Requests, Export packages every maintenance request of the site with its fields, its comments, and its attachments. People are written as email addresses and units and tags as names, so the package can be read by another site. The export runs in the background; when it is ready, Download gives you the file through a link that is valid for 15 minutes.
Attachments over 100 MB are left out of the package, and the page lists them so nothing goes missing silently.
Import
Upload .fpl Package opens a wizard that uploads the file and then shows a preview before anything is written: how many requests are new and how many are already on the site, the comments and attachments, the tags that will be created, the units that were not found, and the people who are not users of the site.
- Reporters and comment authors are matched to users, tenants, and (for comments) service partners of the site, and otherwise kept as name and email text. Assignees, supervisors, and watchers are matched to users of the site; the others are skipped.
- Units and tags are matched by name, ignoring capitals. Missing tags are created.
- Importing the same package again is safe: a request that is already on the site is skipped, never changed.
- Imported history is quiet. No emails or notifications go out, Fia does not run on it, resolved requests are not auto-closed, and reminders start only after the site's normal quiet period. Original dates are kept, and the site assigns new request numbers.
- Packages can be up to 5 GB, hold up to 50,000 files, and each file can be up to 100 MB.
A package holds reporters' names, emails, and phone numbers and the full conversation history. Treat it as sensitive under GDPR, and delete copies you no longer need.
Errors in a package are reported in plain language, naming the request and the field, and nothing is written until the package is valid.
Migrating from another system
The package format is published as a versioned JSON Schema, so you can write a package yourself and import your tickets from another system, in the app or through the API with an API key. The new tutorial Importing Maintenance Requests from Another System covers the layout, the field reference, using Preview as a validator, and the API calls.
For the everyday flow, see Importing and Exporting Maintenance Requests.