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Expert Guide

Advanced configuration for AI optimizers and complex systems.

Importing and Exporting Technical Systems

A technical system export captures everything you configured around a piece of equipment — system metadata, connection config, technical datapoints, control hub layout, timeseries chart configuration (chart setup only, not the historical data itself), cover image, and attached O&M documentation — into a single .fpl file. Importing that file into another site recreates the full configuration in seconds.

This is how experts standardize fleets: configure one "Schneider iEM3000" or "Daikin VRV-IV" template correctly, export it, and reuse it across every site that uses the same equipment.

What is a .fpl package?

An .fpl file is a single portable package that bundles everything you need to recreate a technical system on another site:

  • The device configuration — system metadata, connection settings, and technical datapoints
  • The visual layer — control hub layout and timeseries chart configuration
  • The documentation — cover image and any attached O&M documents (manuals, datasheets)

Because everything lives in one file, .fpl packages can be shared by email, stored in a shared drive, or kept under version control alongside your site documentation.

One export, many imports

Exports are designed to be reused. A single .fpl file can be imported into any number of sites — each import creates fresh IDs and links the connections to whichever edge device you pick at the target site.

Exporting a technical system

  1. Open the site from the dashboard
  2. Navigate to Settings > Import / Export
  3. Locate the technical system you want to export in the export table
  4. Click the Export action on its row
  5. Wait for the export job to finish — the download starts automatically when it is ready

The downloaded file is named after the technical system (for example, heating-inverter.fpl) and can be imported into any site where you have admin or manager permissions.

Exports include credentials

Connection data in an export may contain sensitive values — IP addresses, ports, unit IDs, API keys, hostnames, and other credentials that were entered when the system was commissioned. Treat .fpl files as sensitive. Do not post them in public repositories, send them to untrusted parties, or attach them to tickets without redacting the manifest first.

To turn fixed credentials into configurable fields that the importer fills in at import time, follow the Creating Re-usable Export Files tutorial — it shows how to edit the manifest and replace hard-coded values with {{VARIABLE}} placeholders.

Importing a technical system

  1. Open the target site from the dashboard
  2. Navigate to Settings > Import / Export
  3. Click Import
  4. Step 1 — Upload: drop or select the .fpl file. The platform reads the manifest and validates the package upfront.
  5. Step 2 — Preview & Configure: review the detected system, then fill in any required inputs:
    • Variables — if the package defines variables (e.g. HOST, PORT, SLAVE_ID, SYSTEM_NAME), enter the values for this site
    • Edge Device — pick the edge device that should own the connections. Only shown when the package contains connections
  6. Step 3 — Import: the import runs in the background. When it finishes, the new technical system appears in the site's Technical Systems list with all connections, datapoints, visualizations, cover image, and documentation in place.

Standalone technical systems (no edge device required)

Not every technical system is connected to an edge device. If the package contains only metadata, documentation, and visualizations — for example, a fire panel you track for maintenance but do not monitor live — the wizard skips the Edge Device field entirely. You can import the system directly without picking a device.

Systems with connections

If the package defines connection config, the importer needs to know which edge device should run those connections on the target site. Pick any authorized edge device on the property; the importer creates the connections under that device and links every datapoint to them automatically.

When exports are most useful

  • Fleet rollouts — commission one Schneider iEM3000 correctly, export it, then import the same configuration into every site that uses one
  • Onboarding new sites — ship a standard "starter pack" of technical systems (energy meters, HVAC templates, fire panels) with the first commissioning
  • Disaster recovery — keep .fpl backups of critical technical systems so they can be re-created quickly if something is accidentally deleted
  • Cross-team sharing — a commissioning team configures and tests systems, then hands off .fpl files to site operators who import them into production

Next steps

Tutorial

Creating Re-usable Export Files

Learn how to edit the manifest.json inside a .fpl package and replace hard-coded credentials with variables, so the importer prompts for the right values at each site.