Import job definition

You can import user profiles from the ReachFive Console. This makes using existing user profiles that you may already have easier as well as enabling you to batch update users via a JSON or CSV file.

This page shows you all you need to know regarding formatting for importing profiles as well as the validation process, import and merge logic, and import limitations in the following sections:

For instructions on how to create and run an import job from the ReachFive Console, check out the Import profiles page.
Sequential imports

Imports are sequential. This means that an import file can create and update the same profile during an import.

For example: if user A with the name Marie is created early in the import and later on in the same import file, user A has the name updated to Maria. When the import is done, user A keeps Maria as her name.

JSON import format

The schema for the imported user is based off of the user profile object. In this format, all fields are optional.

{
  "external_id": "1",
  "email": "foo@gmail.com"
} \n (1)
{
  "email": "bar@gmail.com",
  "name": "Joe",
  "gender": "M",
  "identities": [ { "provider": "facebook", "user_id": "123" } ]
}
1 Each profile must separated by a line feed character (\n).

CSV import format

The CSV format uses a free format where columns are flattened JSON paths.

For example a path { "foo" : { "bar" : "test" } }` becomes foo.bar in the CSV header.

If a column has no value, then the corresponding field will not be used for the current line. 
external_id,email,name,gender,identities.0.provider,identities.0.user_id
1,foo@gmail.com,,,,,
,bar@gmail.com,Joe,M,facebook,123

File validation

Once parsed, every imported profile is validated to ensure that only consistent data is imported.

Profile import files must comply with the following requirements:

  • At least one unique field should be provided (several can be provided):

    • email (verified or unverified),

    • phone_number (if the SMS feature is available, verified or unverified),

    • a valid provider

    • a valid external_id

  • At most a single matching profile should be returned for merging. The matching is made on:

    • uid (corresponding to the profile id),

    • email (verified or unverified),

    • phone_number (if the SMS feature is available, verified or unverified),

    • provider

  • Only one other profile can match the imported profile. If more than one user is matched, we can’t automatically define how to merge them, so an error will be returned.

  • Any provided consent should be defined for an existing key with a date anterior to the current date.

  • Any provided custom field should be defined for an existing key.

  • Any provided password hash should specify a valid hash method.

Import and merge logic

Security

You can provide password hashes during an import under the password_hash field. We are able to develop new algorithms to ensure full compatibility with your database. When a plain text password is used, the password is hashed during the import using the Bcrypt algorithm. When hashed passwords are used, the password is hashed using Bcrypt only after the user’s first login.

This is only available for users who have never logged in.

The following algoritms are allowed:

Algorithm Notes

bcrypt

md5

Can be used with optional salt and iterations parameters where salt is used as a prefix.

sha1

Can be used with optional salt parameter used as a postfix.

sha256

Can be used with optional salt and iterations parameters where salt is used as a prefix.

sha512

Can be used with optional salt parameter used as a postfix.

sha512Prefixed

Can be used with optional prefix and salt parameters where prefix used as a prefix and salt is used as a postfix.

drupalSha512

Cannot be used with optional parameters.

sha256PostSalt

Can be used with optional salt and iterations parameters where salt is used as a postfix.

magentoSha256

Cannot be used with optional parameters.

plaintext

 
{
  "prefix": "...",
  "value": "...",
  "algorithm": "sha512Prefixed",
  "salt": "..."
}
email,password_hash.value,password_hash.algorithm,password_hash.iterations,password_hash.salta1@a.aa,$S$5T/ViD4qlx6qHTQAci8eEbCuP/MVsoO8OSfU.xJsykqT5H6BXowl sha256PostSalt,10,azdAAZeQw

Encrypt import file

When importing files with ReachFive, it is inherently secure and encrypted. However, you may wish to provide additional encryption for the import process.

To encrypt your desired import file, run the following command from the root of the file location:

openssl aes-256-cbc -salt -pbkdf2 -iter 10000 -in file_to_import -out file_to_import.enc
Command section Notes

-salt

Salts the password.

-pbkdf2

Declares use of PBKDF2 function.

-iter

Specifies the number of iterations of PBKDF2.

Example: -iter 10000

-in file_to_import

The name of the original file to import.

Example: -in file_to_import

-out file_to_import.enc

The name of the output file (encrypted).

Example: -out file_to_import.enc

Social Login

You can import multiple social login profiles using the identities field. The provider name must be a valid provider name, and the user_id field should be the ID of the user from the provider’s site.

The user’s profile will be populated with provider information after the first login of the user using the corresponding social provider.

Merge

If a corresponding profile is found during a merge, the profile will not be created but merged with the existing profile. The matching is based on the following fields:

  • id (corresponding to the profile id),

  • email (verified or unverified),

  • phone_number (if the SMS feature is available, verified or unverified),

  • provider

A profile should never match more than one other profile, or an error will be returned, since there is no way to know the merge priority in a 3+ way merge.

The priority of the merge is defined by the attribute updated_at. If the attribute is not present on both profiles, then the existing profile has priority over the imported profile.

The merge is a safe merge, meaning that (following the priority) no field is overwritten. Fields can either be completed when they are lists or free objects (consents, custom_fields), created if empty, or completely ignored if already defined.

Import limitations

There is no way to define to which provider an email or phone_number belongs to. Keep in mind that after the first login using a social provider, the profile’s information will be updated using the provider’s own information, completing the missing fields of the profile.

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