CSV import of checks with a preview
Short answer
Upload a CSV of checks, read the preview, and add only the rows marked Will add. Every plan can do this. History and unknown columns stay out.
How The Watchbill helps
- A check runs about once a minute.
- Email goes out when a check is down and when it recovers.
- Each client can have a status page that stays private until you publish it.
This guide is how to bring an existing check list into the account without writing a row you have not seen.
Every plan can upload a CSV from Checks, then Import. The next page shows what will be added before anything is written. Headers match The Watchbill, Pingdom, UptimeRobot, Better Stack, StatusCake, or Site24x7. Nothing is added until you confirm the preview.
A blank template and an export of this account are on that page. A column this page does not know is shown and skipped.
What the file can be
The first row is the header. A line that starts with # is skipped, except a line that starts with # header:, which is read as the header. The first line decides comma or semicolon, so a StatusCake export that uses semicolons can still match. The file can be up to 512 KB and 5000 data rows. More than that is refused before a preview.
A recognized file is one of these header sets. The labels ignore spaces, underscores, and capital letters.
The Watchbill needs name and url. The export columns are name, url, client, tags, alert_email, alert_email_2, alert_email_3, expected_status, body_match, body_text, origin_check, reject_cache, paused, and public_status. Download the template if you are building the file by hand.
UptimeRobot matches Friendly Name plus URL/IP or URL. Type HTTP, HTTPS, keyword, 1, or 2 is kept. Other types are skipped as not an HTTPS check. Keyword Value and Keyword Type can become a body match.
Pingdom matches hostname and resolution, or hostname plus name and type when there is no url column. A bare hostname becomes https:// plus that host. Type HTTP, HTTPS, or httpcustom is kept. shouldcontain can become a phrase the check requires.
Better Stack matches pronounceable_name and url. Monitor type status, expected_status_code, keyword, or keyword_absence is kept. required_keyword, expected status codes, and a paused time can be copied when the header is present.
StatusCake matches WebsiteName plus TestType, WebsiteURL, or TestID. Type HTTP or HTTPS is kept. FindString can become a phrase the page should equal. When DoNotFind is set, that phrase is not copied. The importer's note on the 19 April 2018 export article says that file uses semicolons and lists WebsiteName, TestType, Paused, FindString, and DoNotFind. It does not list WebsiteURL. A row with no URL is skipped.
Site24x7 matches display_name and website. Type URL or WEBSITE is kept. matching_keyword and up status codes can be copied.
A file that matches none of those sets is unrecognized. The preview says so, and nothing will be imported. Fix the header or export again from the product that owns the list.
What a row must have
The URL has to be a public https address with no username or password in it. http:// is skipped. A Pingdom bare host is the exception that gets https:// added. The name can be 80 characters. A blank name uses the hostname. A client name is copied when it is a valid name. A bad client name is noted and left off, and the check can still be added.
Alert emails are copied only when they are real addresses. A bad address is left off and the preview says so. Extra addresses are stored, and the plan still decides how many of them send. Origin reach, reject cache, paused, and a public status page are copied from a The Watchbill file when those columns say yes, true, 1, or paused. Other products do not have those columns, so those checks start without them.
An expected status or a required phrase is copied when the source file has that column and the value is one this page understands. A column that is not in the matched map is listed under Skipped. It is not copied into another field.
What the preview does
Copied lists the headers that will be stored. Skipped lists the headers that will not. Each row says Will add or gives a reason. Already on this account, a repeated URL in the file, a plan with no room, and a cap of 2000 checks in one import are the usual skips. The page shows the first 200 rows. Import still adds every row marked Will add, not only the ones on screen.
Nothing is written until you press Import. Choose another file if the client column landed in the wrong place. Existing checks are not deleted and are not edited by a second upload of the same URL. History, incidents, and contacts are not in this file. Add the client first if you want the check on a client that already exists. A client name that is new can be created with the import when the preview shows that name.
After the import, open one check. Confirm the URL, the client, and whether it is paused. Then set the alert address if the file did not have one. A blank check address uses the client, then the account. That inheritance is in alert addresses.
Paused checks are added paused. They do not start probing until you resume them. A public status flag on a The Watchbill file publishes that check's page when the client page is already public. Other exports do not set it, so those checks stay private until you publish them. Tags on a The Watchbill file are kept. Other products do not have that column in this map.
How The Watchbill helps
Every plan can import a CSV after a preview. The same page exports the account's checks. Pingdom, UptimeRobot, Better Stack, StatusCake, and Site24x7 headers are recognized for HTTPS checks. Unknown columns are skipped. The buying checklist that sits next to a move is in how an MSP picks a monitor.