Summary

Users may want to bring in historic data from other SCADA systems to consolidate all their data in one place. Samsara’s Historic Data Import capability allows you to do this by uploading a simple CSV file as a historical data input that can be then used in your dashboards and reports. In this article, we will walk through how to important Historical Data 

Requirements

  • Administrative privileges on cloud.samsara.com

  • CSV editing software (Excel, Google Sheets, etc)

  • Historical Datapoints (timestamps, data values (numbers))

Instructions

  • Go to your URL and follow this format for your Cloud org

    • https://cloud.samsara.com/XXXXX/config/data_imports

      • where XXXXX is unique to your Org ID)

    • Navigate to left sidebar and find Imports

  • Upload a supported CSV file in the Upload prompt. 

  • Upon successful completion (100% upload progress), you can verify inputs in your Data Inputs section. 

If you received an error or failed to upload, it most likely is a formatting error. Verify with the steps below.

Note: As of July, 2019 there is a 1MB file size limit for data uploads

Example CSV Template

A Data Input includes the name of the Data Input and the time and value for each data point.

Example File: Please refer to this Data Input Upload template. Feel free to select File > Download > CSV to download this file and try it out yourself on your own cloud.samsara.com account.

Formatting Data Input CSV files 

.CSVs should be formatted using the following three column titles: Time, Value, [[Name of Data Input]]

Time

Timestamps must be specifically formatted in order to import correctly. The following are the accepted formats for this type of upload:

Timestamp Format

Example

Unix Standard Time (RFC3339)

2006-01-02T15:04:05MST 

 

2006-01-02T15:04:05

Generic human readable excel format

1/2/2006 3:04:05 PM MST

 

1/2/2006 3:04:05 PM

Data Values

  • Values must be a number, not a string

  • Each value must be associated with a timestamp.

  • Blank data values associated with a timestamp will be considered as a data break

Data Input Names

  • Each Data Input must be uploaded as it’s own .CSV separately

  • Some characters for Data Input names may not be acceptable

  • If a Data Input CSV is uploaded twice, the most recent Data Input will override the previous.