Azure Blob CSV

Instructions on connecting COW to a CSV file in Azure Blob Storage.

Introduction

Connect COW to a CSV file of your devices stored in Azure Blob Storage. You keep the file in your own Azure storage account and update it however you like, for example from a script or a PSA export. COW reads the devices from the file, looks up their warranties, and can write the results back into the same file.

The settings screen marks this integration as beta, and warns that it may be unreliable, especially for write-back. Use Azure Table instead where you can.

Prerequisites

The CSV file

The file must have a .csv extension, a header row, and at least one device row. The columns can be separated by commas, semicolons, tabs or pipes: COW detects which one the file uses.

The header row must contain all of these columns, even where a column is empty. The test fails if any are missing.

Column	What it holds
ClientName	The end client each device belongs to. A row without one is not synced.
DeviceSerial	The device serial number, which COW uses to look up the warranty.
DeviceManufacturer	The manufacturer. If it is blank or Unknown, COW tries to detect it from the serial number.
DeviceName	A friendly name for the device.
DeviceId	Your identifier for the device.
CompanyId	Your identifier for the client.
StartDate	The warranty start date.
EndDate	The warranty end date.
Warranty	The warranty description.
Status	The warranty status.

The SAS URL

COW reaches the file through a shared access signature (SAS) URL: the full address of the file with the SAS token after the ?. The URL must:

• start with https:// and point to *.blob.core.windows.net
• end in the file name, with the .csv extension, before the ?
• contain an expiry (se) at least 12 months from today
• contain a signature (sig)

The permissions the SAS needs are on Azure Blob CSV Permissions.

Setup

1

Create a SAS URL

Follow Microsoft's documentation to create a shared access signature (SAS) token for the CSV file, with the permissions on Azure Blob CSV Permissions. Set the expiry at least 12 months ahead. Copy the full Blob SAS URL, not just the token.

2

Enter the URL

On the Integrations page, click the Azure Blob CSV card, then paste the URL into Azure Blob Storage URL. The field shows an error straight away if the URL breaks one of the rules above.

3

Test the connection

Click Test. COW downloads the file and checks the header row. A successful test shows how many rows it found. To see which rows would sync before you save, click Test Report. See Test Report.

4

Enable the integration

Turn on Enable Integration. Turn on Write Back to CSV as well if you want COW to save warranty results into the file.

5

Submit

Click Submit to save the integration. It then appears on the Sync Status screen as Queued until its first sync starts. To queue a sync yourself, use Sync on that screen.

To remove the integration, see Delete an Integration.

What COW writes back

With Write Back to CSV on, COW writes warranty results back into the file. It does this by uploading a complete new copy of the file, using the same column separator the file already has.

Because the whole file is replaced, changes made to the file while a sync is running can be overwritten. Update the file between syncs.

Troubleshooting

• The URL field shows an error: the URL breaks one of the rules under The SAS URL. A URL copied without the token, or with an expiry less than 12 months away, is rejected.
• Test fails with "Missing headers": add the listed columns to the header row, spelt as in the table above.
• Test fails on a file with only a header row: add at least one device row.
• Test fails to detect the delimiter: the first five lines must split into the same number of columns. Check for a stray separator inside a value.
• Some devices never appear: rows with an empty or placeholder DeviceSerial, a duplicate serial, a blank ClientName, or a manufacturer COW cannot detect are left out. Test Report lists each of them with the reason.
• Warranties are not written back: confirm Write Back to CSV is on and the SAS has Write permission. Test only reads the file, so it passes without write permission.
• Submit stays disabled when editing the integration: the saved URL's expiry is now less than 12 months away. Create a new SAS URL, paste it in and click Test.