Import accounts into Apple School Manager using SFTP
You can use the Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) to upload all the .csv files from your Student Information System (SIS) to Apple School Manager. You may want to do this for the following reasons:
Your Student Information System (SIS) isn’t currently supported by Apple School Manager but may be supported in the future.
You don’t have a SIS but want to import the exact same information from the system you currently use.
Note: SFTP upload requires a third-party app on macOS. If you don’t have an SFTP client installed, you can find one in the Mac App Store.
Set up and upload requirements
Before you set up an SFTP upload, you must first verify a domain. Then, after a domain is verified, Apple School Manager gives you .csv template files and the access information for a private SFTP server. You can open the files in a spreadsheet app (such as Numbers).
Creating an SFTP connection to upload your data requires a role with the “Configure organization” privilege. Depending on your SFTP app, future uploads can take place automatically after the zipped file is placed in a folder. To see which roles have that privilege, see Intro to roles and privileges.
Before you upload your templates, you should decide how to create your Managed Apple IDs. See Use Managed Apple IDs.
File requirements
Before you import your data, read the following to understand how to properly configure your .csv files with the appropriate information.
After the files are successfully uploaded
You can then assign roles to your staff, instructors, and students. Any time you upload new files, that information is automatically added to Apple School Manager and updated there. At no time is data written back to your SIS or other systems.
After you’ve made the initial connection, Apple School Manager expects updates to include every .csv file, even if nothing has changed with a particular file. For example, if you have new students to add but no new staff, classes, or rosters, you must still upload those files.
Add users with an SFTP app to Apple School Manager
In Apple School Manager
, sign in with a user that has the role of Administrator, Site Manager, or People Manager.Tap your name at the bottom of the sidebar, tap Preferences
, tap Directory Sync 
, then tap Connect next to SIS/SFTP.The SIS/SFTP Assistant opens.
Tap Add
next to Find Students, Instructors, and Classes, then select Set Up SFTP.Apple School Manager generates a URL, user name, and password to use when uploading files. Use this information to configure your SFTP app.
Tap Download Templates to download the template files to your computer, then read the instructions for using templates in the Filling Out Data Files section, which explains in detail the formatting requirements and expected contents of each file.
Open the templates, add your data in the columns, then save the files that have a .csv extension.
When your files are filled out, create a zip archive of all six files (select the files in the Finder, then go to the File menu and choose Compress 6 Items).
Open your SFTP app and create a new SFTP connection. This process will differ for each app.
Enter the URL, user name, and password generated by Apple School Manager.
After the connection is made, locate and open the dropbox folder, then drag in your zipped file.
In Apple School Manager
, tap Continue and wait for the file to upload.If your upload contains errors, you can review a log identifying the files and lines that contain errors. Correct any errors in the data files, then upload a new zipped file. You don’t need to remove the previous file from the Apple SFTP server.
After you successfully upload your file, you’ll see what was imported—for example, the number and type of users, the number of classes, and locations. You can also adjust the window to display additional users.
To review the information, tap Review SFTP Data.
After you’ve reviewed the SFTP data, then tap Continue.
This automatically opens Create Accounts and Classes.
Tap Preview Accounts and Classes, preview the SFTP data, then tap Create Accounts and Classes.
After the process is complete, tap Close to close the SIS/SFTP Assistant.
You can now view the imported accounts and classes in Apple School Manager.