S3 Imports

Overview

MoEngage allows customers to import users and events through files stored inside S3 Buckets.

Types of Imports

MoEngage can import the following from your S3 buckets:

1. Registered Users: These are users who are already registered on MoEngage.
2. Anonymous Users: These are users who are not yet registered on MoEngage.
3. Events (Standard and User Defined): MoEngage can import standard events like Campaign Interaction Events as well as your own user-defined events.
4. Auxiliary Data: These are users added on a temporary basis.

Preparing the files

Refer to the File Imports help doc to understand the supported file types, naming conventions, file structure, etc. Once you are ready with the files, you need to place them inside a folder on your S3 bucket.

Folder Structure

Place all files into an Amazon S3 Folder. You can configure the folder path while setting up the import.

MoEngage will not look for files inside any sub-folders.

Required Access Permissions

You will need to create a new policy so that MoEngage can access your buckets and import files correctly. We request the following permissions:

1. s3:Get* - This will grant us the permissions required to download your files.
2. s3:List* - This will grant us the permissions required to view and list your files.

Create a new policy

Navigate to the Policies tab in the navigation bar and select “Get Started” then “Create Policy”. This will allow you to add permissions for your user. Select “Create Your Own Policy”. This will give limited permissions so we only can access the bucket that you specify.

Input the code below when creating your own policy. Specify a “Policy Name” of your choice, and input the code below into the “Policy Document” section. Be sure to replace the <INSERTSID> with your Statement ID, <INSERTPOLICYID> with your Policy ID, and <INSERTBUCKETNAME> with your bucket name. Replace the Principal as well (make sure the access key ID and access secret key belongs to this user/account).

JSON

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Id": "<INSERTPOLCIYID>",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "<INSERTSID>",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Principal": {
                "AWS": "arn:aws:iam::<ACCOUNTID>:<USER>/<USERNAME>"
            },
            "Action": [
                "s3:Get*",
                "s3:List*"
            ],
            "Resource": [
                "arn:aws:s3:::<INSERTBUCKETNAME>/*",
                "arn:aws:s3:::<INSERTBUCKETNAME>"
            ]
        }
    ]
}

You can find more information about how to create policies here.

Set Up Imports from S3

Prerequisite

Make sure to complete all the steps mentioned in the File Based Imports help doc.

To set up the S3 imports, perform the following steps:

1. On the sidebar menu in MoEngage, hover over the Data menu item . The Data menu appears.
2. Click Data imports.
3. On the Data imports page, click + Import and select Users or Events to create a new import.
4. Click S3 to create a new import for either Users (Registered/Anonymous can be picked in the next step) or Events.

Step 1: Configure your S3 credentials and file format

User Imports

You will now have the option to select whether you want to import Registered users or Anonymous users:

Choose which one you want to import. Both registered users import and anonymous users import expect different file names. Refer to the Naming Conventions section for more information.

Event Imports

For Event imports, you will now have the option to select which event it is that you want to import:

Based on the event you pick, your file names will be different. Your file names must begin with the Event Name of your chosen event. In the “Select event” dropdown, we will show you the Display Names of all the available events in your MoEngage app. Some of these events might have different Display Names and Event Names. When you’re selecting an event, MoEngage will show you what is the file name it expects for that particular event in the Event Description box:

In the above example, App/Site Opened is the Display Name of the chosen event and its Event Name is MOE_APP_OPENED, so the file names should begin with MOE_APP_OPENED. Refer to the Naming Conventions section for more information.

You can also create a new event by clicking on the ”+ Create event” option at the end of the dropdown.

Give your event a name that is unique. By default, your Display Name will be the same as the Event Name. You can go to the Data Management page to view or edit this event and also your other MoEngage events. Do note that any new events you create now will only be available in your app after the first successful import.

Adding your S3 Credentials

In this first step, “Source and format”, you will also need to tell MoEngage how to connect to your S3 bucket and where to look for the files.

Refer to the table below to learn how to fill these fields:

Field	Description
S3 bucket name	This is the name of your S3 bucket. How to find this: In your AWS Console, go to Amazon S3. Click on your bucket from the list, and the name of the bucket is mentioned at the top. You can also find this in your bucket Properties tab. Look at your S3 ARN, the part after arn:aws:s3::: is your bucket name: Example: users_to_import
S3 access key	This is the Access Key ID of the account with which you want MoEngage to connect to your bucket. You can either choose to provide the Access Key ID of an existing user (programmatic access or console access) or create a new user with Programmatic Access just for MoEngage. How to find this: n your AWS Console, go to IAM Console >> Users. You can manage your keys for each user here. For an existing user, under the “Security credentials” tab, scroll down to the “Access keys” section. Either copy an existing access key or create a new one (recommended). Enter the Access Key ID here. Click here to know more. Example: 23478207027842073230762374023
S3 secret key	AWS provides a pair of Access Key IDs and secret keys for each user. Enter the corresponding Secret Access Key for the Access Key ID of the account above. How to find this: Your Secret Access Key is provided when you make a new Access Key ID. Click here to know more. Example: wJa...lr/.../bPxRf...LEKEY
Region	Optionally, you can provide MoEngage with the region in which your bucket is hosted. How to find this: You can find the region of your bucket under the bucket’s Properties. . Click here to know more.  Example: Asia Pacific (Mumbai)(ap-south-1)
Folder path	The path of the folder in which your files will be present. MoEngage does not look inside sub-folders. Do not include trailing slashes. Please note that we do not support root-folders at the moment so ensure that all your files are inside a folder. How to find this: From the list of objects in your S3 bucket, open the folder you to import from. In the Properties tab, look at the folder’s S3 URI. Your folder path is the part after s3://[your-bucket-name]/ excluding the trailing slash. In the above example, your folder path is: my-dump/to_import Example: my_folder my_folder/sub_folder
Is your file encrypted?	MoEngage supports importing encrypted files. We currently support PGP Encryption. For more information, refer to How Does MoEngage Handle PGP Encryption?(Link). If you are importing encrypted files, select the checkbox.
Decryption Key	If the Is your file encrypted checkbox is selected, MoEngage will ask for a Decryption Key. This is your Private PGP Key. You can generate the PGP keys by yourself or have MoEngage generate them. Example: -----BEGIN PGP PRIVATE KEY BLOCK----- xcMGBGVqq74BCADKpWRLSAdcTtDKpT+LCUCqDoZQ2dlgeBiXNovBVyTPlAOPQSqX bnNGs+U4RpHebjvTxaWCLDBGYOvtZbtv6WvPIF7lzXrIv+DcgLMBQp2b3t+ohRBi 41Ch8CZ04F2lxbVBo -----END PGP PRIVATE KEY BLOCK-----
Signing Key	If a signing key is also configured, the signing key public key needs to be entered in the Signing key section in the following format. Example: -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- xqq74BCADKpWRLSAdcTtD45nl24KpT+LCUCqDoZQ2dlgeBiXNovBVyTPlAOPQSqX bnNGs+U4RpHebjvTxaWCLDBGYOvtZbtv6WvPIF7lzXrIv+DcgLMBQp2b3t+ohRBi 41Ch8CZ04F2lxboksCwnl31laEuQkk8MERlcthB9AiKvSEf6jihLcPSVVanrQUQN77UZf sFCynJXweqijZxtmUl9V1838sUVOoTzfmGwu7PzV99tAiOlxBjYF9SXIYY/GOoJN Zuz8uOaXWtFPmV536uQT -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Key passphrase	Enter the passphrase that was generated along with the encryption key pair.

Import Name

Enter a name for this import to easily identify it on the Imports Dashboard.

File configurations

Select the DateTime format that will be in your file name. As per the Naming Conventions defined above, your file name should end with _<date time format>.csv. Refer to the table provided earlier to see which DateTime formats we support. The info message below will update according to your chosen DateTime format so that you can easily cross-verify if your file names are as per expectations.

After you’ve configured your S3 Credentials and your file names format, MoEngage will try to connect to your S3 bucket and fetch the most recent file available with the specified format. Ensure you have at least one file available in the specified location otherwise, you will not be able to continue. Once you’re ready, click the “Fetch file” button to fetch a recent file.

If your S3 credentials and chosen file format are correct, then MoEngage will show you the preview of the top 5 rows from a recent file:

However, sometimes, there can be an error while fetching the file from your S3 buckets. These are some common errors:

• Given S3 Access Key is not valid - This means that your S3 credentials are incorrect. Please enter the correct credentials and try to fetch the file again.
• Please check the folder path and try again - This means that either your folder path is incorrect or there are no CSV files present inside the given folder path.
• Found zero data rows in the file - This means that the file MoEngage fetched did not have any rows after the header row (the total row count of the file is 1). We expect at least 2 rows (1 header row + 1 data row) in the file since the first row is always treated as the header row. Learn more about the File Structure.

Once you are satisfied with the preview of the file, click Next to continue to the mapping step.

Step 2: Map your columns to MoEngage Attributes

In this step, you need to map the columns of your CSV files to the attributes present in MoEngage. All your columns will be shown one below the other:

1. Column name - This is the column name (picked from the first row of the fetched file in the previous step) to be mapped. Below the column name, we also show a sample value (picked from the second row of the fetched file in the previous step) for your reference.
2. Map attribute - You need to pick which MoEngage attribute you want to map the CSV column to. You can also choose to create a new attribute. Some attributes support ingestion from multiple data types, so you need to pick the data type of the column as well. For the “DateTime” columns, you also need to pick the format.
3. More actions - You can optionally choose to skip the column. The skipped column will not be imported.

Depending on the type of import, there are a few mandatory mappings required:

1. User imports - You need to select the column having:
   1. Registered -
      1. User ID - Your file should mandatorily have a column that contains a unique user identifier (that identifies a user’s account in your system).
   2. Anonymous -
      1. Anonymous ID - You need to mark a column from your file (email, mobile number, etc.) as an identifier of these users.
2. Event imports - You need to select the column having:
   1. User ID - This column will be used to match the users in MoEngage to your CSV files.
   2. Event Time - You need to map either Event Time (UTC) or Event Time (App Timezone). If you have chosen Event Time (UTC), then the “Event Time” of the imported event will be converted to the timezone chosen in your MoEngage Dashboard settings:

Once a mandatory mapping is marked, it will reflect against the column name in the mapping table and you will no longer be able to mark the column as skippable.

Just like new events, you can also create a new attribute from the dropdown by clicking on ”+ Create attribute”:

Give your attribute a name and select its Data type. You can edit this as well as existing attributes from the Data Management page. Do note that any new attributes you create now will only be available in your app after the first successful import.

Adding Fields

You can also add fields directly from the dashboard by clicking on +Add Field. This will create a new field at the bottom of the list below where you can enter the attribute mapping manually.

Manifest Files

Optionally, you can choose to auto-map these columns by uploading a manifest file.

To upload a manifest file, click the “Upload mapping file” option on the top-right of the mapping table:

If it is a fresh import, you can find the sample manifest file, which can be used as a reference point as you create an appropriate mapping file for your import.

If you duplicate an existing import and upload a mapping file, you will find your existing mapping file already added, which can be downloaded.

Upload your manifest file and click Done. Your mappings will be auto-configured accordingly. For any additional attributes mentioned in the manifest file but not currently present in MoEngage, a modal will open up, which will list down these attributes for you to create the attributes.

Any additional columns that are present in your Manifest File but not in your CSV file will be ignored. Also, if the mapping for an existing CSV column is not present in the manifest file, MoEngage will keep the mapping blank for you to manually configure it.

Do note that if a column in the manifest file is mapped to a non-existent MoEngage Attribute, then the mapping will be blank, and you will need to first manually create a new attribute from the UI and then map it.

Sending Import Notifications

You can, optionally, choose to get notified about your imports’ statuses via email. Select up to 10 emails to send the status emails to. You will receive an email in the following events:

1. An import was successful.
2. An import failed, along with the possible cause of failure.

When you are satisfied with all mappings, click Next. If there are any errors, correct them to move forward.

Step 3: Select the Import frequency

In this step, you need to define when to import files from your S3 bucket. We support the following types of imports:

1. One-Time Imports: You can either choose to run the import as soon as possible or at a later date and time (scheduled)
2. Periodic: You can choose to run your imports hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly, or with intervals and advanced configurations.

For each run, MoEngage will try to fetch a file with the configured DateTime format, so ensure your file names are configured properly. Optionally, you can specify whether the import should end after a specified set of occurrences or at a particular date. Click “Done” when ready.

Duplicate Imports

You can only configure one unique import at a time. An import is considered a duplicated import when all of these are the same:

1. Import Type - Users / Events
2. Import Sub-Type - Event Name / Registered / Anonymous - If the event name is the same, or there already exists a registered/anonymous users import with the same S3 path and bucket name.
3. S3 Folder Path
4. Bucket Name

As long as any one of the above is different, the import is considered unique.

Frequently Asked Questions

My imports have failed. How do I check what went wrong?

Click the ellipsis on the right and click View to look up the Import details. Hover over the Failed Status to learn the reason.

What happens when there is an error in fetching the files from the S3/SFTP folder?

By default, imports are not retried when there is a failure. You can, however, configure to receive an email alert upon failure.

What if a scheduled import adds the data into a recently archived segment?

In such cases, the new data will still be added to the archived segment. You can unarchive the segment as required.

How does MoEngage pick up new files in a periodic run?

In a scheduled run for a given workspace, MoEngage picks up all the new files identified in the S3/SFTP folder based on file name prefix and processes them. Data import in a given MoEngage workspace uniquely identifies these files with the combination of Folder location and File name.

Will a periodic Data import pick up an earlier processed file?

No. A file once processed will not be processed again if the file name remains the same and in the same folder location. However if the same file is also placed in a different folder location, a new data import setup in MoEngage with the new folder location configured will pick up the file.

Can a CSV file contain both User and Event data?

No. Data imports in your MoEngage workspace dashboard have to be setup separately for User data and Event data, hence the files should either contain User attribute data or Event data.

Can an import be stopped while it's running?

Once an import process starts, it can’t be stopped midway. This is because the data goes through several steps, and interrupting it could lead to incomplete or inconsistent results. It’s best to let the current import finish.

How can I stop future runs of a scheduled import?

Yes, you can stop future scheduled imports from running automatically. To do this, find the import schedule and select the “Archive” option from the Actions menu on the Data Imports dashboard. This will prevent it from running on its next scheduled time.

What should I do if an import seems stuck or is taking a long time?

If an import appears to be stuck or is taking longer than usual, it’s best to wait. The system has checks in place to handle these situations automatically and will retry if necessary. Manually starting the same import again while it’s still processing can cause conflicts and may prevent the original import from completing successfully.