starred/netbox
1
0
Fork 0
mirror of https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox.git synced 2026-01-11 21:10:29 +01:00
Code Issues 273 Packages Projects Releases 10 Wiki Activity

Unable to import any CSV's #6966

New Issue
Closed
opened 2025-12-29 19:47:15 +01:00 by adam · 4 comments
adam commented 2025-12-29 19:47:15 +01:00
Owner
Copy Link

Originally created by @ghost on GitHub (Sep 12, 2022).

NetBox version

v3.3.2

Python version

3.10

Steps to Reproduce

This is reproduceable on the demo site as well.
If you attempt to export data, then import the data, it will generate an error
"Unexpected column header "Name" found."

  1. go to any page (I picked custom fields for my example)
  2. click 'export' and 'all data (CSV)'
  3. attempt to import the CSV into a new clean version of netbox

An import error will be observed with the following error "Unexpected column header "Name" found."

Expected Behavior

Data should import correctly.

Observed Behavior

Data is not importing correctly.

Originally created by @ghost on GitHub (Sep 12, 2022). ### NetBox version v3.3.2 ### Python version 3.10 ### Steps to Reproduce This is reproduceable on the demo site as well. If you attempt to export data, then import the data, it will generate an error "Unexpected column header "Name" found." 1) go to any page (I picked custom fields for my example) 2) click 'export' and 'all data (CSV)' 3) attempt to import the CSV into a new clean version of netbox An import error will be observed with the following error "Unexpected column header "Name" found." ### Expected Behavior Data should import correctly. ### Observed Behavior Data is not importing correctly.
adam closed this issue 2025-12-29 19:47:15 +01:00
adam commented 2025-12-29 19:47:16 +01:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@jeremystretch commented on GitHub (Sep 12, 2022):

This is not a bug. Please read the instructions below each import form to see the supported columns for each object type.

@jeremystretch commented on GitHub (Sep 12, 2022): This is not a bug. Please read the instructions below each import form to see the supported columns for each object type.
adam commented 2025-12-29 19:47:16 +01:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@ghost commented on GitHub (Sep 12, 2022):

How is it not a bug? Why would netbox export ALL fields into a CSV and then not import its own export correctly?

I'm not doing anything special other than going to a page and selecting export to CSV. If you can't just click export to CSV without having to specify columns and read other documentation should the ability to export to CSV be removed then?

@ghost commented on GitHub (Sep 12, 2022): How is it not a bug? Why would netbox export ALL fields into a CSV and then not import its own export correctly? I'm not doing anything special other than going to a page and selecting export to CSV. If you can't just click export to CSV without having to specify columns and read other documentation should the ability to export to CSV be removed then?
adam commented 2025-12-29 19:47:16 +01:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@jeremystretch commented on GitHub (Sep 12, 2022):

How is it not a bug?

It is not a bug because, as the error message indicates, your input data does not match the supported format, which is clearly documented. If you correct your data per the documented format, the import will succeed.

Why would netbox export ALL fields into a CSV and then not import its own export correctly?

Because these are not symmetric operations. Exported data is intended for human consumption, whereas input data must be strictly formatted to match NetBox's internal data models.

@jeremystretch commented on GitHub (Sep 12, 2022): > How is it not a bug? It is not a bug because, as the error message indicates, your input data does not match the supported format, which is clearly documented. If you correct your data per the documented format, the import will succeed. > Why would netbox export ALL fields into a CSV and then not import its own export correctly? Because these are not symmetric operations. *Exported* data is intended for human consumption, whereas *input* data must be strictly formatted to match NetBox's internal data models.
adam commented 2025-12-29 19:47:16 +01:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@ghost commented on GitHub (Sep 12, 2022):

My question wasn't answered. which is why I created a discussion to perhaps have the community help me understand. I cannot fathom why you have such an adversarial attitude towards people that are trying to learn this tool.

Attached are my custom fields. The 2nd screenshot is what those fields look like in the CSV. The 3rd screenshot is me attempting to import a custom field from the demo site's export. As you can see, the error persists.

However, because I am actually trying to understand the issue I actually figured out what the problem is.
The problem is, the import process uses case sensitive field names. Name<>name. The import process is expecting 'name', when the CSV export process calls the field 'Name'.
1
2
3

It would be nice if something like that is mentioned somewhere in the documentation. Or perhaps I could create a a feature request to have the CSV export process use the same field names that the import process is expected. However, it feels like you'll just close that because you 'don't agree' with it, or 'don't understand the use case'.

@ghost commented on GitHub (Sep 12, 2022): My question wasn't answered. which is why I created a discussion to perhaps have the community help me understand. I cannot fathom why you have such an adversarial attitude towards people that are trying to learn this tool. Attached are my custom fields. The 2nd screenshot is what those fields look like in the CSV. The 3rd screenshot is me attempting to import a custom field from the demo site's export. As you can see, the error persists. However, because I am actually trying to understand the issue I actually figured out what the problem is. The problem is, the import process uses case sensitive field names. Name<>name. The import process is expecting 'name', when the CSV export process calls the field 'Name'. ![1](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/77940332/189555232-6ed7ffc8-a7ec-4708-9a47-fd68e2ee05a3.png) ![2](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/77940332/189555235-5b2bf4d3-fd75-4b56-895c-e7a196b93e55.png) ![3](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/77940332/189555236-f51eb267-c5b1-4be7-8e0e-f4ada23ddf25.png) It would be nice if something like that is mentioned somewhere in the documentation. Or perhaps I could create a a feature request to have the CSV export process use the same field names that the import process is expected. However, it feels like you'll just close that because you 'don't agree' with it, or 'don't understand the use case'.
Sign in to join this conversation.
No Branch/Tag Specified
Branches Tags
Labels
Clear labels
beta
breaking change
complexity: high
complexity: low
complexity: medium
needs milestone
netbox
pending closure
plugin candidate
pull-request
Mirrored from GitHub Pull Request
 severity: high
severity: low
severity: medium
status: accepted
status: backlog
status: blocked
status: duplicate
status: needs owner
status: needs triage
status: revisions needed
status: under review
topic: GraphQL
topic: Internationalization
topic: OpenAPI
topic: UI/UX
topic: cabling
topic: event rules
topic: htmx navigation
topic: industrialization
topic: migrations
topic: plugins
topic: scripts
topic: templating
topic: testing
type: bug
type: deprecation
type: documentation
type: feature
type: housekeeping
type: translation
No Label
Milestone
No items
No Milestone
Projects
Clear projects
No project
Assignees
Clear assignees
adam
No Assignees
1 Participants
Notifications
Due Date
No due date set.
Dependencies

No dependencies set.

Reference: starred/netbox#6966
Delete Branch "%!s()"

Deleting a branch is permanent. Although the deleted branch may continue to exist for a short time before it actually gets removed, it CANNOT be undone in most cases. Continue?