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How to set up Rippling SFTP integration with Culture Amp
How to set up Rippling SFTP integration with Culture Amp

Set up Rippling SFTP integration with Culture Amp to automate employee data imports.

Jared Ellis avatar
Written by Jared Ellis
Updated over a week ago

Who can use this feature?

  • Account Admin

Available on:

  • Available to Culture Amp subscriptions in the US data center with an active Rippling account.

Availability


Currently available for customers in the US datacenter. We're working on expanding this to other regions soon. For non-US customers, the SFTP integration may still be accessible via the 'Other Integration Options' tile in Rippling. Contact Rippling Support for help generating the appropriate report.

Overview


You can streamline your HRIS data management by setting up an SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) connection from Rippling to Culture Amp. This setup automates the import of employee data using the Partial import process, which allows updates for only the employees included in the uploaded file, while others remain unchanged.

How it works


You’ll configure Rippling to automatically send employee data to Culture Amp via SFTP, minimizing manual uploads.

Key points:

Step 1: Create a custom report in your HRIS


Create a report that contains all the employees and demographics you want to import into Culture Amp. We recommend that you start with our Employee Data File Template. If you have existing data in the platform, you can head to Account Admin > Users > Export Users and use the headings that are included in the export to create your template. If you have additional demographics that want to send through in addition to the existing data, you can add these columns in the report you are creating.

At a minimum, for every employee you want to update, you must include:

  • Name

  • Employee email (Email) OR Employee ID. You can include both pieces of information if you have this available.

Rippling includes the following data on their standard connection:

  • Name

  • Preferred Name

  • Employee ID

  • Email

  • Job Title

  • Employee Type

  • Gender

  • Date of Birth

  • Employee Start & End Date

  • Manager Name

  • Manager Email (All values must be in lower case)

  • Manager ID

During the integration setup in Rippling you can also choose whether you want to include a few other demographics such as Department and Location. If you'd like even more data points to be included in this integration, please contact Rippling Support.

If you plan to create a hierarchy, or already have a hierarchy enabled, every employee except one must be assigned a manager using a unique manager identifier (e.g. Manager Email or Manager ID).

Step 2: Create an SSH key pair


To establish a secure connection, generate an SSH key pair on your machine. This consists of a private key (used only by you) and a public key (shared with Culture Amp).

Note: Ensure you use openSSH key pairs, as SSH2 is not supported. If necessary, convert SSH2 keys using the technical instructions on creating an SSH key pair

Step 3: Connect your SFTP client with Culture Amp


To start the process, you’ll need to connect your Rippling account to the Culture Amp app on the Rippling App Shop. The app will guide you through the process of setting up the integration.

Note: this will not impact the SSO/SAML integration also offered via Rippling - refer to our SAML integration guide for setup instructions.

Most SFTP clients will require the following information to set a connection. Some of this information can be found in Culture Amp (Settings > Data Integrations > Rippling). Make sure the hostname and username you use to set up your SFTP client are copied directly from the setup form in Culture Amp. Both are case-sensitive.

  • Protocol: SFTP

  • Logon Type: Key File

  • Host/Hostname: Can be found Culture Amp

  • Username: Can be found Culture Amp

To start setting up on Culture Amp, select your HR system from the options on the Data integrations page.

Step 4: Testing your SFTP connection


Before automating data transfers, test the connection by running a manual import of your HRIS data. This step ensures the validity of your data and allows troubleshooting if necessary.

Steps to test:

Export the custom report from Rippling in XLSX or CSV format.

In Culture Amp, go to Settings > Users > Import Users.

Select Partial Import and upload your custom report.

Review the Import Summary and resolve any errors flagged in your custom report.

Cancel and do not Apply changes. This is because you are only testing the data and do not want to apply the changes via this manual upload process.

If the transfer fails, you now know the issue is with your SFTP connection and not your data file.

Common errors


Resolving 'Duplicate Employee IDs'

If you've transitioned to Rippling from another HRIS and still have data from your previous system in Culture Amp, you may encounter a 'Duplicate Employee IDs' error when uploading data from Rippling. This error usually occurs because the same Employee ID has been assigned to two different users—one in Rippling and one in your previous HRIS.

Steps to resolve the error:

Go to the Settings page and select the Users tab.

Click Export users to export the user data, ensuring that you include both active and inactive users.

In the exported file, clear the values in the Employee ID column values for all employees who also have an Email assigned, while keeping the column header intact.

Save the file, then return to the Users page and perform a partial import using the modified file.

These steps will remove the conflicting Employee IDs from your previous HRIS, helping to prevent the 'Duplicate Employee IDs' error from occurring during your next SFTP sync.

Add your Hierarchy


Once your integration has been successfully set up, the process of adding hierarchy to your account is a once off manual task.

The steps to add hierarchy to your account can be located via our Add your hierarchy guide.

Troubleshooting integration issues


If you are facing issues with syncing your data from Rippling to Culture Amp, you can view troubleshooting information we have included in our Troubleshooting SFTP integration issues guide.

FAQs


How do I mark employees as inactive in my SFTP file?

When removing users from the platform, you have two options: you can mark them as inactive, indicating they are former employees with an end date, or deactivate them, with no specified end date. Both options result in the user being made inactive.

Learn more about the differences between former and deactivated employees here.

Mark Users inactive as Former Employees:

To make users inactive via SFTP as former employees:

  1. Ensure that there is an End Date column included in your user file

  2. Apply an End Date value next to the employee you are deactivating

  3. Following your update, the Culture Amp platform generally does a file sweep every 10 minutes or so and will process any file that has been picked up and process the updates to the platform.

  4. Once the import is processed, those users will show up under your Settings > Users page under the Former User list.

Mark Users inactive as Deactivated Employees:

  1. Ensure that your SFTP file has an End Date column

  2. Under the End Date column, ensure that the value for the user you would like to deactivate is blank.

  3. Create an Employee Deactivated column in your SFTP file. Make sure that this column comes before any other custom demographics in your file.

  4. Assign TRUE as the value next to the employee/s you are deactivating.

  5. Make sure FALSE is set for any other employees.

  6. Following your update, the Culture Amp platform generally does a file sweep every 10 minutes or so and will process any file that has been picked up and process the updates to the platform.

  7. Once the import is processed, those users will show up under your Settings > Users page under the Deactivated User list.

Alternatively, you can mark users as inactive by deactivating them individually in the platform. Follow the instructions provided here.

Just make sure that once you manually deactivate these users, they are removed from any file uploads moving forward.


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