Installation instructions
Overall
In order for the utility to run, it must be run on a Windows Machine running .NET 4.7.2 or higher.
In order to run in Extract Mode you must also have the appropriate permissions to the folder where the SDS CSV files are to be written to and the connection information for the chosen MIS/SIS.
Note. Separate prerequisites exist for each MIS/SIS system. Please refer to the ‘MIS/SIS Connection notes’ section for more details.
In order to use the Send Mode the utility must have an internet connection for https traffic.
You must also supply the Username and Password of a user with rights to upload data to SDS.
You must also have the appropriate permissions to the folder where the SDS CSV files are to be read/written.
Teams Policies
We also recommend that, if your planned use of SDS is to support Teams provisioning, that you look at Teams Policies or Teams Policy Packages – which control what options are available in Teams for your users. These include turning off the Chat functionality for example. I’ve included links below. We can apply either to your users – the benefit of the Policy Packages are that there are some defaults already available for Education. You should check that these fit your needs though first, and customise if required.
Detailed information on these processes can be found:
Teams Policies: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/MicrosoftTeams/teams-policies, https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/assign-policies
Teams Packages: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/MicrosoftTeams/manage-policy-packages
Each of the supported MIS/SIS Systems have different prerequisites.
SIMS
In order to connect to SIMS the utility must be ran on a machine running SIMS.net workstation running the appropriate version for the database you wish to get data from.
For most sites, this will be the latest SIMS version.
You will also need the following:
Details of a SIMS user with a permission role of ‘Class Teacher’ and ‘Third Party Reporting’ as a minimum
To know where SIMS Workstation is installed on the machine running the tool (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\SIMS\SIMS .net or C:\Program Files\SIMS \SIMS .net)
The Name of the SIMS Server SQL Instance (can be found in the SIMS connect.ini)
The name of the SIMS Database (can be found in the SIMS connect.ini)
Note. For sites using hosted SIMS, the utility will need to be installed on the machine running the SIMS connector and VPN
WCBS Pass
The data from WCBS Pass is collected directly from the SQL database using a standard SQL Protocol.
In order to connect, you will need to have a SQL Server connection string for the database.
This connecting string must include the authentication method and any required credentials.
Examples and help regarding SQL Server connection strings can be found HERE
Engage by DoubleFirst
The data from Engage by DoubleFirst is collected directly from the SQL database using a standard SQL Protocol.
In order to connect, you will need to have a SQL Server connection string for the database.
This connecting string must include the authentication method and any required credentials.
Examples and help regarding SQL Server connection strings can be found HERE
iSAMS
To connect to the data in iSAMS you will need access to generate a single API Keys for use in the tool for:
| Recommend Key Name | Batch Methods required in the key |
|---|---|
| SalamanderSoft_SDS | Student Manager Datasets > Current Students HR Manager Datasets > Current Staff Teaching Manager Datasets > Departments Teaching Sets Teaching Set Lists School Manager Datasets > Years School Manager Datasets > Forms |
You can find some information on how to create iSAMS API Keys HERE
You will also need the hostname for your iSAMS instance.
Bromcom
To connect to the Bromcom API the following details are required:
Host name for the bromcom cloud service (without https://) In most cases this will be ‘cloudmis.bromcom.com’
School ID (available from Bromcom)
Username*
Password*
*The user details should be new details created in the ‘system users’ section, with ‘Third Party’ Permissions enabled.
Once the user is created, the following Third Party Access Permissions need to be added:
More information on how to manage third party permissions in Bromcom can be found here: https://support.bromcom.com/Documentation/How%20to%20Add%20a%20Third%20Party%20Supplier%20as%20a%20User%20to%20your%20MIS%20for%20API%20access.pdf
Arbor (Note: Arbor will not be supported after 28th August 2026)
The data from Arbor is collected via their API’s. In order to enable this access we must request access to the API via Arbor, which the school then needs to approve.
To request the approval, we need the name of the site as Arbor has it.
Once approved we are provided with the details, which we’ll arrange to pass on to you in a secure manner.
Please contact sds@salamandersoft.co.uk to request access to work with Arbor.
When configuring Salamander for School Data Sync with Arbor, we recommend prefixing the teacher & student IDs as Arbor user IDs are not unique across data areas.
The configuration of the SDS Data Source you wish to work with is very important and should be considered before working with the utility.
Salamander for School Data Sync only supports the use of the V2.1 SDS CSV format.
The utility is designed to work only in situations where users already exist. It is possible to use the outputted files to create new users via SDS by adding the column Password to the outputted files. In V2.1 this can be added to ‘users.csv’
It is recommended that a new, dedicated, SDS Data Source be configured for the utility.
The following fields are extracted by the utility and should be configured when creating a profile:
Organisation Properties – orgs.csv
| Field Name | Description |
|---|---|
| sourcedId | This is the ID for the organisation/school, and the utility will use the LEA and Establishment number from the MIS with a hyphen separator. This is used as the link value between user role and class objects sent to SDS. |
| name | The Name of the school. This is used in the SDS School profile and dashboard. |
| type | The type of organisation, this will be set to “school” by the utility. |
User Properties – users.csv
| Field Name | Description |
|---|---|
| sourcedId | The ID of the user from the MIS |
| username | The username of the user if available. Where this data is from is configurable. |
| familyName | The surname of the user, set as either preferred or legal when configuring the utility. |
| givenName | The forename of the user, set as either preferred or legal when configuring the utility. |
User Role Properties – roles.csv
| Field Name | Description |
|---|---|
| userSourcedId | The ID of the user. Used as the link between the users.csv and roles.csv |
| orgSourcedId | The ID of the organisation/school from the orgs.csv |
| role | The role of the user, will be set to one of “Teacher” or “Student” by the utility. |
Class Properties – classes.csv
| Field Name | Description |
|---|---|
| sourcedId | The ID of the class used by SDS. As some MIS/SIS Systems do not store a separate ID for the class, the utility uses the name. |
| orgSourcedId | The ID of the organisation/school from the orgs.csv |
| title | The Name of the class as in the MIS/SIS. |
Enrollment Properties – enrollments.csv
| Field Name | Description |
|---|---|
| classSourcedId | The ID of the class. Used as the link between the classes.csv and enrollments.csv |
| userSourcedId | The MIS/SIS ID of the user. |
| role | The role of the user in the class. Set to either “Teacher” or “Student” by the utility. |
The utility is provided as a zip file which contains all the required files.
It can be run by unzipping all the files in the package to a folder on the machine you wish to use.
It is important that none of the files are blocked and so it is recommended that you check the zip file is not blocked by Windows before extracting it.
Note. The application must be run from a session on the machine it resides on and cannot be run across a network share.
Once the application and associated files are extracted, it can be run by opening SalamanderSDS.exe
Extract Mode
The Extract mode will connect to the chosen MIS/SIS system and pull data to generate the appropriate CSV files for SDS.
Settings Page
The first page ‘Settings’ allows you to prepare the MIS/SIS Connection.
Select the appropriate MIS/SIS Type and complete the text boxes. (more details in the MIS/SIS Configuration notes section)
Once this is done, you must test that the utility can successfully connect using the ‘Test Connection’ button.
If the connection is successful, the ‘School Name’ and ‘School ID’ are populated.
If the utility is not able to connect an error will be displayed and you will not be able to advance until the utility can successfully connect.
Note. It is important to note these values as they will be used by SDS. See the ‘Configuring SDS’ section for more information about how to configure your SDS Data Source.
Before proceeding you must also specify a folder where you wish to save the outputted CSV files. It is recommended that you choose a new, empty, folder for this purpose.
Once all the boxes on the ‘settings’ page are complete, you will be able to continue to the ‘Teacher Details’ and ‘Pupil Details’ pages.
Teacher/Pupil settings
Both the Teacher and Pupils details pages are the same and so will be covered in this single section.
Here you are presented with the option to use either Legal or Preferred names for the Teachers/Pupils pulled from your MIS. If you select the Preferred name and this is not available for the user, the legal name will be used instead. If the setting is configured to not use a Preferred name and the Legal name does not exist in the MIS, no value will be returned.
Managing Username and Email Addresses
As SDS uses usernames and email addresses to manage the link from the data provided to SDS it is important that this information is provided.
As this data is not available by default in many MIS/SIS systems the utility will allow users to provide details as to where to get this information from.
MIS/SIS
If supported for the chosen MIS/SIS system (more details in the MIS/SIS Configuration notes section), this will use the data from the MIS/SIS to provide the usernames and email addresses outputted in the data.
CSV
In this mode, you will be able to input a CSV file that contains the users’ email addresses, usernames, and a unique ID link to their MIS/SIS Record.
None
This will simply not attempt to get the username or email address information for users.
Note. In this configuration, the outputted CSV files will not be complete and will fail to upload to SDS.
Once you have selected the appropriate setting, you may proceed.
Run
The run page will display some basic information regarding the configuration you have chosen before allowing you to Run the extract.
Once run, if the extract is successful the View Extracts and ‘Proceed to Send mode’ buttons will appear:
View Extracts will open the folder the extracts have been written to so you can see the CSV files, and if needed make adjustments.
Proceed to Send Mode will set the application into the Send Mode ready to push the extracted files directly to SDS.
If the extract fails, you can copy the information on the screen to the clipboard to aid with troubleshooting.
Note. It is highly recommended that view any extracted CSV files to ensure all the details are correct and match those configured in your SDS Profile.
Send Mode
The Send mode will upload the specified set of CSV files to the Microsoft Graph Industry Data Endpoints.
Before proceeding you will need to have the following information:
Username and Password for an account in your Office 365 with access to manage School Data Sync.
The name of the SDS Data Source you wish to push data to.
The location of the CSV files you need to upload.
Note. It is highly recommended that you read the ‘Configuring SDS’ section and check it against your extracted data before using the utility in this mode.
Once you have entered the user, profile, and folder settings you can run the send process.
This will connect to your chosen School Data Sync Data Source, which will validate the files that have been sent.
In the event that the files fail the validation by School Data Sync, the validation messages will be displayed in the utility. These can then be copied to the clipboard.
Once all the files have been successfully updated, SDS will be able to continue it’s sync process (if activated).
This will not be immediate. It can take a number of hours from the upload to SDS before the data is processed in your tenant.
Please note that SDS only runs every 12 hours – https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/schooldatasync/planning-checklist