Create a camera import CSV file

Last modified: Sunday October 01, 2023.

You can use a CSV file to define and add multiple cameras to Alta Video at the same time. You can manually create a CSV file or download a template from Alta Video.

Task — Download the CSV template file

  1. From the toolbar, open new tool button > devices tool buttonDevices.
  2. Click Add cameras button Add cameras.
  3. Click Use CSV file.
  4. Select Download CSV template. The template file is downloaded with the filename cameras-template.csv.

Task — Update the CSV template file with camera information

You do not need to fill in every field in the CSV. You can add missing information in Alta Video after import.

  1. Locate cameras-template.csv in your default download location.

  2. Open the file in a spreadsheet or text editor.

    Camera template CSV file opened in spreadsheet

    cameras-template.csv file opened in a spreadsheet program

    Camera template CSV file opened in text editor

    cameras-template.csv file opened in a text editor

  3. Enter the details for each camera. If editing the file in a text editor, separate each entry with a comma, and use a new row for each camera.
    • Name — the name or the camera in Alta Video.
    • IP Address / Alta Key — the IP address or Alta Key of the camera. For Ava Cameras without a clearly marked Alta Key, you can use the serial number instead.
    • Port — the port used by the camera (usually Port 80).
    • Device Group — choose an existing device group to add the camera to.
    • Configuration Profile — choose an existing configuration profile to assign to the camera.
    • Protocol — choose the required protocol for the camera. The options are:
      • Automatic
      • Onvif camera
      • Ava camera
      • Avigilon Unity camera
      • Axis camera
      • Vivotek camera
      • RTSP camera
    • Encryption — define how the camera and Alta Video should communicate. The options are:
      • required (equivalent to On in the Alta Video user interface).
      • unencrypted (equivalent to Off in the Alta Video user interface).
      • optional (equivalent to On (when available) in the Alta Video user interface).
    • Connected to — if required, enter the name of the Alta Cloud Connector to which the camera is to be added.
    • Labels — choose any existing labels for the camera.
  4. Save the file to a location accessible by the Alta Video user interface.