Instructions for automating your file upload in a Linux environment

This guide explains how to upload your Student Information System (SIS) file (a CSV) to uConnect’s secure Amazon S3 bucket — and how to optionally automate uploads on a schedule.

You can upload manually using the AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) or FileZilla Pro, or automate it with a cron job (Linux/macOS) or Task Scheduler (Windows).

Tip: Anything shown in ALL_CAPS (like YOUR_BUCKET_NAME) is a placeholder — replace it with your real value.

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Prerequisites

Before uploading, confirm you have:

• Bucket name: YOUR_BUCKET_NAME (provided by uConnect)

• AWS Access Key ID and AWS Secret Access Key (provided securely by uConnect)

• Region: use us-east-1 unless told otherwise

• Your file: a CSV named student_feed.csv that meets RFC 4180 standards:

  • Comma-separated values

  • One row per line

  • Fields containing commas or special characters enclosed in double quotes - A header row as the first line (e.g., student_id,first_name,last_name,email,major) - UTF-8 encoding recommended

Example:

student_id,first_name,last_name,email,major 12345,Alex,Morgan,alex.morgan@example.edu,Biology 67890,"Taylor, Jr.",Lee,taylor.lee@example.edu,Chemistry

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Option A — Windows PowerShell (AWS CLI)

Step 1: Install the AWS CLI

1. Open PowerShell.

2. Check if the AWS CLI is installed:

   aws --version

   If not, download AWS CLI v2 for Windows.

Step 2: Configure your credentials

aws configure

Enter:

• AWS Access Key ID: YOUR_ACCESS_KEY_ID

• AWS Secret Access Key: YOUR_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

• Default region name: us-east-1

• Default output format: press Enter to skip

Step 3: Upload your file

aws s3 cp "C:\Data\student_feed.csv" "s3://YOUR_BUCKET_NAME/student_feed.csv" --region us-east-1

Success looks like:
PowerShell prints a line beginning with upload: and ends with your S3 path.
Check the exit code:

$LASTEXITCODE # 0 means success

Step 4: Verify your upload

aws s3 ls "s3://YOUR_BUCKET_NAME/" --region us-east-1

Step 5 (Optional): Automate weekly uploads You can automate uploads with Windows Task Scheduler. 1. Open Task Scheduler (search for it in the Start menu). 2. Click Create Basic Task and follow the wizard. 3. Set the trigger to Weekly on your preferred day and time. 4. For the action, choose Start a program and enter: - Program: C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe - Arguments: /c aws s3 cp "C:\Data\student_feed.csv" "s3://YOUR_BUCKET_NAME/student_feed.csv" --region us-east-1 5. After the task runs, right-click it in Task Scheduler and check Last Run Result — a value of 0x0 indicates success.

You can automate uploads with Task Scheduler.
Set up a weekly task running the same command as above.
Confirm a 0x0 result after it runs (indicating success).

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Option B — Linux or macOS Terminal (AWS CLI)

Step 1: Install the AWS CLI

• Using pip (if Python is installed):

  curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"
  unzip awscliv2.zip
  sudo ./aws/install
  aws --version

• Using bundled installer:

• macOS via Homebrew:

  brew install awscli
  aws --version

Step 2: Configure your credentials

aws configure # AWS Access Key ID:      YOUR_ACCESS_KEY_ID # AWS Secret Access Key:  YOUR_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY # Default region name:    us-east-1 # Default output format:  (press Enter to skip)

Step 3: Upload your file

aws s3 cp /path/to/student_feed.csv s3://YOUR_BUCKET_NAME/student_feed.csv --region us-east-1

Check for a successful transfer:

echo $? # 0 means success

Step 4: Verify your upload

aws s3 ls s3://YOUR_BUCKET_NAME/ --region us-east-1

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Automating uploads (Linux/macOS)

After confirming a successful manual upload, automate future uploads using cron.

1. Open your crontab:

   crontab -e

2. Add a schedule line. Example: upload every Saturday at 8:05 AM:

   5 8 * * Sat aws s3 cp /path/to/student_feed.csv s3://YOUR_BUCKET_NAME/student_feed.csv --region us-east-1 >> "$HOME/uconnect_upload.log" 2>&1

   This saves a log of each run at ~/uconnect_upload.log.

Cron format reference:

+---------------- minute (0 - 59) |  +------------- hour (0 - 23) |  |  +---------- day of month (1 - 31) |  |  |  +------- month (1 - 12) |  |  |  |  +---- day of week (0 - 6) (Sunday=0 or 7) |  |  |  |  | *  *  *  *  *  command to be executed

You’re now fully automated! If you’d like, upload a test file and ask your uConnect contact to verify receipt.

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Option C — FileZilla Pro (Point-and-Click)

Step 1: Install

Download and install FileZilla Pro (S3 support is only in the Pro version).

Step 2: Connect to your S3 bucket

1. Open File → Site Manager… → New Site.

2. Protocol: Amazon S3

3. Enter your credentials:

   • Access Key ID: YOUR_ACCESS_KEY_ID

   • Secret Access Key: YOUR_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

   • Region: us-east-1

4. Click Connect and approve any prompts.

Step 3: Upload

1. Open your S3 bucket in the right pane.

2. Locate your local student_feed.csv on the left.

3. Drag it from left to right.

4. If asked, choose Overwrite.

Step 4: Verify

Press F5 to refresh and confirm the file appears in your bucket with a current timestamp.

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Troubleshooting

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Security Notes

• Keep your AWS keys private — never email or share them.

• Rotate credentials if staff changes.

• Always use the same filename (student_feed.csv) for consistency.

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Need Help?

If you’re missing credentials, bucket details, or encounter errors:

• Contact your uConnect admin contact, or

• Submit a support request at support.gouconnect.com including:

  • The command you ran or a screenshot,

  • The time of the attempt, and

  • Any error text.

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Quick Reference Cheat Sheet

Windows (PowerShell):

aws configure aws s3 cp "C:\Data\student_feed.csv" "s3://YOUR_BUCKET_NAME/student_feed.csv" --region us-east-1 aws s3 ls "s3://YOUR_BUCKET_NAME/" --region us-east-1

Linux/macOS (Terminal):

aws configure aws s3 cp /path/to/student_feed.csv s3://YOUR_BUCKET_NAME/student_feed.csv --region us-east-1 aws s3 ls s3://YOUR_BUCKET_NAME/ --region us-east-1

Automate with cron (Linux/macOS):

5 8 * * Sat aws s3 cp /path/to/student_feed.csv s3://YOUR_BUCKET_NAME/student_feed.csv --region us-east-1

FileZilla Pro:

• Site Manager → Amazon S3 → enter keys → Connect → drag student_feed.csv into YOUR_BUCKET_NAME.

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Now, you're all set! If you have any questions, please submit a support request.