Importing CSV Formatted Host Information to Xshell

Import multiple sessions from a CSV file

This was one of the most requested features for Xshell. Some of our system admin users mentioned that they have to work with hundreds of servers that change IP and hostname frequently. So we created a feature in our Import tool to help them import hundreds of sessions using a CSV file. This guide will show you step by step how you can import sessions using a CSV file.

Preparing a CSV file

Currently Xshell supports comma or tab separated data:

• Session name
• Host
• Protocol
• Port
• User name
• Password

Using Notepad (or you can use Excel or Google Spreadsheets), enter the host data like the following example:

You can have more information in the CSV file. For those columns not supported in Xshell, you can simply select ‘NOT-USE’ when importing the file from Xshell and those fields will not be imported.

Importing sessions using a CSV file from Xshell

To import the CSV file from Xshell, follow the steps below:

1. Open Xshell and select File > Import
   
2. For Source location, select the CSV file you created in the previous step.
3. Select the overwrite action in the If session exists section.Overwrite: Overwrite sessions if the same session name already exists.
   Ignore: Import tool will skip the session if the same session name already exists.
   Rename: Import tool will rename the session being imported and add number at the end of the session name.
4. Click Next to continue.
5. Define what each column represents:
   
   NOTE: You can choose from the following 6 options: Session name, Host, Protocol, Port, User Name, Password, NOT-USE
6. Click Next.
7. In this step, you can review the sessions that will be imported
   
8. Click Next to start importing
   
9. Review the result and click Finish to close the import dialog box.