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Unified CM Bulk Administration Tool export formats

Verified 2026-09-22 · 60 sources · tier 2

Also known as BAT.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) Bulk Administration Tool (BAT) generates export data through distinct mechanisms, including the system-wide Import/Export archive and dedicated per-entity CSV exports 21​48. These exported formats provide configuration data for cloud migration workflows 32​59.

Import/Export tar bundles

In Unified CM 15, the Bulk Administration Import/Export function packages exported configuration into a .tar file that is downloaded from the server 21. An export is initiated under Bulk Administration > Import/Export > Export, where an administrator specifies a tar file name and selects the configuration items to include 13. Submitting the export generates a job that executes immediately or at a later scheduled time via the BAT Job Scheduler 12. The resulting package is retrieved through Bulk Administration > Upload/Download Files, where export and import files reside on the Unified CM first node 8​50.

The generated .tar archive contains individual CSV files alongside a single header file 22. Each CSV within the archive is named after the specific configuration item it stores 6. The header file records the originating server name, export timestamp, and details regarding the files contained in the package 14. An export transaction creates an overall transaction log file as well as individual log files per item, prefixed with the item name 15.

Configuration items on the export screen are grouped into several categories 11:

  • System Data: Includes Device Pool, Location, and Region 20.
  • Call Routing Data: Includes Class of Control items (CSS, Partitions, Time Period, Time Schedule), Directory Number, Route Pattern, Translation Pattern, Route Group, Route List, Hunt List, Hunt Pilot, Line Group, Call Park, Call Pickup Group, and Elin Group 17​18.
  • Device Data: Includes Phone, Device Profile, Remote Destination Profile, Trunk, Gateway, SIP Profile, Softkey Template, and Phone Button Template 7.
  • User Data: Includes End User and Application User 23.
  • Advanced Features: Includes Voice Mail Pilot and Voice Mail Profile (which are not placed in Device Data) 24.

When selecting items, the Check Dependency option selects dependent configuration items only 1 level deep; secondary dependencies of those items are not automatically selected 5. On the U.S. export unrestricted version of Unified CM, VPN configuration checkboxes are absent, and VPN details cannot be exported 25.

Archiving rules and modification constraints

Import/Export exports sensitive credentials, such as password and PIN attributes, in an encrypted format that cannot be converted to plain text 19. Within the exported enduser.csv, Cisco instructs that the User ID, User Pkid, Password, and Pin fields must not be altered 10. Similarly, for standalone BAT user exports, the user ID, PKID, password, PIN, and digest credentials columns must not be modified 54. If user records created prior to Unified CM 3.1 are exported, they may contain a blank PIN; a default PIN must be set prior to reinserting them 52.

If an exported .tar file is modified, every CSV must maintain its original file name and format 9. Any newly added file must match standard exported names and formats and must be explicitly recorded in the archive header file 9. Furthermore, re-tarred archives must preserve the original directory structure because the Bulk Provisioning Service (BPS) looks for files exclusively at the default location 16. On Windows servers, standard tar -xvf commands may fail; Cisco suggests using 7-Zip for tar and untar operations on Windows 26.

WarmTransfer's reading of the sources is that the Import/Export tar and the direct Phone or User CSV exports are separate artifacts, meaning utilities reading the tar cannot assume the presence of column layouts documented for standalone phone exports 37. WarmTransfer's reading of the sources is that because Cisco does not publish the column schemas of the per-item CSVs inside the tar (such as phone.csv, enduser.csv, or device_pool.csv), external tools must read schemas directly from the header rows of each file 36.

Standalone phone and user CSV exports

Bulk Administration provides direct record exports for phones using two file formats: Specific Details for similarly configured phones and All Details for phones with differing line configurations such as multiple partitions or calling search spaces 48.

The Default Phone format relies on a defined query and outputs a standardized set of device and line attributes 43​44:

Category Exported fields
Device fields MAC Address, Description, Location 43
Line fields Directory Number, Display, Line Text Label, Call Pickup Group, Forward Busy (Internal/External), Forward No Answer (Internal/External), Forward No Coverage (Internal/External) 43

The All Phone Details format can export a single phone model or all phone models together into a single file, capturing device parameters, line attributes, and associated services 42. This format records the Device Name rather than the MAC address 40. Exported device fields include Device Name, Description, Owner User ID, Device Pool, CSS, AAR CSS, Media Resource Group List, Location, Phone Button Template, Softkey Template, Phone Load Name, and Security Mode 39. Line fields include Directory Number, Partition, Voice Mail Profile, Line CSS, per-condition forward destinations, voicemail and CSS parameters, Display, External Phone Number Mask, Max Num Calls, Busy Trigger, and Alerting Name 41.

When using Specific Details, administrators can filter devices by criteria such as Device Name, Description, Directory Number, Calling Search Space, Device Pool, Call Pickup Group, Security Profile, Last Registered, or Last Active, though the exported column set itself cannot be tailored 46. For devices configured with multiple users, all associated users appear within that single device's exported record 45. Generated phone export files receive a timestamp suffix, causing scheduled, recurring jobs to output distinct files with matching base names 47.

For user exports, administrators can filter records by User ID, First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, Manager, or Department using AND or OR operations 55. The Default User Format includes only the default user device profile assigned to each user 53.

CSV formatting and file handling

In BAT text-based CSV files, a value containing a comma or double quote must be enclosed in double quotation marks, and blank fields still need their comma separators 3. A blank line in a BAT CSV file causes an error during the insert transaction 1. Cisco recommends uploading BAT text-based CSV files saved as UTF-8 only, so that non-ASCII characters are preserved 4. Cisco does not recommend editing the file generated by the export utility, and dynamically generated fields such as login and logout time must not be edited 2.

When managing files under Bulk Administration > Upload/Download Files, file names are restricted to alphanumeric characters (a-z, A-Z, 0-9), hyphens, dots, and underscores; names cannot start with a dot or include double dots 49. If multiple files are selected simultaneously for download, BAT bundles them into a single zip file 51.

Import behavior and dependencies

BAT supports Import/Export only between Unified CM servers running the same version 32. Dial Plan Installer, Route Plan Report, MOH Audio Source, Fixed MOH Audio Source, MOH Audio File Management, Cisco Voice Mail Port wizard, firmware load information, Licensing and Announcement are not supported by Import/Export 35.

For cyclic dependencies Import/Export first imports the higher-priority entity with the supporting value blank, then after all entities in the tar are imported it updates that entity with the supporting value 28. Cisco lists Device Pool and MRGL, Device Pool and Route Group, Partition and Time Schedule, and Application User and User group as cyclic dependency pairs, and also names Licensing 27.

The import override option updates an item if it already exists on the server and inserts it if it does not 29. With override, IP Phone services are appended to the existing set rather than updated because several services can share a name 33. In Release 15, Cisco Unified CM, LDAP System, Enterprise Parameters, Service Parameter, Mobility Configuration, Annunciator/MOH Server, Device Defaults, Credential Policy Default, Certificate and Self-Provisioning can only be overridden on import, not inserted 31. The Release 12.5(1) Override Only list is the same as Release 15's except that it does not include Self-Provisioning 30.

To import Service Profiles data into another Unified CM server the password must be re-entered manually in plain text in the exported CSV 34.

Webex Calling migration usage

Cisco's Control Hub Unified CM to Webex Calling migration tells administrators to use the Unified CM Bulk Admin Tool to get the tar files and upload the .tar in Step 2: Import Data 59. The Unified CM .tar file uploaded to the devices and features migration tool is limited to 350 MB 60. The Control Hub migration upload accepts a Unified CM .tar of at most 350 MB 56. Cisco says the BAT .tar can be used to migrate auto attendants, devices, configured lines, device layout (speed dials and shared lines), virtual lines, call queues, hunt groups, call park and user call forwarding and monitoring data 57.

During processing, the migration tool's ImportDataBulk.csv output contains data extracted from enduser.csv, phone.csv and device_pool.csv in the imported Unified CM tar 58. Migration Insights also takes a Unified CM BAT .tar as its input, with CDR data uploaded separately as a .gzip 38.

See also

Applicability

Applies to: Cisco Webex Calling and Cisco Unified Communications Manager. Deployments: on-premises, multi-tenant, and dedicated instance. Sources checked 2026-09-22. In Release 15, Cisco Unified CM, LDAP System, Enterprise Parameters, Service Parameter, Mobility Configuration, Annunciator/MOH Server, Device Defaults, Credential Policy Default, Certificate and Self-Provisioning can only be overridden on import, not inserted 31. Release 12.5(1) supports the same override-only list except that it does not include Self-Provisioning 30. VPN details cannot be exported through Import/Export on the U.S. export unrestricted version of Unified CM, and the VPN checkboxes do not appear there 25.

What remains uncertain

  • The detailed per-item CSV column layout inside the Import/Export tar (such as for phone.csv, enduser.csv, device_pool.csv, CSS, partition, and route pattern) is not covered by the sources below.
  • Which specific Import/Export checkboxes the Control Hub migration tool and Migration Insights need ticked is not covered by the sources below.
  • The Unified CM releases whose tar the Control Hub migration tool accepts are not covered by the sources below.
  • How line and speed dial columns repeat for second and later lines in All Phone Details export headers is not covered by the sources below.
  • The name and syntax of the Import/Export header file are not covered by the sources below.
  • The directory structure inside the Import/Export tar is not covered by the sources below.
  • AXL or SQL extraction as an alternative to BAT export for migration tooling is not covered by the sources below.
  • The character encoding and line endings of files Unified CM writes on export are not covered by the sources below.

See also

Depends on

  • CUCM to Webex Calling migration — Inbound edge: cucm-to-webex-calling depends on this topic because the Control Hub migration tool and Migration Insights consume a BAT Import/Export .tar

Referenced by

Sources

  1. 1
    A blank line in a BAT CSV file causes an error during the insert transaction.
  2. 2
    Cisco does not recommend editing the file generated by the export utility, and dynamically generated fields such as login and logout time must not be edited.
  3. 3
    In BAT text-based CSV files, a value containing a comma or double quote must be enclosed in double quotation marks, and blank fields still need their comma separators.
  4. 4
    Cisco recommends uploading BAT text-based CSV files saved as UTF-8 only, so that non-ASCII characters are preserved.
  5. 5
    Check Dependency on the export page selects dependent items only one level deep; items that a dependency itself depends on are not selected.
    Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Import/Export Menu · Export Configuration Data, Check Dependency note · Checked 2026-09-22
  6. 6
    Each CSV file inside the Import/Export tar is named after the configuration item it holds.
  7. 7
    Phone, Device Profile, Remote Destination Profile, Trunk, Gateway, SIP Profile, Softkey Template and Phone Button Template are export items in the Device Data group.
    Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Import/Export Menu · Export Configuration Data, Device Data options · Checked 2026-09-22
  8. 8
    The exported tar is downloaded through Bulk Administration > Upload/Download Files.
  9. 9
    When editing an exported tar, each CSV must keep its original file name and format, and any added file must use the exported name and format and be added to the header file.
  10. 10
    Cisco instructs that the User ID, User Pkid, Password and Pin fields in the exported enduser.csv must not be modified.
    Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Import/Export Menu · Import/Export Menu, note on password and pin attributes · Checked 2026-09-22
  11. 11
    The Import/Export export page groups items under System Data, Call Routing Data, Media Resources, User Data, Device Data and Advanced Features.
    Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Import/Export Menu · Export Configuration Data, item selection table · Checked 2026-09-22
  12. 12
    Submitting an Import/Export export creates a job that runs immediately or later and is scheduled and activated through the BAT Job Scheduler.
  13. 13
    An Import/Export export is started from Bulk Administration > Import/Export > Export, where the administrator enters a tar file name and ticks the items to export.
  14. 14
    The Import/Export header file records the server the export was taken from, the time of the export, and details of the files in the package.
  15. 15
    An Import/Export export writes one log file for the overall transaction and one per exported item, with the item name prepended to the log file name.
  16. 16
    A re-tarred Import/Export file must keep the original directory structure because BPS looks for tar files at the default location only.
  17. 17
    CSS (Class of Control), Partitions (Class of Control), Time Period, Time Schedule, Route Pattern, Translation Pattern and Directory Number are export items in the Call Routing Data group.
    Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Import/Export Menu · Export Configuration Data, Call Routing Data options · Checked 2026-09-22
  18. 18
    Route Group, Route List, Hunt List, Hunt Pilot, Line Group, Call Park, Call Pickup Group and Elin Group are export items in the Call Routing Data group.
    Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Import/Export Menu · Export Configuration Data, Call Routing Data options · Checked 2026-09-22
  19. 19
    Import/Export writes password and PIN attributes to the exported files in encrypted form and does not support changing them to plain text.
    Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Import/Export Menu · Import/Export Menu, note on password and pin attributes · Checked 2026-09-22
  20. 20
    Device Pool, Location and Region are export items in the System Data group of Import/Export.
    Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Import/Export Menu · Export Configuration Data, System Data options · Checked 2026-09-22
  21. 21
    In Unified CM 15 the Bulk Administration Import/Export export bundles the exported files into a .tar file that can be downloaded from the server.
  22. 22
    The Import/Export .tar file consists of a set of CSV files plus one header file.
  23. 23
    End User and Application User are export items in the User Data group of Import/Export.
  24. 24
    Voice Mail Pilot and Voice Mail Profile are export items in the Advanced Features group, not in Device Data.
    Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Import/Export Menu · Export Configuration Data, Advanced Features options · Checked 2026-09-22
  25. 25
    VPN details cannot be exported through Import/Export on the U.S. export unrestricted version of Unified CM, and the VPN checkboxes do not appear there.
  26. 26
    Cisco notes that tar -xvf may not work on a Windows server and suggests 7-Zip for tar and untar on Windows.
  27. 27
    Cisco lists Device Pool and MRGL, Device Pool and Route Group, Partition and Time Schedule, and Application User and User group as cyclic dependency pairs, and also names Licensing.
  28. 28
    For cyclic dependencies Import/Export first imports the higher-priority entity with the supporting value blank, then after all entities in the tar are imported it updates that entity with the supporting value.
  29. 29
    The import override option updates an item if it already exists on the server and inserts it if it does not.
  30. 30
    The Release 12.5(1) Override Only list is the same as Release 15's except that it does not include Self-Provisioning.
  31. 31
    In Release 15, Cisco Unified CM, LDAP System, Enterprise Parameters, Service Parameter, Mobility Configuration, Annunciator/MOH Server, Device Defaults, Credential Policy Default, Certificate and Self-Provisioning can only be overridden on import, not inserted.
  32. 32
    BAT supports Import/Export only between Unified CM servers running the same version.
  33. 33
    With override, IP Phone services are appended to the existing set rather than updated because several services can share a name.
  34. 34
    To import Service Profiles data into another Unified CM server the password must be re-entered manually in plain text in the exported CSV.
  35. 35
    Dial Plan Installer, Route Plan Report, MOH Audio Source, Fixed MOH Audio Source, MOH Audio File Management, Cisco Voice Mail Port wizard, firmware load information, Licensing and Announcement are not supported by Import/Export.
  36. 36
    Cisco's BAT guide does not publish the column layout of the per-item CSVs inside the Import/Export tar, so a reader of phone.csv, enduser.csv or device_pool.csv has to take columns from each file's header row rather than from a documented schema.inferred
    Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Import/Export Menu · Whole chapter; only enduser.csv fields User ID, User Pkid, Password and Pin are named · Checked 2026-09-22
  37. 37
    The Import/Export tar and the Phones or Users export CSVs are different artifacts, and a tool that reads the tar should not assume the Default Phone or All Phone Details column set documented for Phones > Export.inferred
    Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Import/Export Menu · Import/Export Menu, compared with cisco-bat15-phone-exports Phone Record Exports · Checked 2026-09-22
  38. 38
    Migration Insights also takes a Unified CM BAT .tar as its input, with CDR data uploaded separately as a .gzip.
    Migration insights · Prerequisites; Migration Insights · Checked 2026-09-22
  39. 39
    The All Phone Details export's device fields include Device Name, Description, Owner User ID, Device Pool, CSS, AAR CSS, Media Resource Group List, Location, Phone Button Template, Softkey Template, Phone Load Name and Security Mode, among others.
    Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Phone Exports · All Phone Details File Format Exported Fields, device fields · Checked 2026-09-22
  40. 40
    The All Phone Details export saves the device name, not the MAC address.
    Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Phone Exports · All Phone Details File Format Exported Fields, note · Checked 2026-09-22
  41. 41
    The All Phone Details export's line fields include Directory Number, Partition, Voice Mail Profile, Line CSS, per-condition forward destination, voicemail and CSS fields, Display, External Phone Number Mask, Max Num Calls, Busy Trigger and Alerting Name.
    Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Phone Exports · All Phone Details File Format Exported Fields, line fields · Checked 2026-09-22
  42. 42
    All Phone Details exports one phone model with its device fields, line attributes and associated services, or all phone models in a single file.
    Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Phone Exports · All Phone Details File Format Exported Fields, introduction · Checked 2026-09-22
  43. 43
    The Default Phone export format carries device fields MAC Address, Description and Location, and line fields Directory Number, Display, Line Text Label, the busy, no-answer and no-coverage forwards (internal and external), and Call Pickup Group.
    Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Phone Exports · Default Phone File Format Exported Fields, table · Checked 2026-09-22
  44. 44
    Default Phone records are exported using a defined query.
  45. 45
    For phones with multiple users, all users are carried in the same exported record.
  46. 46
    Specific Details lets the administrator pick which phones to export, by criteria such as Device Name, Description, Directory Number, Calling Search Space, Device Pool, Call Pickup Group, Security Profile, Last Registered or Last Active, but not which phone details are exported.
  47. 47
    Phone export file names get a timestamp suffix, so a recurring export job produces files with the same name and different timestamps.
  48. 48
    Bulk Administration phone export offers two file formats: Specific Details for similarly configured phones and All Details for phones with differing line configurations such as multiple partitions or calling search spaces.
  49. 49
    BAT upload file names may use only a-z, A-Z, 0-9, hyphen, dot and underscore, must not begin with a dot and must not contain double dots.
  50. 50
    BAT upload and download files are stored on the Unified CM first node.
  51. 51
    Selecting more than one file in Upload/Download Files downloads them together in a single zip file.
  52. 52
    Users created before Unified CM 3.1 may export with a blank PIN, and a default PIN must be set before those records are reinserted.
  53. 53
    With Default User Format, the user export includes only the default user device profile associated with each user.
  54. 54
    In a BAT user export, the user ID, PKID, password, PIN and digest credentials columns must not be modified.
  55. 55
    Users to export can be filtered by User ID, First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, Manager or Department, with filters combined by AND or OR.
  56. 56
    The Control Hub migration upload accepts a Unified CM .tar of at most 350 MB.
    Migrate devices and features from Unified CM to Webex Calling · Migration of data, upload step · Checked 2026-09-22
  57. 57
    Cisco says the BAT .tar can be used to migrate auto attendants, devices, configured lines, device layout (speed dials and shared lines), virtual lines, call queues, hunt groups, call park and user call forwarding and monitoring data.
    Migrate devices and features from Unified CM to Webex Calling · Migration of data · Checked 2026-09-22
  58. 58
    The migration tool's ImportDataBulk.csv output contains data extracted from enduser.csv, phone.csv and device_pool.csv in the imported Unified CM tar.
    Migrate devices and features from Unified CM to Webex Calling · Export ZIP file, ImportDataBulk.csv entry · Checked 2026-09-22
  59. 59
    Cisco's Control Hub Unified CM to Webex Calling migration tells administrators to use the Unified CM Bulk Admin Tool to get the tar files and upload the .tar in Step 2: Import Data.
    Migrate Unified CM data to Webex Calling · Step 2: Import Data · Checked 2026-09-22
  60. 60
    The Unified CM .tar file uploaded to the devices and features migration tool is limited to 350 MB.
    Migrate devices and features from Unified CM to Webex Calling · Import data, file upload step · Checked 2026-09-04

Documents

tier 2 current vendor documentation

Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 12.5(1) - Import Configuration Data

Cisco Systems · 2020-03-04 · accessed 2026-09-22

tier 2 current vendor documentation

Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Import Configuration Data

Cisco Systems · 2024-10-01 · accessed 2026-09-22

tier 2 current vendor documentation

Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Import/Export Menu

Cisco Systems · 2024-10-01 · accessed 2026-09-22

tier 2 current vendor documentation

Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Phone Exports

Cisco Systems · 2024-10-01 · accessed 2026-09-22

tier 2 current vendor documentation

Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Text-Based CSV Files

Cisco Systems · 2024-10-01 · accessed 2026-09-22

tier 2 current vendor documentation

Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Upload and Download Files

Cisco Systems · 2024-10-01 · accessed 2026-09-22

tier 2 current vendor documentation

Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - User Record Exports

Cisco Systems · 2024-10-01 · accessed 2026-09-22

tier 2 current vendor documentation

Migrate devices and features from Unified CM to Webex Calling

Cisco Systems, Inc. (Webex Help Center) · 2026-08-21 · accessed 2026-09-04

tier 2 current vendor documentation

Migrate Unified CM data to Webex Calling

Cisco Systems, Inc. (Webex Help Center) · 2026-04-27 · accessed 2026-09-04

tier 2 current vendor documentation

Migration insights

Cisco Systems, Inc. (Webex Help Center) · accessed 2026-09-16

Cite this page

APA

WarmTransfer. (2026, September 22). Unified CM Bulk Administration Tool export formats. WarmTransfer. https://warmtransfer.net/knowledge/cucm-bulk-administration-tool

BibTeX

@misc{warmtransfer-cucm-bulk-administration-tool,
  title  = {Unified CM Bulk Administration Tool export formats},
  author = {{WarmTransfer}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://warmtransfer.net/knowledge/cucm-bulk-administration-tool},
  note   = {Verified 2026-09-22}
}