Replace Blank SIS IDs for Users/Courses

[kyle_cole]

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: This is a homemade solution and is not Instructure supported.

Have you ever tried to edit a user or a course that doesn’t have an SIS ID and found out you can't use a CSV? You can manually add a SIS ID but doing that in bulk can only be done by the API. Using Google’s Apps Script I developed a Google Sheet that will pull all courses or users without SIS IDs and assign values to them in bulk. I haven’t run this script for over 1k objects but it should still work.

What does it do?

• Fetch All Courses without SIS IDs: This will bring in all courses that do not have a SIS ID assigned to them.
• Fetch All Users without SIS IDs: This will bring in all users that do not have a SIS ID assigned to them. Since the SIS ID is tied to the login_id it will also bring in the id of login_id.
• Assign Random SIS ID: This will generate a random string in the SIS ID column. This makes its easy to assign SIS IDs in bulk.
• Post new SIS IDs to Canvas: This will assign the value entered in the SIS ID column as the SIS ID.

*Tip: If you only want to add SIS IDs to a handful of courses/users, run a provisioning report and copy the Canvas ID to the first column.

What you will need:

• Instructure URL: Your .instructure URL, like canvas.instructure.com, is necessary for API calls. Retrieve it from your admin settings under Canvas Cloud Information. Although vanity URLs are an option, using the Instructure URL is recommended for API consistency.
• API Token: Generate an API token with appropriate permissions. Admins can create API tokens using this guide: How do I manage API access tokens as an admin? 

Video:

Possible Issues:

It is highly unlikely you will run into these, but just in case:

• Google has a rate limit of 300 requests per minute. If you run over that, it will error out. 
• Google also has a per-day limit based on your subscription. If you run into that, you will have to wait it out. 
• There is a 40k limit of rows so you will not be able to go over that.
• There is a runtime of 6 minutes for non edu/corporate accounts but if you are using an edu/corporate account it has a 30-minute runtime limit.

Lastly, here is the link to the sheet and the code used to make this happen. If you have any questions or run into any issues, post in the comments below. 

Link to Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PTVnt1thwUipFwAorOLG9qRWd69cIDXJEyLMFipJRPM/copy

Links to Apps Script: https://github.com/KyleCole90/Canvas-Scripts/blob/main/Apps%20Scripts/Replace%20Blank%20SIS%20IDs.gs