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JSON Import Export

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Jørgen edited this page Mar 5, 2026 · 1 revision

JSON Import / Export Page

The JSON Import / Export page lets you back up Intune policies to local JSON files and restore them into any tenant later. It uses a staging area model — items are loaded from a tenant or from JSON files into a grid where you can review them, then either export them to disk or import them into a destination tenant.

Prerequisites

  • Exporting from a tenant requires authentication to a source tenant via the Settings page.
  • Importing from JSON files into the staging area does not require authentication — you can work entirely offline.
  • Importing to a destination tenant requires authentication to a destination tenant via the Settings page. Your account must have sufficient permissions to create the resource types you intend to import.

Supported Content Types

The JSON page supports backing up and restoring the following resource types:

Category Content Type JSON File Name
Configuration Settings Catalog settingscatalog.json
Configuration Device Configuration deviceconfiguration.json
Compliance Device Compliance devicecompliance.json
Enrollment Apple BYOD Enrollment Profiles applebyodenrollment.json
Filters Assignment Filters assignmentfilter.json
Scripts PowerShell Scripts powershellscript.json
Scripts Proactive Remediations (Remediation Scripts) proactiveremediation.json
Scripts macOS Shell Scripts macosshellscript.json
Deployment Windows AutoPilot Profiles windowsautopilot.json
Updates Windows Driver Updates windowsdriverupdate.json
Updates Windows Feature Updates windowsfeatureupdate.json
Updates Windows Quality Update Policies windowsqualityupdatepolicy.json
Updates Windows Quality Update Profiles windowsqualityupdateprofile.json

Each content type is stored in its own JSON file when exporting.

Page Layout

The page is divided into four main areas:

  1. Header — Shows the page title, a short description, and a tenant status bar indicating the authenticated source and destination tenants.
  2. Toolbar — Two grouped cards: Search & Staging (search, list all, clear) and JSON Actions (export to folder, import from folder, import to tenant).
  3. Data Grid (Staging Area) — Displays all items currently staged, with columns for Name, Type, Platform, ID, and Description.
  4. Log Console — A real-time log panel showing timestamped operation progress and results.

The Data Grid and Log Console are separated by a draggable splitter.

Step-by-Step Workflow

1. Load Items into the Staging Area

There are two ways to populate the staging area:

From a tenant (online):

  • List All — Click the List All button to fetch every supported resource from the authenticated source tenant.
  • Search — Type a query into the search box and click the search icon or press Enter to filter resources by name.

From JSON files (offline):

  • Click Import from Folder and select a folder containing previously exported JSON files. The page reads all recognized files (e.g. settingscatalog.json, devicecompliance.json) and loads their items into the staging area.

Note: If the staging area already contains items when importing from a folder, you will be prompted to confirm replacing them.

2. Review the Staging Area

Each row in the data grid shows:

Column Description
Name The display name of the resource
Type The category (e.g., Settings Catalog, Device Compliance)
Platform The target platform (e.g., Windows, macOS)
ID The unique Microsoft Graph identifier
Description The resource description, if available

You can sort any column by clicking its header, and right-click rows for additional options.

3. Refine the List

Remove items you don't want to export or import:

  • Clear Selected — Select one or more rows (Ctrl+Click or Shift+Click for multi-select), then click Clear Selected.
  • Clear All — Click Clear All to remove every item from the staging area.

4. Export to Folder

  1. Click the Export to Folder button.
  2. A confirmation dialog shows the number of items per content type, the file names that will be created, and warns that existing files will be overwritten.
  3. Click Export and select a destination folder.
  4. The page fetches full policy data from Microsoft Graph for each staged item and writes one JSON file per content type to the selected folder.

If no source tenant is authenticated, you will be warned that the export will only contain item metadata (names, types, IDs) without full policy data — these files cannot be used to import policies into another tenant.

A progress bar and the log console show real-time status during the export.

5. Import from Folder

  1. Click the Import from Folder button.
  2. Select a folder containing previously exported JSON files.
  3. The page scans for all recognized file names (see Supported Content Types) and loads matching items into the staging area.
  4. Items that include full policy data are cached and marked as importable to a destination tenant.

The log console reports how many items were loaded from each file and whether they contain full policy data.

6. Import to Tenant

  1. Ensure a destination tenant is authenticated (shown in the tenant status bar).
  2. Click the Import to [tenant name] button.
  3. A confirmation dialog shows the number of items to import and the destination tenant name.
  4. Click Import to proceed.
  5. Each item with cached policy data is created as a new resource in the destination tenant via Microsoft Graph.

During the operation, a progress bar shows how many items have been processed. The log console provides real-time feedback on each import, including any errors.

After completion:

  • A success or error banner summarizes the results.
  • If any items failed, a failure summary is printed to the log console listing each failed item with its content type and error reason.

Windows Update types (Driver Updates, Feature Updates, Quality Update Policies, Quality Update Profiles) require the destination tenant to have Windows E3 or E5 licensing. If the license is missing, the import for those items will fail with a licensing error.

Toolbar Reference

Search & Staging Card

Button Description
Search box Enter a query to filter items by name
Search Execute the search against the source tenant
List All Load all resources of all supported content types from the source tenant
Clear Selected Remove selected rows from the staging area
Clear All Remove all items from the staging area
Clear Log Clear the log console panel

JSON Actions Card

Button Description
Export to Folder Fetch full policy data and save one JSON file per content type to a selected folder
Import from Folder Load items from a folder of previously exported JSON files into the staging area
Import to [tenant] Create policies in the destination tenant from the staged JSON data

Tenant Status Bar

The info bar below the page header shows:

Field Description
Source The currently authenticated source tenant, or "Not authenticated"
Destination The currently authenticated destination tenant, or "Not authenticated"

The Import to Tenant button label dynamically updates to show the destination tenant name (e.g., "Import to Contoso") so it is always clear which tenant will receive the imported policies.

JSON File Format

Each exported JSON file follows this structure:

{
  "exportedAt": "2026-03-05T12:00:00.0000000Z",
  "tenantName": "Contoso",
  "items": [
    {
      "name": "My Policy",
      "type": "Settings Catalog",
      "platform": "Windows",
      "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
      "description": "A sample policy",
      "policyData": { ... }
    }
  ]
}
Field Description
exportedAt UTC timestamp of when the export was performed
tenantName The source tenant name at the time of export
items[].policyData The full Graph API representation of the policy, used during import

Files without policyData contain only metadata and cannot be used to import to a tenant.

Log Console

The log console on the right side provides timestamped entries for every operation. Each entry includes:

  • Timestamp — When the event occurred.
  • Level indicator — Visual severity indicator (info, warning, error).
  • Message — Description of what happened.

You can select log entries and use Clear Log to reset the console.

Tips

  • No tenant needed to browse exports. You can use Import from Folder to load and review previously exported JSON files without authenticating to any tenant.
  • Export includes full policy data. Unlike simple metadata exports, the JSON export fetches the complete Graph API representation of each policy, so it can be faithfully recreated in another tenant.
  • One file per content type. Exports create separate files (e.g., settingscatalog.json, devicecompliance.json) so you can selectively import only the types you need.
  • Overwrite warning. Exporting to a folder that already contains JSON files will overwrite files with the same names.
  • Check the failure summary. After importing to a tenant, scroll to the bottom of the log console for a detailed failure summary listing every item that failed and why.
  • Windows Update licensing. If importing Windows Update policies fails, verify that the destination tenant has Windows E3 or E5 licensing enabled.
  • Use this page for backup and disaster recovery. Export your tenant's policies regularly to maintain an offline backup that can be restored at any time.

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