Aeries/SIS staff create the Aeries API Certificate/key and configure the Aeries Special Ed Data Import. District IT may assist with SFTP or network access. SIRAS/SPED/SEDS staff review the resulting student data and identify who will own ongoing monitoring. SIRAS configures the Aeries → SIRAS connection on the Training server after the credential is delivered securely.
Use Aeries–SIRAS Production Monitoring for routine review. If something has already failed or looks wrong, use SIS Integration Troubleshooting & Ongoing Monitoring.
SIRAS: Configure Aeries → SIRAS on Training
District: Configure SIRAS → Aeries → Run one-time import → Verify completion email → Enable scheduled import → Review Training → Approve Production → Begin ongoing monitoring
Implementation Steps
1. Understand the Two Data Directions
That is okay. There are two separate data directions, but you do not need to configure everything at once.
| Direction | What it does | How it connects |
|---|---|---|
| Aeries → SIRAS | Sends demographic, enrollment, and contact information from Aeries into SIRAS. | Your district creates an Aeries API Certificate/key. SIRAS uses it to retrieve the approved Aeries data. |
| SIRAS → Aeries | Sends SIRAS Special Ed Student and Services files into Aeries. | SIRAS places the files in your district's SFTP folder. Aeries connects to that folder and imports the files. |
Your district's first three tasks
| District task | What you do | You are done when... |
|---|---|---|
| First | Create the Aeries API Certificate/key. Aeries calls this an API Certificate. Some staff refer to it as the API key. Use the Aeries-maintained SIRAS Integration instructions in Step 2 below. |
You have the API Certificate/key and the district's Aeries base URL. |
| Second | Prove the SIRAS SFTP connection works. Use an FTP client that supports SFTP and test the SIRAS credentials before entering them into Aeries. |
You can manually sign in to the district's SIRAS SFTP folder. |
| Third | Upload the API Certificate/key securely to SIRAS. Copy the API Certificate/key into a text file and upload that file to the district's SIRAS SFTP folder. Do not email the credential. |
SIRAS has been told the credential is waiting in SFTP and has the district's non-secret Aeries base URL. |
Have the person who creates the API Certificate/key in Aeries also test the SFTP connection, or have that person work directly with the staff member who manages SFTP. This keeps the credential handoff simple and confirms that the SFTP username/password work before those same credentials are entered into Aeries.
After SIRAS receives the API Certificate/key and Aeries base URL, SIRAS configures the Aeries → SIRAS connection on the Training server. Your district can continue with the SIRAS → Aeries setup while that work is being completed.
Then finish the other direction and test
- Reuse the SFTP credentials you already tested in the Aeries Special Ed Data Import configuration.
- Configure Aeries to retrieve the SIRAS Student and Services files and identify the staff who should receive the completion emails.
- Run the one-time Aeries import and confirm the expected completion email/report is received.
- After the one-time import is verified, enable the scheduled Aeries Special Ed Data Import.
- Review the Aeries → SIRAS results on the SIRAS Training server.
- When both directions look correct, approve the tested integration for Production and hand routine monitoring to the responsible staff using Aeries–SIRAS Production Monitoring.
You are not setting up two unrelated systems. First prove the district's Aeries API Certificate/key and SIRAS SFTP access. Then SIRAS uses the API Certificate/key for Aeries → SIRAS, while Aeries reuses the tested SFTP credentials for SIRAS → Aeries.
If your district has not yet identified the people responsible for the SIS integration, start with SIS Integration: Start Here.
2. Create the Aeries → SIRAS API Certificate/Key
Use Aeries' maintained instructions to create the Aeries-side API Certificate/key and assign the required permissions:
Aeries Support — SIRAS Integration
SIRAS documentation does not duplicate vendor-maintained credential-creation steps.
- Create the SIRAS API Certificate/key in Aeries using the Aeries instructions above.
- Save the credential information in a text file or another secure file format agreed upon with SIRAS.
- Do not email the API Certificate/key to SIRAS.
- Continue to Get SFTP working through an FTP client.
3. Test SIRAS SFTP Manually
Before the API Certificate/key is delivered or Aeries automation is configured, prove that the district can manually connect to its SIRAS SFTP folder. This separates an SFTP login/network problem from an Aeries configuration problem.
Use SIRAS SFTP: Test Manual SFTP Access Before Configuring Automation for the current connection settings and manual connection test.
The application may be described as an FTP client, but the connection to SIRAS must use the SFTP protocol and the current SIRAS SFTP settings documented in Article 525.
Once the manual connection works, continue to upload the API key through SFTP to SIRAS.
4. Deliver the API Credential Securely to SIRAS
Use the working SFTP connection to deliver the Aeries API Certificate/key securely.
- Place the Aeries API Certificate/key information in the text file you saved when creating the API Certificate/key.
- Upload that file to the district's SIRAS SFTP folder.
- Do not email the API Certificate/key or SFTP password to SIRAS.
- Email SIRAS the district's non-secret Aeries login/base URL and tell SIRAS that the API Certificate/key is available in SFTP.
- SIRAS configures the Aeries → SIRAS connection in the Training server.
See What the SFTP Folder Is Used For for the secure credential-delivery reference.
Next, configure the other data direction: SIRAS → Aeries Special Ed Data Import.
5. Configure the SIRAS → Aeries Special Ed Data Import
Use the Aeries documentation as the vendor reference for the Special Ed Data scheduled/manual import feature:
Aeries Support — Special Ed Data Scheduled or Manual Imports
For a SIRAS-hosted integration, use the following SIRAS-specific file-location values in Aeries:
| Aeries setting | SIRAS-specific instruction |
|---|---|
| Special Ed files are stored on a Secure FTP | Checked / enabled |
| SFTP connection | Use the district's current SIRAS SFTP connection settings. Article 525 owns the host, port, username, password, remote-directory, manual-test, and firewall guidance. |
| SFTP import directory | Leave blank for the standard SIRAS-hosted Aeries integration unless SIRAS has provided a different path for the district. |
| Data Files | Include Student and Services. |
| Student file name | tableA.csv |
| Services file name | tableB.csv |
| Scheduled days | Monday through Friday |
| Scheduled time | Schedule Aeries to import the SIRAS files at 4:00 am so the current tableA.csv and tableB.csv files are available. |
For the current SIRAS SFTP host, port, username convention, password handling, manual connection test, or firewall guidance, use SIRAS SFTP: Secure File Exchange & Connection Settings.
Configure the connection, schedule, and responsible email recipients first. Save the one-time/manual import for the final SIRAS → Aeries connection test. The manual import sends the import-log email and also populates/updates Aeries Special Ed data, so it is not a view-only connectivity check.
6. Run the One-Time Import, Verify the Email, Then Enable the Scheduled Import
Before the final SIRAS → Aeries test, enter the email addresses of the staff responsible for reviewing Aeries Special Ed Data Import results. This normally includes the SEDS Coordinator who sends SPED data to CALPADS from SIRAS and any SIS staff who own the integration.
1. Run the one-time import and verify the completion email
Use the one-time/manual import as the final SIRAS → Aeries connection test. Confirm that Aeries can retrieve and process the current SIRAS files and that the responsible contacts receive the completion/import report email.
Use the Aeries-maintained documentation: Aeries Support — Completion Results Email for Special Ed Data Imports.
- Aeries can reach the SIRAS SFTP location;
- the current SIRAS files are found and processed;
- there are no unexpected setup/connection errors; and
- the responsible contacts receive the Aeries completion/import report email.
Treat this first completion report as the district's first integration-monitoring review. Review the counts, unmatched/actionable items, and unexpected results rather than treating “the job ran” as the only success criterion.
2. After the test succeeds, enable the scheduled import
Once the one-time import works and the expected completion email is being received, enable the scheduled Aeries Special Ed Data Import using the schedule configured in the previous section. Keep the responsible monitoring email recipients in place.
The scheduled import is the ongoing SIRAS → Aeries workflow. The one-time import proves the connection and email reporting work; enabling the scheduled import puts that tested workflow into regular operation.
3. Confirm the monitoring handoff
After the scheduled import is enabled, confirm which district staff will review the Aeries completion email after each scheduled run and who will review the Aeries → SIRAS evidence when needed.
Continue with Aeries–SIRAS Production Monitoring: Review Scheduled Imports & Results. For the standard Monday-through-Friday schedule, the Aeries completion email becomes a daily operational check on scheduled processing days.
7. Review Aeries → SIRAS Results on the Training Server
Use this section when: SIRAS has told you that the Aeries → SIRAS API connection is configured in the Training server and you now need to confirm that the connection is running and the imported data is being interpreted correctly before Production.
1. Review the Aeries → SIRAS import evidence
- Open Tools → SIRAS Admin → Scheduled Task Logs.
- Locate the current Aeries API import run and download the most recent
#######__api_Import_log.csv. - Review the log with SIRAS. Confirm that the expected job ran and investigate any unexpected connection, processing, or data errors.
- If the SIRAS → Aeries direction is also being tested, compare what you see with the most recent Aeries Special Ed Data Import completion email and reports.
2. Spot-check representative Training records
Do not stop at “the job ran.” Review representative students across different schools, grades, demographic values, and contact situations.
| Data to review | What to verify |
|---|---|
| School assignment | The student is associated with the expected school/program. |
| Grade | Grade values are interpreted correctly, especially Kindergarten, Infant/Preschool, and 12+ populations. |
| EL / RFEP status and dates | Status and applicable dates match the district's Aeries records. |
| Native language | Less-common language values are represented correctly in SIRAS. |
| Race / ethnicity | Representative records and population-level counts are reasonably consistent between Aeries and SIRAS. |
| Contacts | Expected contacts are present and interpreted correctly. |
| Educational Rights Holder | If the district uses the Educational Rights Holder flag in Aeries, confirm the expected behavior in SIRAS. |
Confirm that the information in SIRAS matches how the district intends the Aeries data to be interpreted.
3. Use optional mapping only when testing exposes a real exception
Start with Aeries defaults. Most districts do not need custom mapping. Do not make the Aeries–SIRAS mapping workbook an upfront implementation requirement.
Examples of exceptions that may require mapping include:
- a Kindergarten student being interpreted as Infant/Preschool or 12+;
- a district-specific demographic code whose meaning differs from the normal/default Aeries value; or
- multiple school/program names for one physical site or CDS code that the district wants distinguished in SIRAS, such as Elementary, Middle, and Preschool programs at the same site.
When an exception is identified, contact [email protected] and use Aeries → SIRAS API Reference: Fields, Defaults & Optional Mapping and the Aeries–SIRAS Integration Configuration & Approval Workbook to document the local rule. Retest the affected data after the mapping is applied.
- the expected API import run appears in Scheduled Task Logs without an unresolved setup/connection error;
- representative Training records contain the expected demographic, enrollment, and contact information;
- any local mapping exception has been corrected and retested; and
- the district and SIRAS agree that the Training result is ready for Production approval.
Reviewing logs and student records is view-only. The Aeries → SIRAS import itself can update demographic/contact data in the Training environment. Production is not approved or activated merely because the Training job ran.
8. Approve Production and Hand Off Ongoing Monitoring
After both applicable data directions have been tested and the district approves the Training results, SIRAS can enable or move the approved configuration to Production.
At that point, implementation-only technical contacts can step back unless they also own ongoing monitoring. The primary SIRAS/SPED/SEDS staff should know where to review:
- the Aeries Special Ed Data Import completion/report emails; and
- the SIRAS scheduled-task/API logs available through Tools → SIRAS Admin → Scheduled Task Logs.
After Production is approved, use Aeries–SIRAS Production Monitoring: Review Scheduled Imports & Results for the normal operational review of Aeries completion emails and Aeries → SIRAS evidence. Use SIS Integration Troubleshooting & Ongoing Monitoring when that review finds a missing, failed, unmatched, or unexpected result.
SFTP access works, Aeries → SIRAS has been reviewed in Training, SIRAS → Aeries can successfully perform a one-time import and send the expected completion report, the scheduled Aeries import is enabled, Production is approved, and responsible staff know who owns routine monitoring.
