How do I set up ClassLink rostering and SSO?

For: Transfr Champions and ClassLink administrators

Connecting Transfr to ClassLink syncs your learners, instructors, and classrooms automatically, and can let everyone sign in with their ClassLink account. You choose what to share in Roster Server, and Transfr finishes the connection.

Already connected and wondering why something is locked in the Dashboard? See How does rostering work with Clever and ClassLink?

Who does what

• Transfr Champion — requests the integration, and decides which schools and courses are in scope.
• ClassLink administrator — adds Transfr in Roster Server, sets sharing permissions, and adds the national_id field.
• Transfr Technical Support — matches your schools to Transfr organizations and starts the sync.

Before you start

• Add email addresses first. Transfr links ClassLink accounts to existing Transfr accounts by email address, so add any that are missing in ClassLink before you share. On the Transfr side you can check and fix an address with Edit Details — see How do I add and manage learners? Anyone without one gets a second account, and any Trek or Train history they already have stays on the first.
• Decide which schools and courses will use Transfr, and send that list to your ClassLink administrator. They can't work it out from Roster Server alone.
• Check for anyone enrolled at two schools. Transfr doesn't support it, and those people are left out of the sync. At a shared-time career center that can be a large share of a roster — raise it with your Customer Success Manager (CSM) before you start.
• Plan for the national_id field. Transfr needs it on your schools, which means a CSV file merge and a full import. A first import usually exceeds your thresholds and stops, so you'll need to override them. At many districts that's change-window work.

Step 1: Request the integration

Transfr Champion.

1. In a new email to technicalsupport@transfrvr.com, ask for a ClassLink integration.
2. In the Cc field, add your ClassLink administrator and your CSM.
3. In the body, give your district name, your ClassLink administrator's contact details, your target go-live date, and whether you want SSO.

Success looks like a reply from Technical Support confirming they've picked it up.

Then forward this article to your ClassLink administrator.

Step 2: Add Transfr in Roster Server

ClassLink administrator. You can start this before Technical Support replies.

1. Sign in to launchpad.classlink.com.
2. In the bottom navigation, select Roster Server.
3. Hover over the Apps tab and select All Applications.
4. Select + ADD.
5. In the NAME or COMPANY NAME field, search for Transfr.
6. On the Transfr result, select + Add.

Success looks like Transfr in your applications list. Adding the app notifies us, but shares no data yet.

If you can't find Transfr, try the parent company name. ClassLink's walkthrough is Add applications, set permissions, and share data (ClassLink login required).

Step 3: Set permissions and enable the app

ClassLink administrator. This step decides whether your Transfr Dashboard stays clean.

Roster Server offers three permission types. Use Rule-Based — ClassLink recommends it, and so do we.

• Rule-Based — you choose what's shared from your roster data.
• Full — sends all learner and staff data.
• Legacy Custom — ClassLink doesn't recommend it for new setups.

1. In Roster Server, open the Transfr app.
2. On the Transfr app page, open its permissions.
3. Select Rule-Based.
4. In the rule builder, add rules for the schools, grades, and classes on your in-scope list.
5. Save your rules.
6. On the App Overview or All Applications page, turn on the toggle for Transfr.

Success looks like a record count in the range you expect, and Transfr showing as enabled.

Don't skip the toggle. Adding the app and saving permissions doesn't start the data flowing. This is the most common reason a setup looks finished while Transfr sees nothing.

Share only what will be used. A good starting point is one class per learner, such as a homeroom, plus the specific instructors who will use Transfr. Sharing an elementary school, or an Art or English class that will never run a sim, clutters your Dashboard and emails invitations to instructors who don't need them.

ClassLink's guide is Rule-based permissions (ClassLink login required).

Step 4: Add the national_id field

ClassLink administrator. This can run in parallel with Steps 2 and 3.

Transfr matches your schools using each school's NCES ID, which Roster Server doesn't carry as a standard field. You add it to the Orgs collection with a file merge.

What Transfr needs: a metadata field named national_id, all lowercase, on Orgs, holding that school's NCES ID. National_ID and nationalId will not sync. Look IDs up with the NCES school search.

Prepare the CSV

1. In Roster Server, export your Organizations to get each school's sourcedId.
2. In a spreadsheet, create a CSV with a sourcedId column identifying each school.
3. Add a national_id column holding that school's NCES ID.
4. Save the file under a name you'll recognize.

The file can't be called users.csv. Test with a handful of schools before you run your whole roster.

Upload the CSV

1. In Roster Server, select Imports.
2. On the Imports screen, select the edit icon.
3. In the left navigation, select Files.
4. Select UPLOAD.
5. In the file picker, choose your CSV.

Success looks like your CSV on the Files screen under the name you saved it with.

Configure the merge

1. In the left menu, select Preprocessor.
2. Select the plus (+) icon.
3. In the Name field, enter a name for the layer.
4. For the collection, select Orgs.
5. Open the Actions tab.
6. Select Add or Modify Fields Using a Secondary Source.
7. In File Name, enter your CSV file name.
8. In Source Field to Match, select your CSV's sourcedId column.
9. In Field to Match (OneRoster), select sourcedId.
10. In Field to Read, select your CSV's national_id column.
11. In Field to Populate, type metadata.national_id.
12. Select Finish.
13. Select Save.

Type Field to Populate, don't hunt for it. The dropdowns only offer metadata that already exists in Roster Server, so national_id won't be there the first time. Typing it is how you create it, and the metadata. prefix is what tells Roster Server that's what you're doing.

File Name is case sensitive and must match your CSV exactly.

Run the import

1. In Roster Server, go back to Imports.
2. On the Imports screen, select the play icon.

Success looks like a completed import with national_id on your Org records.

Expect a threshold warning. Every merged value counts as a change, so a first run usually exceeds your thresholds and stops. Override them, then run it again.

ClassLink's version, with screenshots, is Add metadata to Roster Server with the file merge function (ClassLink login required).

Step 5: Transfr finishes the setup

Transfr Technical Support. We match your national_id values to Transfr organizations, create any organizations you need, turn on SSO if you asked for it, and start the daily sync.

Success looks like a confirmation email from us, and your shared schools and classrooms in the Transfr Dashboard. Sync then runs every 24 hours.

Turning on SSO

SSO is optional. Rostering works without it, and you can add it later.

Instructors and admins sign in with their ClassLink account. No Transfr password to set or reset.

Learners can no longer sign in with a username and password. In the headset they use a Sim Pass instead — a 5-digit code that works once and expires 3 days after it's generated. Instructors generate them from the classroom's Sim Pass tab, or learners generate their own.

Tell your instructors about Sim Pass before you ask us to enable SSO. Generating passes becomes part of running a session.

• What is a Sim Pass?
• How do I access Trek using SSO?

Can we do rostering now and SSO later?

Yes. Email Technical Support when you're ready.

What happens to the Transfr accounts we already have?

Accounts whose email address matches a ClassLink record are linked, and keep their history. Accounts with no matching email address are left as they are, and the rostered record arrives as a second account.

Some instructors or learners aren't showing up.

Transfr only rosters people who are in a class you've shared. An instructor who isn't attached to a shared class won't appear.

How do we get admin accounts?

The sync doesn't create them. Create admins yourself in the Dashboard, under Users — see How do I add, edit, or remove users?

An admin created this way can sign in with a Transfr username and password, or through ClassLink if their account matches. We recommend the username and password: the account doesn't depend on your rostering system, so it keeps working if rostering is ever paused.

Is a learner enrolled at two schools supported?

No. Transfr doesn't support enrollment at more than one school, for learners, instructors, or admins. Anyone enrolled at two schools is left out of the sync and can't sign in through SSO.

A school we shared isn't in the Dashboard.

Ask your ClassLink administrator to confirm it's shared with Transfr. If it is, email technicalsupport@transfrvr.com.

Without SSO, what password do learners use?

Transfr sets a default from your organization name — the first six characters, or the whole name if it's shorter. Defaults are case sensitive. Change them in bulk or one at a time.

How often does data sync?

Every 24 hours, automatically. There's no sync-now button. See How does rostering work with Clever and ClassLink?

Related articles

• How does rostering work with Clever and ClassLink?
• How do I add and manage learners?
• What is a Sim Pass?
• How do I access Trek using SSO?

Still need help?

Contact our support team — Monday–Friday, 8am–8pm ET, 646-466-2600, technicalsupport@transfrvr.com.

Last updated: August 19, 2026