To FTP
The To FTP component connects to a FTP, FTPS, or SFTP server and uploads files to the server. It receives data from an upstream component, writes the data to a local target directory in the same way the To File writes files, and then uploads the files to a FTP, FTPS, or SFTP server.
Running the Component
The below steps assume an existing FTP/FTPS/SFTP server is available to connect to and the necessary user permissions and folder structure are in place on the FTP server and locally.
STEP 1: Import the To FTP component
Using +COMPONENT, import the To FTP component. Since it is a destination component, you will need to Edit Connections to link it to a source component that will send it data to write to the FTP server.
STEP 2: Set up the component configurations
Bolded fields are required, otherwise default values defined in config.json are used:
File Configurations:
Field | Description | Default Value |
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Local Destination Directory | The local directory that the files will be written to from the component before uploading to the server. | |
Output File Name Format | The name and extension of the output files (local and on the FTP server). %Y (year), %m (month), %d (day), %H (hour), %M (minute), %S (second) and %f (millisecond), %i (unique ID YYYYMMDDhhmmss_XXXXX - separate files configuration only) |
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Write Each Message To | Specifies whether each inbound message will have its own file or be appended to a batch file. The batch file will only be uploaded to the FTP server once the component rolls over to the next file depending on the smallest file mask. |
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Escape 8-Bit Characters | Specifies whether to escape non-ASCII characters in outbound messages. Ex. "é" would be sent as "\XE9" (in Latin-1 or Windows-1252) or "\XC3\XA9" (in UTF-8). |
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Use Local Temporary Files | Separate files configuration only - specifies whether to use temporary files while writing. When true, it will append ".tmp" to files currently being written until the component is done writing to them. |
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Output File Encoding | The encoding used in the output file. List of available encodings is available when you click to change the encoding. |
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FTP Workflow Configurations
Field | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
FTP Protocol | Specifies the protocol you'll be using. Supports: FTP, FTPS, or SFTP |
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FTP Server | The server you will be connecting with. | |
FTP Port | The port to use. | |
FTP Username | The remote user to login as. This account will need permissions to read, delete, and/or move files to the specified Remote Destination Directory. | |
FTP Password | The password to authenticate with. | |
Private Key File | The name of your private key file, if in use. By default, this should be a PEM certificate and not be password-locked. The default configurations can be changed by modifying the net.[protocol].init function directly in the script. See Adapting the Component. This configuration is only applicable for SFTP and FTPS. | |
Certificate File | The name of your certificate file, if in use. By default, this should be a PEM certificate. The default configurations can be changed by modifying the net.[protocol].init function directly in the script. See Adapting the Component. This configuration is only applicable for FTPS. | |
Public Key File | The name of your public key file, if in use. By default, this should be a PEM certificate and not be password-locked. The default configurations can be changed by modifying the net.[protocol].init function directly in the script. See Adapting the Component. This configuration is only applicable for SFTP. | |
Remote Destination Directory | The target directory on the FTP server you'll be writing files to. | |
Use Remote Temporary Files | Specifies whether to use temporary files while uploading to the FTP server. When true, it will append ".tmp" to FTP uploaded files until the component is done writing to them. |
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Connection Retry Count | The number of times to retry the connection if it drops. |
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Retry Pause (s) | The interval of time in seconds the component will wait between retries. Default is set to 10 seconds. |
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Post-processing Configurations:
Field | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
After Upload | Specifies whether to keep local files or delete them once the files have been uploaded to the FTP server. |
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Processed Files Directory* | The local directory that the uploaded/processed files will be moved to. *Only required ifAfter Uploadconfiguration is set toKeep local files. | |
FTP Overwrite Handling | Specifies what the behaviour of the component should be when finding an already existing file with the same name on the FTP server (i.e., collisions). Options are: |
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Enable Debug Logs | Enable/disable logging of additional debug information. |
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STEP 3: Start the component and view the processed files on the FTP server
Once the component has been started, it will receive data from the connected source component. It will write the data to files in the specified local directory. It will then upload the written files to the target FTP server. Access the FTP server to see the uploaded files and verify that the contents are being written as expected.
Adapting the Component
There are a few ways you can adapt and expand this component for more complex workflows:
Customize the FTP/FTPS/SFTP connection
By default, the FTP/FTPS/SFTP connection is authenticated using username and password authentication or via keys and uses the default configurations. In some cases, additional configurations may be desired, such as:
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Specifying a FTP(S) mode
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Modifying public and private key authentication
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Disabling verify_peer or verify_host
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Increasing the timeout
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and more. Full details can be found by accessing the net.ftp.init, net.ftps.init, or net.sftp.init function help in the Translator
These configurations can be customized by modifying the desired ConnectionParameters table in the FTPconnector folder, each protocol has its own parameter table so you can modify FTP's parameters without affecting the others:
