Key Capabilities
- File transfer protocol support with FTPS (FTP over TLS/SSL) and traditional FTP
- Active and passive mode support with comprehensive firewall compatibility
- Resume capability for interrupted uploads and downloads
- Advanced authentication including certificate-based client authentication
- Connection pooling and temporary file handling for reliable transfers
- Optional caching to ensure only new or updated files are downloaded
Overview
Each FTP Connector connects uploads to a specified folder and downloads from a set of folders on the remote FTP server. Files that reach the FTP Connector in the flow are uploaded to the upload target folder, and files found in the download target folder(s) are downloaded and entered into the flow. The connector supports upload and download filters to only send and receive specified file names and/or file extensions.Connector Configuration
This section contains all of the configurable connector properties.Settings Tab
Host Configuration
Settings related to establishing the connection to the remote FTP host.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Connector Id | The static, unique identifier for the connector. |
| Connector Type | Displays the connector name and a description of what it does. |
| Connector Description | An optional field to provide a free-form description of the connector and its role in the flow. |
| Remote Host | The hostname or IP address of the FTP server. |
| TLS Type | How to negotiate TLS/SSL when connecting to the server. Choose Explicit to establish a plain text connection where TLS/SSL is then started with an explicit command. Choose Implicit to immediately negotiate TLS/SSL without establishing a plain text connection. |
| Remote Port | The port on which to connect to the FTP server. |
Client Authentication
Settings related to authenticating to the FTP server.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| User Name | The username for logging in to the FTP server. |
| Password | The password for logging in to the FTP server. |
Server Authentication
Setting related to verifying the FTP server’s identity.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Server Public Certificate | The public key certificate used to verify the identity of a TLS/SSL server. If the target server uses TLS/SSL, set this field to the certificate that identifies the server. If the server’s certificate is not available, you can leave this setting blank to allow the underlying OS/JVM to perform certificate validation, or set it to Any Certificate to implicitly trust the server’s identity. |
Upload
Setting related to uploading files to the FTP server.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Remote Path | Files processed by the connector are uploaded to the specified remote folder. |
Download
Settings related to downloading from the FTP server.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Remote Path | The remote folder from which files are downloaded. Use a comma-delimited list to specify multiple paths. |
| File Mask | A glob pattern that determines which files within the Remote Path should be downloaded (for example, *.txt). |
| Delete files (after received) | Check this to delete successfully downloaded files from the FTP server. |
Caching
Settings related to caching and comparing files between multiple downloads.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| File Size Comparison | Check this to keep a record of downloaded file names and sizes. Previously downloaded files are skipped unless the file size is different than the last download. |
| Timestamp Comparison | Check this to keep a record of downloaded file names and last-modified timestamps. Previously downloaded files are skipped unless the timestamp is different than the last download. |
When you enable caching, the file names are case-insensitive. For example, the connector cannot distinguish between
TEST.TXT and test.txt.Advanced Tab
TLS Client Authentication
Settings related to client authentication when two-way TLS authentication is required.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Client Certificate | The private certificate presented during TLS client authentication. |
| Client Certificate Password | The password required to access the TLS client certificate. |
Server Commands
Advanced Settings
Settings not included in the previous categories.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Account | The Windows user account whose credentials should be presented to the FTP server. |
| Active Mode | Check this to enable Active mode on the remote FTP server. Keep in mind that Passive mode is less likely to result in firewall interference with the connection. |
| Clear Command Channel | Check this to send FTP commands using a cleartext channel instead of an encrypted channel. |
| Clear Data Channel | Check this to have the application use a clear data channel when communicating with the FTP server. |
| Use Connection Pooling | Check this to have the connector utilize a pool to access and store connections. This is useful in scenarios where the server places restrictions on the frequency of logon attempts. |
| Download Excluded Extensions | A comma-delimited list of file extensions that should not be downloaded by the connector. |
| Download Excluded Prefixes | A comma-delimited list of prefixes that should not be downloaded. The connector skips filenames that begin with these prefixes. |
| EPSV | Check this to use extended passive mode. This might be necessary if you need to use a protocol other than IPv4. |
| FSwitch | Used in conjunction with Simple Dir List. Check this to restrict the directory listing to files only. |
| Max Download Files | The maximum number of files to be downloaded from the SFTP server in one polling interval. Set to -1 to allow all files to be downloaded. |
| Minimum File Size | The minimum file size to process, in bytes. If a file being uploaded is smaller than the specified size, it is finalized as Skipped. For files being downloaded, the connector adds a transaction log entry indicating that the file was skipped because of its size. |
| Maximum File Size | The maximum file size to process, in bytes. If a file being uploaded is larger than the specified size, it is finalized as Skipped. For files being downloaded, the connector adds a transaction log entry indicating that the file was skipped because of its size. |
| Monitor File Growth | Check this to have the application store the file sizes of the remote files between polling intervals, and only download files that do not change in size. This prevents the connector from downloading files that are still in the process of being written on the server. |
| Passive Connection Address | Only used when Active Mode is not checked. If unchecked, the application parses the remote host to send replies from the previous server response. If you check this, the application uses the value of the Remote Host setting. |
| Prot for Implicit TLS | Tells the server that the data channel is protected for implicit TLS connections. Select the TLS type on the Settings tab. |
| Recurse | Check this to download files in subfolders of the target remote path. The subdirectories are preserved for the received files. |
| Resume Downloads | If enabled, when an error occurs during a file download, the connector stores the portion of the file that was downloaded and attempts to download the remainder of the file on the next download attempt. |
| Resume Uploads | If enabled, when an error occurs during a file upload, the connector notes the number of bytes that were transferred and attempts to upload the remainder of the file on the next upload attempt. |
| Simple Dir List | Check this when you need a simple directory listing command for servers that send back long responses that cannot be parsed. After you set this, if the connector is still unable to parse the directory listing, add the FSwitch setting to restrict the directory listing to files only. |
| TLS Enabled Protocols | The list of TLS/SSL protocols supported when establishing outgoing connections. Best practice is to only use TLS protocols. Keep in mind that SSLv2 and SSLv3 are considered vulnerable and should only be used if your partner does not support higher versions. Keep in mind that TLS v1.3 is not universally adopted, and might be refused if the destination server does not support them. |
| Temp Download Extension | A temporary file extension to append to file downloads while the transfer is in progress. |
| Temp Upload Extension | A temporary file extension to append to file uploads while the transfer is in progress. |
| Temp Upload Path | A temporary path on the remote FTP server where files are uploaded. The file is moved into the permanent upload path after the transfer is complete. |
| Temp Upload Prefix | A temporary file prefix to prepend to file uploads while the transfer is in progress. |
| Timeout | The duration the connector waits for a connection response before throwing a timeout error. |
| Transfer Mode | Whether files should be transferred as ASCII or binary. If set to Default, the server chooses the transfer mode. |
| Upload Single Transaction | Check this to upload all files in a single transaction. By default (unchecked), the application logs off from the server after each upload. |
| Local File Scheme | A scheme for assigning filenames to messages that are output by the connector. You can use macros in your filenames dynamically to include information such as identifiers and timestamps. For more information, see Macros. |
| Receive Filter | A glob pattern filter to determine which files should be downloaded from the remote storage (for example, *.txt). You can use negative patterns to indicate files that should not be downloaded (for example, -*.tmp). Use this setting when you need multiple File Mask patterns. Multiple patterns can be separated by commas, with later filters taking priority except when an exact match is found. |
| Use MLSD for directory listings | Check this to use the MLSD command to return detailed directory listings. This might not be supported on legacy FTP servers, which might return an error such as Command not understood. Uncheck this to address that error on legacy servers. |
| Processing Delay | The amount of time (in seconds) by which the processing of files placed in the Transactions tab is delayed. This is a legacy setting. Best practice is to use a File connector to manage local file systems instead of this setting. |
Proxy Settings
Logging
Miscellaneous
Automation Tab
Automation Settings
Settings related to the automatic processing of files by the connector.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Upload | Whether files arriving at the connector should automatically be uploaded. |
| Retry Interval | The number of minutes before a failed upload is retried. |
| Max Attempts | The maximum number of times the connector processes the input file. Success is measured based on a successful server acknowledgement. If you set this to 0, the connect retries the file indefinitely. |
| Download | Whether the connector should automatically poll the remote download path(s) for files to download. |
| Interval | The interval between automatic download attempts. |
| Minutes Past the Hour | The minutes offset for an hourly schedule. Only applicable when the interval setting above is set to Hourly. For example, if this value is set to 5, the automation service downloads at 1:05, 2:05, 3:05, etc. |
| Time | The time of day that the attempt should occur. Only applicable when the interval setting above is set to Daily, Weekly, or Monthly. |
| Day | The day on which the attempt should occur. Only applicable when the interval setting above is set to Weekly or Monthly. |
| Minutes | The number of minutes to wait before attempting the download. Only applicable when the interval setting above is set to Minute. |
| Cron Expression | A five-position string representing a cron expression that determines when the attempt should occur. Only applicable when the interval setting above is set to Advanced. |
Performance
Alerts Tab
SLAs Tab
Establishing a Connection
Connecting to the remote FTP server requires the following settings:- Remote Host
- TLS Type
- Remote Port
- User Name
- Password
Uploading Files
The FTP Connector uploads files from the Transactions tab. Files are automatically uploaded to the FTP server if Upload Automation is enabled in the connector. Remote Path should be set to the folder on the remote FTP server where files should be uploaded. The application changes directories to the specified folder after logging in to the server. You can set a temporary upload extension, prefix, or path on the Advanced tab to ensure that files have been fully transferred before they end up in the Remote Path folder. If any files could not be uploaded, the connector attempts to send them again after the Retry Interval minutes have elapsed. This process continues until the Max Attempts setting is reached, after which the connector raises an error and the file is no longer sent automatically.Downloading Files
Downloaded files are displayed in the Transactions tab of the connector, or passed along to the next connector in the flow. Files are automatically downloaded from the FTP server if Download Automation is enabled in the connector, and can be manually downloaded by clicking Receive Files button on the Transactions tab. Remote Path should be set to the folder on the remote FTP server from which files should be downloaded. The application changes directories to the specified folder after logging in to the server. The File Mask property filters files so that only filenames matching the glob pattern are downloaded from the server. You can set a temporary download extension or prefix on the Advanced tab to ensure that files have been fully transferred before they end up in the Transactions tab. You can use the Delete files (after download) setting to delete the files on the remote server after successfully downloading them. After configuring, files are downloaded according to the Receive Automation settings, or by manually clicking Receive Files on the Transactions tab.Subfolder Headers
If Recurse is checked on the Advanced tab, when receiving a file from the Remote Path in the FTP connector:- The message for the file that is received contains a Subfolder header in its metadata.
- This header contains the subfolder, relative to the Remote Path in the FTP connector, that the file was received from.
- This subfolder header is supported by other connectors that support a subfolder header in Send operations.
- The file is placed in the subfolder, relative to the Upload Path in the FTP connector, that is specified in the subfolder header.
- The subfolder is created if permissions are available.