SFTP Launcher & SFTP Jobs Overview

In this article:

• Overview
• Setting Up SFTP Jobs & Using The SFTP Launcher
  • SFTP Job Configuration
    • General
    • Configuration Settings
    • Content Filters
    • Integration Endpoint Settings
    • Advanced Settings

Overview

Within the Chain.io portal, you can utilize the SFTP Launcher to add SFTP Jobs which automate downloading files from SFTP servers on a schedule and passing them to a new flow for execution.

Setting Up SFTP Jobs and Using The SFTP Launcher

To have an SFTP Job set up for a Flow you first need to create the Job in the SFTP Launcher Log in to the Chain.io portal and select Settings from the main navigation at the top of the screen.

Next select SFTP Launcher in the Communications section:

You will now see the SFTP Launcher screen

To add an SFTP Job to use in your Integration Flows, click the Add Job button

You will now see the SFTP Job Configuration screen. This screen and its form fields are used to configure your external SFTP server to use with Flows within the Chain.io portal. 

SFTP Job Configuration

Use this area to manage required and optional settings for your SFTP Job.

General

This is standard information needed for Chain.io Flows to interacting with your external SFTP server.

• Name - a unique label for this SFTP Job and its server configuration. This is the name used to identify the server when setting up your Integration Flows
• Job Type - Choose the purpose of this SFTP Job.
  • Launch Flow Webhook - This is the most widely used and is used when you need the contents of this SFTP server to trigger a Flow execution
  • EDI 997 Processor - This job type is used when you have chosen to receive 997 acknowledgements via SFTP within your Flow configuration
• Server Address - the physical address of your SFTP server (i.e. https;//myfileserver.com/)
• Username - The username needed to log in to the SFTP server
• Password - The password you use to log into the SFTP server
• Port Number - Add the port number that your server uses to accept SFTP connections (The default is 22. Do not change this unless you have confirmed your server IS NOT using the default port.)
• Enable Insecure FTP (Optional) - Select this checkbox if you would like to force the connection to be insecure (Not Recommended)

Configuration Settings

Use this area to configure the specifics for this SFTP Job.

• Sub-folder - The folder location on the SFTP Server. (ex. /files or /files/documents)
• File Criteria - This field is provided so you can isolate or work with specific files on your server. This criteria for the job needs to be written in Regular Expression. For example, If you wanted to only work with the Excel files you would write your criteria similar to the following: /+\xlsx/.
• Polling Interval - How often would you like this job to run
• Delete, Archive, or Retained - After this job runs, would you like you files Deleted, Archived, or Retained on the server. Retained will leave them untouched.
• Maximum Number of Files - This is a numerical value of the maximum number of files you would like to process within this job.

Content Filter

Set up your SFTP Job to process All files or only EDI files.
Note: if you choose EDI 997 Processor as the Job Type, this setting is locked to EDI and cannot be changed.

Integration Endpoint Settings (Launch Flow Webhook job type only)

This section is only available when the chosen Job Type is Launch Flow Webhook. This section is used to link this SFTP Job to your Flow. To set this up properly you must set the Source System of your Flow to be an API Client, please refer to our article on creating a flow using SFTP as a Source System.

Web Address

This URL can be found in the Flow Source System section and is the address of your API.

API Key

This API Key should match up with the API key entered into your API Client Source System within the Flow you would like to attach this SFTP job to:

Advanced Settings

Use this area for more advanced settings.

To learn more about setting up a flow using SFTP Launchers click here.