Copy or Move File to Host Action

Copy/Move (Push) File to Host Action

(Available in EFT Server Enterprise) You can configure EFT Server to copy or move (also known as "offload") files to a specific location using a particular protocol whenever certain Events occur, such as when a report is created. You must provide EFT Server with connection information (protocol and login details) and file information (source path and destination path). (Also see Download Action.)

The copy/move Action can be applied to all File System Events, the User Events "Quota Exceeded," "User Login," "User Logout," and the EFT Server Events "On Timer" and "On Rotate Log."

If you create an Upload Rule that sends a file transfer activity report, the file transfer that triggered the Rule is not included in the report.
When you add a Copy/Move file to host or Download file from host Action to a Rule, the Client FTP offload engine performs retries upon failures (network failures is the typical example) based upon the settings in the Advanced Options dialog box. Be aware that the Copy/Move file to host or Download file from host Action takes place synchronously; that is, EFT Server follows the logic of doing the transfer, including all retries, before moving on to the next Action, such as an e-mail notification. A long-running transfer that also retries numerous times with large delays will cause the Event Rule to take a long time to complete.
If you are using Secure Ad Hoc Transfer, and if EFT Server and IIS are installed on the same computer, when creating the Event Rule for Upload notifications, create an additional Condition for "REMOTE IP does not match 127.0.0.1." The Event Rule Conditions should be something like the following example:
A Move Action over the local file system updates the variables FS.PATH, FS.FILE_NAME, and FS.FOLDER_NAME to match the NEW file location.

To configure EFT Server to copy/move files

Follow the procedure in Creating Event Rules, or select the Rule to which you want to add the Action. For example, create a Scheduler (Timer) Event.
In the right pane, in the Actions list, click Copy/Move (push) file to host.
In the Rule Builder, click Copy to toggle between Copy and Move to choose the Action you want for this Rule.
In the Rule Builder, click one of the undefined parameters (e.g., '%FS.PATH%').

The Offload Action Wizard appears.
On the Offload method box, specify a protocol type for the connection.
(Optional) If you selected Local (Local Files or LAN), provide the Windows account username and Password. These credentials are used only if/when a resource cannot be accessed using the credentials under which the EFT Server service is running. This Optional credentials override allows you to specify an alternate set of logon credentials for accessing remote network shares to which the EFT Server service account may not have access (due to security constraints). If alternate credentials are specified, EFT Server will use its current security token (associated with the "Log on as" account specified in EFT Server’s service settings) for local folder access and then new security token (associated with the alternate logon credentials) for the remote destination folder accessed over network connections (e.g. network shares).
If you chose anything but Local do the following; if you chose Local, skip to the Source File Path page step.
1. In the Host address box, type the IP address.
2. The Port number for the selected protocol changes automatically based on the offload method. Provide a different port number, if necessary.
3. Provide the Username and Password needed to establish the connection.
Select the Use connected client's login credentials to authenticate check box if you want to use the local system account to authenticate. The availability of this check box is controlled by the Persist username and password credentials for use in Event Rule context variables check box on the Site's Security tab.
Specify whether to use UTF-8 or ASCII filename encoding. (If you are unsure, leave it at the default setting.)
If you chose SFTP, provide the client SFTP certificate information.
If you chose a protocol that uses SSL (FTPS or HTTPS), provide the client SSL certificate information.
If are connecting to a remote host through a SOCKS server, click SOCKS.
1. Specify the Socks Type (SOCKS4 or SOCKS5).
2. Specify the Host name and Port.
3. If you specified SOCKS5 and the server requires authentication, select the Use Authentication check box, then provide a Username and Password.
4. Click OK.
If you are connecting to a remote host through a proxy, click Proxy. The Proxy Settings dialog box appears.
1. Specify the Proxy type, Host name, Port, Username, and Password.
  
  Using the DMZ Gateway as proxy is available only in the Enterprise edition of EFT Server.
2. To specify an Authentication Type and login sequence, click Advanced. You must select FTP Proxy or HTTP Proxy to specify advanced settings. (Advanced proxy settings are not available when using the DMZ Gateway as the outbound proxy.)
3. Specify one of the following Authentication Types:
  - USER user@site if your proxy server requires the USER command followed by your user name and the Site name to allow connection with a remote Site. You can change the @ symbol if a different separator is required by your proxy server.
  - SITE site if your proxy server requires the SITE command followed by the address of the remote FTP site to allow a connection.
  - USER with logon if your proxy server requires the USER command followed by a user name and password to allow connection with a remote Site.
  - USER/PASS/ACCT if your proxy server requires all three commands before allowing a connection to a remote Site.
  - OPEN site if your proxy server requires the OPEN command followed by the Site name before allowing connection to the Site.
  - Custom if your proxy server requires a login sequence different from those above. Refer to To create a custom authentication method for a proxy server below for details of creating a login sequence.
  - To create a custom authentication method for a proxy server
  - 1. In the Advanced Proxy Settings dialog box, click Custom, then specify the login sequence in the text box using the following variables: %host%, % user%, %pass%, %port%, %fire_pass%, %fire_user%. Be sure to type each variable with percent signs before and after, and press ENTER to separate commands.
    2. Type any other commands and variables, separating commands with a line break (press ENTER).
    3. Click OK to accept the changes and close the Advanced Proxy Settings dialog box.
  - Contact your system administrator for the proper host name, port, username, password, and proxy type, as well as any required advanced authentication methods.
Click OK to accept the changes and close the Proxy Settings dialog box.
To specify transfer options and time stamps, in the Offload wizard, click Advanced. The Advanced Options dialog box appears.
1. In the General transfer options area, you can provide more control over Max concurrent transfer threads, Connection timeout, Connection retry attempts, and Delay between retries. When files are being transferred with Event Rules (copy/move), if there are connection problems (e.g., the network is unavailable), the server will attempt to establish a connection the number of times specified in Connection retry attempts. When EFT Server is able to re-establish the connection, it continues to transfer the file even if there are multiple interruptions.
2. In the Use the following local IP for outbound connections box, click the list box to specify which local IP address to use for the proxy or keep the default of EFT Chooses to let the EFT Server decide which local IP address to use.
3. Select the Validate file integrity after transfer check box to specify that EFT Server should double check binary files to ensure the files downloaded completely and correctly. (Not applicable to SFTP.)
4. In the Data port mode box, click the drop-down list and select one of the following (not applicable to SFTP):
  - Auto—When Auto is selected, EFT Server initially makes connections in PASV mode. If the PASV connection fails, EFT Server attempts to connect in PORT mode automatically.
  - Active—When Active mode is selected, EFT Server opens an additional port and tells the remote server to connect to <IP:PORT_RANGE> to establish a data connection. This is useful when the server is behind a firewall that closes all unnecessary ports. If you select this mode, specify the port range from which the client will choose. (For security best practices, Active mode is not allowed when brokering outbound connections through DMZ Gateway. )
  - Passive—When Passive mode is selected, EFT Server tells the remote server to provide <IP:PORT> to which EFT Server can connect to establish a data connection. This is useful when a client is behind a firewall that closes all unnecessary ports. Helps avoid conflicts with security systems.
5. Select the Clear command channel check box to send FTP commands in clear text. (Only available when FTPS is specified.)
6. Select the Clear data channel check box to transfer files without encryption. (Only available when FTPS is specified.)
7. In the Filename encoding area, specify whether the filename is encoded as UTF-8 or ASCII.
8. In the ASCII transfer mode area, specify the file types that can be transferred. Use a comma and a space between extensions. If you use only a comma with no space, then the Rule will not recognize the extension/file type. TXT, INF, HTML, and HTM are specified by default. In v6.3.1 and later, if an asterisk (*) is specified, all files are downloaded in ASCII mode, even if that file doesn't have an extension.
9. In the Time stamps area, select one of the following:
  - Select the Preserve remote time stamp for downloaded files check box to keep the time stamp the same on the destination file as it is on remote file.
  - Select the Preserve the local time stamp for uploaded files if the server allows MDTM check box to keep an uploaded file's time stamp the same on remote server as it is on the source file system. (Not applicable to SFTP.)
10. Click OK.
Click Next. The Source File Path page appears.

In the Source path box, provide the path to the file(s) that you want to offload. (No validation is performed.) For example, type:
C:\Staging\*.dat or \\mydomain\common\jsmith\file.txt

You can leave Source path blank or use %FS.PATH% to offload the files associated with the Event that triggered the Action. In a Timer Event, there is no context variable available for the path, so you must specify a filename.

Select the Delete source file after it has been offloaded check box if you want to delete the file after it is copied/moved. (If the file is marked read-only, it will not be deleted.)
Select the If the source file is missing treat as success check box if you want the Action to be considered successful even if the source file is missing.
Click Next. The Destination File Path page appears.

In the Destination path box, specify the location in which to save the offloaded file. (No validation is performed when you type a path; the Folder icon is only available for local transfers.)

If you type a path to a folder that does not exist, the Event Rule will fail. Be sure you have the path defined correctly, e.g., make sure to use the proper slash. In general, forward slashes / are used in remote paths, and backward slashes \ are used in local Windows paths. Do not use both.

You can specify variables, such as \pub\usr\%USER.LOGIN%\%FS.FILE.NAME%.
In the Variables box, double-click the variable(s) that you want to add to the path.
In Move Actions over the LOCAL FILE SYSTEM, the %FS.PATH%, %FS.FILE_NAME%, and %FS.FOLDER_NAME% context variables are updated to match the new file location.
In the Matching filenames box, specify whether to Overwrite, Skip, Smart Overwrite, or Numerate files that exist with the same name.
- Overwrite—Overwrite any existing file with the same name.
- Skip—Skip the offload if a file with the same name exists in the destination directory.
- Smart Overwrite—EFT Server performs a CRC match for the files. If the files are identical, the destination file is not overwritten.
- Numerate—If a file in the destination folder has the same name as the file you are transferring, EFT Server renames the transferred file to "Copy of file.txt." If the same transfer occurs again, EFT Server renames the transferred file to "Copy (2) of file.txt" and so on.
If you want to rename the file, select the Rename transferred file to box and specify a new name.
- You can rename the file when it is transferred. For example, when "myfile.doc" is uploaded, you might want to save it as "status_%EVENT.DATESTAMP%.doc" or something else more identifiable.
- You can also use variables in the Rename transferred file to box. For example, /%FS.FILE_NAME%.%EVENT.TIMESTAMP%
- For LAN renames, you must include the full path to the file.
- EFT Server executes a RNFR + RNTO sequence for FTP transfers on the remote server. If the remote server supports cross-folder rename (as EFT Server does), it is possible for Rename-Pathname-Filename variable to point to a different folder than the Offload Destination folder.
- The Offload transaction status will be FAILED if the rename fails, even though the file was transferred.
- The Status Viewer will display the Rename-To value in the Remote Path field for Offload.

Click Finish then click Apply to save the changes on EFT Server and/or add other Actions and Conditions to the Rule.

If you are copying or moving the file to another location, and the file upload is a regularly occurring Event with a file of the same name, in the Offload Action wizard, add the variables %EVENT.DATESTAMP% and/or %EVENT.TIMESTAMP% to the path so that the date (YYYYMMDD) and/or time (HHMMSS) are added to the filename when it is moved/copied. Do not use %EVENT.TIME%, because the colon (e.g., 28 Aug 07 10:01:56) makes it unsuitable for file naming.

For example, in the Offload Action wizard, in the Destination path box, provide the path and variables. For example, type:

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\upload\%EVENT.DATESTAMP%_%EVENT.TIMESTAMP%_%FS.FILE_NAME%

With this path and variables, when a file is uploaded to the monitored folder, the file is moved to \My Documents\upload and the date and time are prepended to the filename. For example, 20080422_101212_mydailyprogress.doc.