SFTP Output

The SFTP Output task sends job files to other computers using a secured FTP protocol. It is similar to the Send to Folder output task but sends to an FTP connection instead of a local drive.

The SFTP Input and SFTP Output tasks are part of a separate installer and are not included in the Workflow installer. The SFTP plugin installer can be downloaded from the Resource Center, under 'Plugins' in PlanetPress Connect.

Input

Any data file.

Processing

The file is sent to the secure FTP Server and location defined in the task's properties. If the folder in which the file should be placed doesn't exist, it will be created.

Task properties

General Tab
  • Server Settings group
    • FTP Server: Enter the IP address or host name of the FTP server.
    • User name: Enter the name of a user account on the FTP server.
    • Password: If the account named in the User name box is password protected, enter the password here.
      • Parse password: Checkbox to determine if the password should be parsed or used as a literal string. This option is checked by default (parsed) for backwards comparability with SFTP I/O plugin versions earlier than 1.3.
  • Protocol group
    • SFTP: Select if the FTP server uses SFTP (SSH).
    • FTPS: Select if the FTP server uses FTPS (SSL/TSL)
  • Port Number Group
    • Use default port: Check to use the default port used by the protocol selected above.
    • Port number: Set to use a specific port number. Note: There is no validation to ensure the port is available. It is the user's responsibility to ensure the selected port is available and not being monitored by another application or another Workflow task.
  • File Options group
    • Directory: Enter the directory to which the job files are to be uploaded. If you leave this box empty, the job files are sent to the root directory of the FTP server.
    • File name: Enter the name under which the output job file will be saved. Consider using a dynamic name, since if you use a static name every new file will overwrite the previous one.
Security Tab

This tab defines the certificates used to connect to the secured FTP servers.

  • Accept all certificates: Check this option to automatically accept the certificates returned by the FTP server. Otherwise, in order for a connection to work, you have to establish a connection first and then accept a certificate from the List of known servers up to the Approved server list.
  • Approved Server list: Displays a list of servers that were approved for connection:
    • Server: The name of the server the certificate belongs to.
    • Fingerprint: The RSA fingerprint of the server.
    • Remove: Click to remove the server from the approved list.
  • List of known servers: Displays a list of servers that were connected to, whether they are approved or not.
    • Server: The name of the server the certificate belongs to.
    • Fingerprint: The RSA fingerprint of the server.
    • Approve: Click to add the server to the list of approved servers.
  • Refresh: Click to refresh the list of known servers

On Error Tab

For a description of the options on the On Error tab see Using the On Error tab.

Miscellaneous Tab

The Miscellaneous tab is common to all tasks.

It contains a text area (Task comments) that lets you write comments about the task. These comments are saved when the dialog is closed with the OK button and are displayed in The Task Comments Pane.

Check the option Use as step description to display the text next to the icon of the plugin in the Process area.

The tab also provides an option to highlight the task in The Process area with the default color, set in the Preferences (see Colors), or the color selected or defined under Highlight color on this tab.
To revert the selected highlight color to the default color, open this tab, turn the Highlight option off and close the dialog with the OK button; then turn highlighting back on.
Highlighting can also be turned on and off via the task's contextual menu and with the Highlight button on the View ribbon.