Watch Folders

Watch Folders can be created and managed in the command line, using the aswatchfolderadmin tool or the Watch Folder API.

Getting Started with Watch Folders
To use Watch Folders from the command line, make sure that asperarund is running, ensure that the user has the appropriate file permissions for the log directory, and optionally configure the Watch Folder services.
Creating a Push Watch Folder with aswatchfolderadmin
These instructions describe how to create a push Watch Folder by using the aswatchfolderadmin utility. aswatchfolderadmin requires a JSON configuration file with the syntax introduced in 3.8.0 (described in the following section). Push Watch Folders can still be created from JSON configuration files that follow the 3.7 version syntax by using the Watch Folder API.
Creating a Pull Watch Folder with aswatchfolderadmin
These instructions describe how to create a pull Watch Folder by using the aswatchfolderadmin utility. aswatchfolderadmin requires a JSON configuration file with the syntax introduced in 3.8.0 (described in the following section). Pull Watch Folders can still be created from JSON configuration files that follow the 3.7 version syntax by using the Watch Folder API.
Watch Folder Service Configuration
The configuration for asperawatchfolderd is in the <server> section of aspera.conf. It includes drop and file management and enabling the use of raw options (ascp options that are not yet directly included in Watch Folders).
Watch Folder JSON Configuration File Reference
Watch Folders are configured by using a JSON configuration file. This article describes all the available configuration options. For simple push and pull configuration examples that contain only the required options, see Creating a Push Watch Folder with aswatchfolderadmin and Creating a Pull Watch Folder with aswatchfolderadmin.
Managing Watch Folders with aswatchfolderadmin
The aswatchfolderadmin tool can be used to retrieve a list of Watch Folders, update the configuration of Watch Folder, and delete a Watch Folder.
Configuring Linux for Many Watch Folders
To run many (>100) push Watch Folders on Linux computers, adjust three system settings and then reload the sysctl.conf file to activate them.
Creating a Push Watch Folder with the API
These instructions describe how to create a push Watch Folder by using the Watch Folder API.
Creating a Pull Watch Folder with the API
These instructions describe how to create a pull Watch Folder by using the Watch Folder API.
Managing Watch Folders with the API
You can use the Watch Folder API to create, remove, and manage Watch Folders. The instructions below uses curl commands to interact with the API.
Configuring Custom Watch Folder Permissions Policies
By default, users are not allowed to perform any Watch Folders-related actions, unless they are configured with admin ACLs. If you do not want every user to have admin permissions, configure users with customized permissions policies, including whether they are allowed or denied permission to create Watch Folders, create Watch and Watch Folder services, and edit policies. The policy is a JSON object that is assigned to specific users. Users can be assigned to multiple policies to incrementally allow or deny permissions.
Updating the Docroot or Restriction of a Running Watch Folder Service
If aswatchfolderadmin returns the error code err=28672 when you try to create a Watch Folder, confirm that the user's docroot or restriction allows access to the source directory specified in the JSON configuration file. You might have specified a destination that is not permitted by the docroot or restriction of the user running asperawatchfolderd, or you may have no docroot configured at all.

Parent topic: Aspera Watch Service and Watch Folders