Configuring SFTP file transfer

Use an FTP Server policy to specify the Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) settings for a message flow, and to override the SFTP settings that are specified on the FileInput, FileExists, and FileOutput nodes.

About this task

The settings that you specify by using an FTP Server policy are read and validated when the message flow starts, and are used to configure any SFTP connections that are made for the node. The policy can override any or all of the remote transfer properties on the FTP tab of the FileInput, FileExists, and FileOutput nodes. For more information about the settings that you can specify with an FTP Server policy, see FTP Server policy (FtpServer).

You can configure strict host key checking and specify your own known hosts file. Alternatively, you can turn off strict host key checking and use the known hosts files that are created and managed by the integration node.

Multiple policies can specify the same host and port, even with different known hosts files. FTP defaults to port 21 and SFTP defaults to port 22, which is the SSH default port. If you set the port and specify an FTP connection to an SFTP server (or specify an SFTP connection to an FTP server), a connection error occurs and a message is added to the event log.

You can use the FTP Server policy to configure the following SFTP settings:
  • Cipher used for SSH/SFTP communication
  • Compression level
  • Strict known host checking
  • Protocol (FTP/SFTP) for nodes to use for remote file transfer
  • Location of a known hosts file when strict known host checking is set to Yes

Procedure

  1. Create an FTP Server policy with the required parameter values by using the Policy editor (see Creating policies with the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit).
  2. In the FileInput, FileExists, and FileOutput nodes, specify the name of the FTP Server policy in the Remote server and port property on the FTP tab.