Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent Overview

Sterling Connect:Direct® File Agent is the component of Sterling Connect:Direct that provides unattended file management. Before using Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent, you must plan how to configure it to automate file management for your site. After planning what you need to accomplish, configure Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent to connect to a Sterling Connect:Direct server, watch the directories that files of interest will be added to, and submit a specified Sterling Connect:Direct Process to the server when a file is detected.

Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent provides monitoring and detection capabilities that enhance the automation you accomplish with Sterling Connect:Direct Processes. You cannot create Processes with Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent; however, Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent variables can pass arguments to a Process. Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent does not delete, copy, or move files directly, but it helps you accomplish such tasks by submitting the Process you specify in the configuration to the Sterling Connect:Direct server. Before you configure Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent, you must create and test the Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent Process that you intend to specify as the default Process in the Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent configuration.

Using the Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent Configuration Interface and Help system, define the default configuration file (Default_Config.ser). This file defines the Sterling Connect:Direct server that Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent communicates with; the directory, or directories, that Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent monitors; and how a file added to a watched directory or a detected system event is processed.

You can configure Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent to operate in either of the following ways:

  • Watch for any file to appear in one or more watched directories and submit the default Process after detecting the newly added file.
  • Override the default Process specified and apply either watched file event rules (Submit Process rule) or system event rules enabled for the configuration. Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent applies a watched file event rule to a detected file by checking file properties to determine whether criteria specified by the rule are met. A system event rule checks whether a system event meets criteria specified by the rule. If all criteria for a rule are met, Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent submits Process associated with that rule.

You can create Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent rules based on the following properties:

  • Full or partial name of the file detected in a watched directory
  • Size of the file detected in a watched directory
  • System event title
  • System event contents (as included in a stack trace)

You can specify more than one rule in a Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent configuration; each rule can have Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent submit a different Process.

Although you can create multiple rules as part of a Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent configuration, Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent rules processing ends once all criteria for a rule are met. Therefore, you should specify rules so that those with more specific criteria (properties) are listed first in the configuration.

For optimum performance, you should configure Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent to communicate with the Sterling Connect:Direct node where it is installed. You can configure Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent to use continuous signon and remain connected to the API port for the Sterling Connect:Direct server at all times, or configure it to connect to the port only when it needs to. Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent is available on UNIX, Microsoft Windows, and z/OS® operating systems. When you use Sterling Connect:Direct for UNIX or Microsoft Windows, the watched directory is a UNIX path name or a Microsoft Windows path to the directory. When you use Sterling Connect:Direct for z/OS, the watched directory can be a fully specified HFS path name for a file or a directory, a fully specified MVS data set name, a partial MVS data set name, or the name of a partitioned data set (PDS) or partitioned data set extended (PDSE). In addition, you can also watch Amazon S3 or S3 compatibles objects stores. Add the selected buckets and objects path to the watched directory list.

Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent can monitor multiple directories, including local and network directories. Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent scans the watched directories you specify in the configuration for newly added files (unless you specify a rule to force other operation). By default, Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent scans a watched directory once each minute. For example, if you start Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent at 1:00 p.m., a file added to that watched directory at 12:55 p.m. is not detected. If you start Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent at 1:00 p.m., and a file is placed in the watched directory at 1:01 p.m., then Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent detects this newly added file. Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent detects a file only one time, unless the file is accessed and saved with a later timestamp.

Using Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent requires an understanding of Sterling Connect:Direct Processes, operating systems, and scripting (for regular expression operator use with Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent rules).

Virtualization support

IBM cannot maintain all possible combinations of virtualized platforms. However, IBM generally supports all enterprise class virtualization mechanisms, such as VMware ESX, VMware ESXi, VMware vSphere, Citrix Xen Hypervisor, KVM (Kernel-based virtual machine), and Microsoft Hyper-V Server.

IBM investigates and troubleshoots a problem until it is determined that the problem is due to virtualization. The following guidelines apply:
  • If a specific issue is happening because the system is virtualized and the problem cannot be reproduced on the non-virtualized environment, you can demonstrate the issue in a live meeting session. IBM can also require that further troubleshooting is done jointly on your test environment, as there is not all types and versions of VM software installed in-house.
  • If the issue is not able to be reproduced in-house on a non-virtualized environment, and troubleshooting together on your environment indicates that the issue is with the VM software itself, you can open a support ticket with the VM software provider. IBM is happy to meet with the provider and you to share any information, which would help the provider further troubleshoot the issue on your behalf.
  • If you chose to use virtualization, you must balance the virtualization benefits against its performance impacts. IBM does not provide advice that regards configuring, administering, or tuning virtualization platforms.