User Guide > Getting Started Guide > FileTransfers

File Transfers

Aim:
- Creating a file transfer
- Creating a wildcard file transfer

Lesson 6

An integral part of processing is the transfer of files. The Automation Engine therefore provides an extra object type for this activity. A statistics overview is available for file transfers (as for Job objects) so that the individual executions can be traced.

We are now going to create a file transfer. Prepare several files that can be transferred to a different computer.

  1. Open the folder in the Explorer in which the Job object is stored.
     It is of no importance where your objects are stored. Nevertheless, Automic recommends establishing a folder structure that makes your administrative work as easy as possible, as objects that use each other do not necessarily have to be stored in the same folder.
  2. Click the  button in the toolbar.
  3. Select the object type JOBF (file transfer).
  4. Assign a suitable name.
  5. Double-click the FileTransfer object to open it.

Let's now take a look at the content of the FileTransfer object. You already know many tabs from the Job object. It applies for file transfers as well as all other object types that the predefined default values are suitable. We are now going to define the file that should be transferred and the location to which it should be sent.  

  1. Change to the FileTransfer tab.
  2. Enter the file to be transferred and the host (computer) from which it should be transferred in the upper half of the tab. First select the host and then the appropriate Login object which is required in order to log on to the host.
  3. Enter the path and the name of the file to be transferred. Ensure that the format is also defined (binary or text file).
  4. The lower half of the tab serves to specify the destination of the file transfer. Also select the host and the appropriate Login object.
  5. Enter the name and the path in which the file should be stored. You can also assign a different name for the file.
  6. Furthermore, you can define the reaction if the file already exists on the destination computer. Select Overwrite in this case.
  7. The following illustration shows an example from the FileTransfer tab:

  8. Store the modifications made in the objects with the  button in the toolbar.
  9. Close the FileTransfer object.

The file transfer we created transfers one file. If you want to transfer several files with one FileTransfer object, you can use wildcards. In doing so, files sharing the same start characters can be transferred. Let's create such a file transfer:

  1. Highlight the previously created FileTransfer object. To shorten the procedure, we will duplicate the existing file transfer.
  2. Call the command Duplicate via the context menu (right mouse button).
  3. Assign an appropriate name and double-click on the object to open it.
  4. Activate the checkbox "Use wildcards" in the FileTransfer tab.
  5. As we want the files to be transferred one after the other, the default setting "1" in "Max. parallel-running transfers" is correct.
  6. Enter the file names using "*" for the source and target hosts in the FileTransfer tab. The illustration below serves as an example:

  7. Be careful to define the correct format, that is, "text" or  "binary"!
  8. Store your modifications using the  button in the toolbar and close the FileTransfer object.
  9. Start the execution using the  button in the toolbar.

 

Exercises

Execute the two FileTransfer objects individually. The first file transfer is displayed in the Activity Window as an individual task. As the second FileTransfer object transfers several files, each file is displayed individually and you can view multiple tasks. Read the statistics and the reports of both FileTransfer objects after the file transfer.