2 Designing Artifacts: Transfers, Sources, and Targets

This chapter describes how to design file delivery structures consisting of sources, targets, and transfers using Oracle Managed File Transfer.

This chapter includes the following sections:

About Designing Transfers

Before designing a file transfer using the Design page in the Oracle Managed File Transfer console, you should design the transfer on paper or a whiteboard.

Getting Ready to Create a Transfer

Transfers are an artifact that links a single source to one or more targets. Transfers can include content filters and other actions that affect the transfer. Before you create a transfer, you should determine the details of what the transfer should do. Consider these specifications:

  • The origin location, from which files are transferred, called the source

  • The destination locations, to which files are transferred, called the target

  • Whether the origin and destinations are file system directories or web service endpoint URLs. The origin and destinations can also be in other applications such as B2B or Healthcare.

  • If the file is large, you might want to pass a reference to the web service destination rather than the file.

  • Access parameters for the origin and destinations: usernames, passwords, security certificates, and file system permissions

  • The file format: binary, XML, or text

  • Whether some files must be included or excluded based on format or name

  • Whether files must be compressed or decompressed

  • Whether files must be encrypted or decrypted

  • Whether files must be renamed, moved, archived, or deleted

  • Whether files must be scheduled for delivery at specific times or time ranges

Note:

You can use the Artifacts Search tab to see if a source, target, or transfer exists that you can reuse or recreate with modifications. For more information, see "Artifacts Search" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Online Help.

Designing End-to-End Flows

Sources and targets can be reused in multiple transfers. When more than one transfer uses the same source, this is called transfer fan-out. When a transfer uses more than one target, this is called target fan-out. A source and all associated transfers and targets are collectively called a flow.

You cannot use a source as a target or a target as a source. However, a target and a source can reference the same location. This allows the target of one transfer to be the source of another, creating a transfer chain.

In addition to determining the specifications of each transfer, you should map out any fan-outs and chains needed in the overall file delivery structure. For examples, see Oracle Managed File Transfer Functional Use Case Patterns.

Configuring a Transfer

You can create a transfer before or after you create the source and targets. However, you cannot deploy a transfer without a source and at least one target.

The steps for this process are:

  1. Create a transfer in one of these ways:
    • Click Transfers in the left pane navigator.

    • Select Transfers in the left pane navigator and click the Create icon.

    • Right-click Transfers in the left pane navigator and select the Create command.

    The Transfers dialog opens.

  2. Type a Name for the transfer.

    The name can include letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores.

  3. Type a Description for the transfer.

    The description is optional.

  4. Click the OK button.

    A tab for the transfer opens.

    To avoid creating a transfer, click Cancel.

  5. Add a source and one or more targets.
  6. Add content filters.

    This is optional. See Setting Up Content Filters.

  7. Add users, groups, and roles who can access the transfer payload.

    This is optional and applies only to web service pass by reference transfers. See Granting Payload Access.

  8. Configure target-specific transfer settings.
  9. Add a schedule.

    This is optional. See Setting Up Schedules.

  10. Add preprocessing and postprocessing actions such as compression and encryption.

    This is optional and applies only to targets. Source actions are added directly in the source artifact. See Setting Up Transfer Preprocessing and Postprocessing Actions.

  11. Click the Save button.

    To undo all changes since the last save, click Revert.

  12. Click the Deploy button after saving.

    You can add an optional comment.

    If the associated source and target have not been previously deployed, deploying the transfer automatically deploys the associated source and target.

If an existing transfer has most of the desired properties, you can duplicate it. See Duplicating an Existing Transfer.

Adding a Source and Targets

The steps for this process are:

  1. Click the arrow to the left of Transfers in the left pane navigator.

    The transfers are listed. Note that this step might have been completed in the previous section when creating the transfer.

  2. Click the transfer name or right-click it and then select the Open menu item.

    The transfer tab opens.

  3. Add a source in one of these ways:
  4. Add targets in one of these ways:
    • Click add target if you already created the target.

      Select the target to add in the left column, then click the single arrow icon to move it to the column on the right. You can add more than one target. To select all targets, click the double arrow icon. Click OK.

    • Click create target to create a new target. Begin at step 2 in Creating a Target.

    • Drag and drop a target from the navigation pane.

      See Dragging and Dropping Sources and Targets into Transfers for more information.

  5. Save and Deploy the transfer.

Setting Up Content Filters

Content filters specify file name and extension pattern criteria for transfer. If no content filters are defined, all files at the source endpoint are transferred.

The steps for this process are:

  1. Click the arrow to the left of Transfers in the left pane navigator.

    The transfers are listed.

  2. Click the transfer name or select it and then click the Open icon.

    The transfer tab opens.

  3. Click the arrow to the left of Content Filters.

    The Content Filters settings are displayed.

  4. Select Wildcard or Regular Expression to determine how the filter string is interpreted.
  5. Type a pattern in the text field for the filter.

    If you selected Wildcard, use * as a wildcard. For example, *.xml specifies that XML files are transferred. To specify text or XML files, you can use *.(xml|XML|txt|TXT). For example, File = "TXT-20100505-XXXX.txt" where XXXX can be any four successive digits. Regexp Filter expression ="XT-20100505-\\d{4}\\.txt".

    For more information about regular expressions, see The Java Tutorials: Regular Expressions.

    The pattern is for file names only. Filtering on directory names is not supported.

  6. Click add filter to add another filter.

    Another text field is created and given a new number.

  7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for each filter you want to add.

    To delete a filter, click the red X to the right of the filter.

  8. Use the up and down arrows to the right of each filter to change the filter order.

    Lower numbered filters are performed first.

  9. Save and Deploy the transfer.

Configuring Target-Specific Transfer Settings

Depending on the target type, different optional target-specific transfer settings are displayed when you open a transfer tab and click the arrow to the left of a target.

If the target type is File, FTP Remote, or sFTP Remote, the subfolder setting is displayed. This adds a transfer-specific subfolder to the target location.

If the target type is an HTTP SOA-based web service type (B2B, Healthcare, SOAP, SOA, Service Bus, or ODI), the following Delivery Preferences are displayed:

  • Delivery Method: Specifies the delivery method: Inline or Reference (default). If Inline, the actual file is sent in the SOA message payload. If Reference, a link to the file is sent.

  • Reference Type: Specifies the reference type: FTP (default), File, or sFTP. Note that internal and external port numbers can be set in the Advanced Delivery Properties area of the Administration Server Properties page.

  • Max Inline Size: Specifies the maximum size in bytes for inline deliveries.

Setting Up Transfer Preprocessing and Postprocessing Actions

After you add a target to a transfer, you can edit the transfer to add preprocessing actions: compression, decompression (file type only), encryption or decryption. You can also add decompression as a postprocessing action for a target of type File.

You can configure preprocessing for the source; see Setting Up Source Processing Actions.

You can also create custom preprocessing and postprocessing actions; see Processing Transfers with Custom Callouts.

Note:

Postprocessing occurs after file delivery. Therefore, the Active Deliveries and File Finder views in the Dashboard tab on the Monitoring page show different statuses if file delivery succeeds but postprocessing fails. Specifically, the Active Deliveries view displays a Completed status but the File Finder view displays a Failed status.

Note:

If you add the same processing action to a source and a target that uses the source, the action is performed twice. For example, if you add compression to the source and the target, the transferred file is compressed twice.

Multiple file preprocessing decompression is only supported for the target types SOAP, SOA, Service Bus, and ODI. For other target types, a preprocessing decompression error occurs if a compressed file has multiple entries.

Note:

If you copy a binary file to the source location using an FTP client external to Oracle Managed File Transfer, be sure to configure it for binary transfer. Otherwise the file might become corrupted. Processing actions such as compression and encryption might not work properly.

Compression and Decompression Preprocessing Actions

You can compress or decompress a file prior to a transfer delivering it to a target. You can specify either action in the transfer configuration.

Multi-file decompression preprocessing is supported only for SOAP, SOA, Service Bus, and ODI type targets in which the Delivery Method is set to Reference. In this case, the files inside the ZIP file are extracted to a unique random directory, and only a reference to this directory is sent to the target. This directory is listed in the Target Pre-Processing section of the target report. See Target Reports for more information.

Note:

Any processing function added after the multi-file decompression is ignored. If the decompression preprocessing of other types of targets results in multiple files, the decompression action generates an error.

The steps for this process are:

  1. Click the arrow to the left of Transfers in the left pane navigator.

    The transfers are listed.

  2. Click the transfer name or right-click it and then select the Open menu item.

    The transfer tab opens.

  3. Click the arrow to the left of the target.

    The target settings are displayed.

  4. Click add pre-processing actions.

    The Pre-Processing Actions dialog opens.

  5. Select Compress or Decompress from the All Actions drop-down list.
  6. Click Add to List.

    To remove an action from the list, click the Delete icon to the right of the action.

  7. If you selected Compress, select the compression level from the Level drop-down list: Best Compression, Default Compression, or Best Speed. For more information, see the java.util.zip package, especially the Deflater class and the referenced specifications.
  8. Click OK.

    To cancel adding actions, click Cancel.

  9. Save and Deploy the transfer.

Encryption and Decryption Preprocessing Actions

You can encrypt or decrypt a file prior to transfer. You can specify either action in the transfer configuration.

Note:

PGP keystores must be configured and certificates must be imported before you add an encryption or decryption action.

If a payload is encrypted by a PGP tool outside of MFT using a key length or algorithm that is restricted, MFT decryption will fail. These restrictions are mostly specified at the JRE level in the JAVA_HOME\jre7\lib\security directory.

The steps for this process are:

  1. Click the arrow to the left of Transfers in the left pane navigator.

    The transfers are listed.

  2. Click the transfer name or right-click it and then select the Open menu item.

    The transfer tab opens.

  3. Click the arrow to the left of the target.

    The target settings are displayed.

  4. Click add pre-processing actions.

    The Pre-Processing Actions dialog opens.

  5. Select PGP Encryption or PGP Decryption from the All Actions drop-down list.
  6. Click Add to List.

    To remove an action from the list, click the Delete icon to the right of the action.

  7. If you selected PGP Encryption, select values from the Encryption Alias and Armored drop-down lists:
    • Encryption Alias: the public key alias for encryption. For more information about key aliases, see Configuring the PGP Keystore.

    • Armored: Binary or ASCII. Use ASCII if non-printing characters might be stripped in transit.

  8. If you selected PGP Decryption, select the Decryption Alias from the drop-down list. This is the private key alias for decryption. For more information about key aliases, see Configuring the PGP Keystore.
  9. Click OK.

    To cancel adding actions, click Cancel.

  10. Save and Deploy the transfer.
Changing Encryption Algorithm for PGP

To change encryption algorithm for PGP, follow these steps:

  1. Step A
    1. Log in to Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control.
    2. Expand the SOA node and select the soa-infra node.
    3. From the SOA Infrastructure menu, choose Administration > System MBean Browser . The System MBean Browser page is displayed.
    4. Under Application Defined MBeans, expand the server - oracle.as.soainfra.config node. For example, oracle.as.mftinfra.config node.
    5. Expand the Server: soa_server1 node For example, mft_server1 node.
    6. Expand the MFTConfig node.
    7. Click the MFT MBean. The properties of the MBean are displayed in the right pane.
    8. Click the Operations tab.
    9. Click addProperty operation in the list. Enter values for the key, value, and optional comments.
      i. Set Key value to "pgpEncryptionAlgorithm"
      ii. Set value. For example, set value as “2” for Triple DES, and click Invoke.
  2. Step B
    1. In MFT, to change the encryption algorithm for PGP, set the "pgpEncryptionAlgorithm" MBean for MFT. This Mbean accepts int value and different values for the supported algorithms are listed below:

      i. Triple DES = 2;

      ii. CAST5 = 3;

      iii. Blowfish = 4;

      iv. DES = 6;

      v. AES 128 = 7;

      vi. AES 192 = 8;

      vii. AES 256 = 9;

      viii. Twofish = 10;

    2. In FIPS mode, when MBean property PGPEncryptionAlgorithm is not defined, then the default algorithm is AES 256. Supported algorithms are:

      i.AES 128

      ii.AES 192

      iii.AES 256

    3. In non-FIPS mode, when MBean property PGPEncryptionAlgorithm is not defined, then the default algorithm is CAST5. Supported algorithms are:

      i. Triple DES

      ii. Blowfish

      iii. DES

      iv. AES 192

      v. AES 128

      vi. AES 256

      vii.Twofish

Decompression Postprocessing

You can decompress a file after transfer only if the target type is File. You can specify this action in the transfer configuration.

Multi-file decompression postprocessing is supported. In this case, the decompressed files are extracted to a directory under the target location having the name of the ZIP file without the extension. For example, if the target location is /tmp/mft and the transferred file with multiple entries is order.zip, decompressed files are extracted to /tmp/mft/order.

Note:

Any processing function added after the multi-file decompression is ignored.

The steps for this process are:

  1. Click the arrow to the left of Transfers in the left pane navigator.

    The transfers are listed.

  2. Click the transfer name or right-click it and then select the Open menu item.

    The transfer tab opens.

  3. Click the arrow to the left of the target.

    The target settings are displayed.

  4. Click add post-processing actions.

    The Post-Processing Actions dialog opens.

  5. Select Decompress from the All Actions drop-down list.
  6. Click Add to List.

    To remove an action from the list, click the Delete icon to the right of the action.

  7. Click OK.

    To cancel adding actions, click Cancel.

  8. Save and Deploy the transfer.

Duplicating an Existing Transfer

You can create a new file transfer by copying an existing one. The new transfer references the same source and targets as the copied transfer.

The steps for this process are:

  1. Duplicate a transfer in one of these ways:
    • Select the transfer to copy and then the Duplicate icon in the left pane navigator.

    • Right-click the transfer to copy in the left pane navigator and select the Duplicate command from the pop-up menu.

    The Duplicate Transfer dialog appears.

  2. Type a Name for the transfer.

    The name can include letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores.

  3. Click the Create button.

    A tab for the transfer opens, providing additional settings you can edit. For more information about these settings, see these sections:

    To avoid creating a transfer, click Cancel.

  4. Click the Save button after editing.

    To undo all changes since the last save, click Revert.

  5. Click the Deploy button after saving.

    Deploying a transfer deploys the associated source and target automatically.

Creating a Source

You can create a source with a minimum number of settings. After you create it, you can edit it to add more settings.

The steps for this process are:

  1. Create a source in one of these ways:
    • Click create source in the transfer tab.

    • Double click Sources in the left pane navigator.

    • Select Sources in the left pane navigator and click the Create icon.

    • Right-click Sources in the left pane navigator and select the Create command.

    • Duplicate an existing source.

    The Sources dialog opens.

  2. Type a Name for the source.
    The name can include letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores.

    Note:

    In case of SOA/SOAP source, file names must not have spaces.
  3. Type a Description for the source.

    The description is optional.

  4. Select the source Type.

    This setting determines the other settings that appear. For more information about source types and their settings, see Source Types.

  5. Type a value for the source location. For most source types, this is either:
    • The Folder setting, which specifies a file system directory. Ensure that the folder name does not exceed 60 characters.

    • The URL setting, which specifies a web service endpoint.

    The B2B and Healthcare source types have no source location setting in the Sources dialog. You must provide the source location after creating the source.

  6. Type values for the required settings, which have blue asterisks next to them.

    The only source types with required settings in addition to the source location are the FTP Remote Source Type and sFTP Remote Source Type. Some of these settings have defaults that you can accept and edit later.

  7. Click the OK button.

    A tab for the source opens, providing additional settings you can edit. For more information about these settings, see the source type under Source Types, Setting Up Schedules, Setting Up Source Processing Actions, and Archiving and Deleting Files Before Delivery.

    To avoid creating a source, click Cancel.

  8. Click the Save button after editing.

    To undo all changes since the last save, click Revert.

  9. Click the Deploy button after saving.

    You can add an optional comment.

    This step is optional. Deploying a transfer deploys the associated source and target automatically.

If an existing source has most of the desired properties, you can duplicate it. See Duplicating an Existing Source.

Source Types

Oracle Managed File Transfer provides the following source types:

FTP Embedded Source Type

Using the FTP Embedded source type means uploading files to the FTP server embedded by Oracle Managed File Transfer, which transfers the files. The only required setting is Folder, which specifies the embedded FTP server directory from which to transfer files.

Note:

Files present in the embedded FTP source directory before the source is deployed or enabled are ignored. Only files uploaded to the directory after deployment or enabling are picked and transferred.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the source, see "Source—FTP Embedded" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

sFTP Embedded Source Type

Using the sFTP Embedded source type means uploading files to the sFTP server embedded by Oracle Managed File Transfer, which transfers the files. The only required setting is Folder, which specifies the embedded sFTP server directory from which to transfer files.

Note:

Files present in the embedded sFTP source directory before the source is deployed or enabled are ignored. Only files uploaded to the directory after deployment or enabling are picked and transferred.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the source, see "Source—sFTP Embedded" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

FTP Remote Source Type

Using the FTP Remote source type means transferring files from an FTP server outside of Oracle Managed File Transfer. Table 2-1 lists the settings in the Sources dialog specific to the FTP Remote type.

Table 2-1 Sources Dialog Settings for the FTP Remote Source Type

Setting Description

Host Name

Specifies the host name.

Folder

Specifies the directory from which files are transferred.

User

Specifies the user accessing the source.

Password

Specifies the user password.

Confirm Password

Confirms the user password.

Control Port

Specifies the port for the source.

SSL

Specifies the use of SSL if checked. This is optional.

Implicit SSL

Specifies the use of implicit SSL if checked. This is optional.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the source, see "Source—FTP Remote" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

FTP Remote Source Advance Properties for MVS Transfers

When creating a FTP Remote source type for MVS Mainframe systems, you need to select MVS as List Parser Key in advance properties.

For MVS FTP response formats, MVS can be configured to use HFS (Unix style) response or MVS native response formats.

FTP Remote Source Settings for MVS Transfers

Configure the FTP Remote source type as shown in figure below:

Note:

The following properties must be selected in the format listed below:
  • Change Directory=”true”

  • Content Folder is a mandatary and must be in the format: ”'FOLDER.'”

  • FTP Path Separator = ””

  • Absolute Path Begin = ””

  • List Parser Key = MVS

sFTP Remote Source Type

Using the sFTP Remote source type means transferring files from an sFTP server outside of Oracle Managed File Transfer. Table 2-2 lists the settings in the Sources dialog specific to the sFTP Remote type.

Table 2-2 Sources Dialog Settings for the sFTP Remote Source Type

Setting Description

Host Name

Specifies the host name.

Folder

Specifies the directory from which files are transferred.

User

Specifies the user accessing the source.

Password

Specifies the user password.

Note:

MFT treats properties beginning with $ as parameters. Add a backslash before the $ for sFTP passwords that start with $. This is only for a leading $. If there are other $s in the password, do not add more backslashes. Example: for $xyz$123, enter the password as \$xyz$123.

Confirm Password

Confirms the user password.

Control Port

Specifies the port for the source.

Authentication Type

Specifies the authentication type: Password or Public Key.

Note:

For remote SFTP servers, private key passphrase is not supported.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the source, see "Source—sFTP Remote" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

File Source Type

Using the File source type means transferring files from the local file system or from a network-attached system. The only required setting is Folder, which specifies the directory from which to transfer files. This directory must be accessible from Oracle Managed File Transfer.

Oracle Managed File Transfer uses the same file adapter used by Oracle SOA Suite.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the source, see "Source—File" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

SOAP Web Service Source Type

Using a SOAP web service type means transferring files from a web service endpoint. The only required setting is URL, which specifies the web service endpoint from which to transfer files.

For more information about integrating with Oracle Managed File Transfer as a web service, see Integrating with Web Services.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the source, see "Source—SOAP" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

SOA Source Type

Using the SOA source type means transferring files from the web service interface of a SOA application. The only required setting is the Location URL, which specifies the suffix portion of the web service endpoint that SOA uses.

For example: http://<HOST:PORT/mftapp/services/transfer/<URL>?WSDL

For more information about integrating Oracle Managed File Transfer with Oracle SOA Suite, see Integrating with Oracle SOA Suite.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the source, see "Source—SOA" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

Service Bus Source Type

Using the Service Bus source type means transferring files from the web service interface of an Oracle Service Bus application. The only required setting is URL, which specifies the web service endpoint from which to transfer files.

For more information about integrating Oracle Managed File Transfer with Oracle Service Bus, see Integrating with Oracle Service Bus.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the source, see "Source—Service Bus" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

B2B Source Type

Using the B2B source type means transferring files from an Oracle B2B trading partner. No settings are required if B2B is collocated. The most important settings are Trading Partner Name, which specifies the endpoint from which to transfer files, and Domain Alias, which specifies the domain from which to transfer files.

To define a trading partner in Oracle Managed File Transfer, see Integrating with B2B and Managing Domains.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the source, see "Source—B2B" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

Healthcare Source Type

Using the Healthcare source type means transferring files from an Oracle B2B for Healthcare domain. The only required setting is Endpoint Name, which specifies the endpoint from which to transfer files. Another important setting is Domain Alias, which specifies the domain from which to retrieve files.

To define a Healthcare domain in Oracle Managed File Transfer, see Integrating with Healthcare and Managing Domains.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the source, see "Source—Healthcare" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

ODI Source Type

Using the ODI source type means transferring files from the web service interface of an Oracle Data Integrator application. The only required setting is URL, which specifies the web service endpoint from which to transfer files.

To define an ODI domain in Oracle Managed File Transfer, see Integrating with Oracle Data Integrator and Managing Domains.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the source, see "Source—ODI" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

Setting Up Source Processing Actions

After you create a source, you can edit it to add processing actions such as compression, decompression, encryption or decryption.

You can configure processing actions for the transfer; see Setting Up Transfer Preprocessing and Postprocessing Actions.

You can also create custom preprocessing and postprocessing actions; see Processing Transfers with Custom Callouts.

Note:

If you add the same processing action to a source and a transfer that uses the source, the action is performed twice. For example, if you add compression to the source and the transfer, the transferred file is compressed twice.

A preprocessing decompression error occurs if a compressed file has multiple entries.

Note:

If you copy a binary file to the source location using an FTP client external to Oracle Managed File Transfer, be sure to configure it for binary transfer. Otherwise the file might become corrupted. Processing actions such as compression and encryption might not work properly.

Compression and Decompression at the Source

You can compress or decompress a file prior to transfer. You can specify either action in the source configuration.

Note:

Multi-file decompression is not supported for sources. It is supported only for SOAP, SOA, Service Bus, or ODI type targets as a preprocessing action or for File type targets as a postprocessing action.

The steps for this process are:

  1. Click the arrow to the left of Sources in the left pane navigator.

    The sources are listed.

  2. Click the source name or right-click it and then select the Open menu item.

    The source tab opens.

  3. Click the arrow to the left of Actions.

    The Actions section opens.

  4. Click add processing actions.

    The Processing Actions dialog opens.

  5. Select Compress or Decompress from the All Actions drop-down list.
  6. Click Add to List.

    To remove an action from the list, click the Delete icon to the right of the action.

  7. If you selected Compress, select the compression level from the Level drop-down list: Best Compression, Default Compression, or Best Speed. For more information, see the java.util.zip package, especially the Deflater class and the referenced specifications.
  8. Click OK.

    To cancel adding actions, click Cancel.

  9. Save and optionally Deploy the source.

Encryption and Decryption at the Source

You can encrypt or decrypt a file prior to transfer. You can specify either action in the source configuration. You can add a single encryption or decryption algorithm to the source configuration.

Note:

PGP keystores must be configured and certificates must be imported before you add an encryption or decryption action.

If a payload is encrypted by a PGP tool outside of MFT using a key length or algorithm that is restricted, MFT decryption will fail. These restrictions are mostly specified at the JRE level in the JAVA_HOME\jre7\lib\security directory.

The steps for this process are:

  1. Click the arrow to the left of Sources in the left pane navigator.

    The sources are listed.

  2. Click the source name or right-click it and then select the Open menu item.

    The source tab opens.

  3. Click the arrow to the left of Actions.

    The Actions section opens.

  4. Click add processing actions.

    The Processing Actions dialog opens.

  5. Select PGP Encryption or PGP Decryption from the All Actions drop-down list.
  6. Click Add to List.

    To remove an action from the list, click the Delete icon to the right of the action.

  7. If you selected PGP Encryption, select values from the Encryption Alias and Armored drop-down lists:
    • Encryption Alias: the public key alias for encryption. For more information about key aliases, see Configuring the PGP Keystore.

    • Armored: Binary or ASCII. Use ASCII if non-printing characters might be stripped in transit.

  8. If you selected PGP Decryption, select the Decryption Alias from the drop-down list. This is the private key alias for decryption. For more information about key aliases, see Configuring the PGP Keystore.
  9. Click OK.

    To cancel adding actions, click Cancel.

  10. Save and optionally Deploy the source.

Archiving and Deleting Files Before Delivery

After you create a source, you can edit it to add file operations: archiving and deleting. If a file is configured to be archived, it is copied to given physical target directory. If the file is configured for deletion, it is deleted. Note that the archive or delete action applies to the target system copy of the file, not the Oracle Managed File Transfer copy of the file.

The steps for this process are:

  1. Click the arrow to the left of Sources in the left pane navigator.

    The sources are listed.

  2. Click the source name or right-click it and then select the Open menu item.

    The source tab opens.

  3. Click the arrow to the left of Advanced Properties.

    The Advanced properties section opens.

  4. Click the Operation subtab.

    The Operation subtab opens.

  5. Select Archive, Delete, or Archive and Delete from the Action Type drop-down list.
  6. If you selected Archive or Archive and Delete, type a path in the Physical Target Directory field.
  7. Save and optionally Deploy the source.

Duplicating an Existing Source

You can create a new source for file transfers by copying an existing one.

The steps for this process are:

  1. Duplicate a source in one of these ways:
    • Select the source to copy and then the Duplicate icon in the left pane navigator.

    • Right-click the source to copy in the left pane navigator and select the Duplicate command from the pop-up menu.

    The Duplicate Source dialog appears.

  2. Type a Name for the source.

    The name can include letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores.

  3. Type values for the required non-duplicated settings, which have blue asterisks next to them:
    • Content Folder is required for sources of type File, FTP Remote, sFTP Remote, FTP Embedded, or sFTP Embedded.

      URL is required for sources of type SOAP, SOA, Service Bus, or ODI.

      Sources of type B2B or Healthcare have no required non-duplicated settings.

  4. Click the Create button.

    A tab for the source opens, providing additional settings you can edit. For more information about these settings, see the source type under Source Types, Setting Up Source Processing Actions, and Archiving and Deleting Files Before Delivery.

    To avoid creating a source, click Cancel.

  5. Click the Save button after editing.

    To undo all changes since the last save, click Revert.

  6. Click the Deploy button after saving.

    This step is optional. Deploying a transfer deploys the associated source and target automatically.

Creating a Target

You can create a target with a minimum number of settings. After you create it, you can edit it to add more settings.

The steps for this process are:

  1. Create a target in one of these ways:
    • Click create target in the transfer tab.

    • Double click Targets in the left pane navigator.

    • Select Targets in the left pane navigator and click the Create icon.

    • Right-click Targets in the left pane navigator and select the Create command.

    The Targets dialog opens.

  2. Type a Name for the target.

    The name can include letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores.

  3. Type a Description for the target.

    The description is optional.

  4. Select the target Type.

    This setting determines the other settings that appear. For more information about target types and their settings, see Target Types.

  5. Type a value for the target location. For most target types, this is either:
    • The Folder setting, which specifies a file system directory. Ensure that the folder name does not exceed 60 characters.

    • The URL setting, which specifies a web service endpoint.

      Note:

      In case of SOA/SOAP target, file names must not have spaces.

    The B2B and Healthcare target types have no target location setting in the Targets dialog. You must provide the target location after creating the target.

  6. Type values for the required settings, which have blue asterisks next to them.

    The only target types with required settings in addition to the target location are FTP Remote Target Type and sFTP Remote Target Type. Some of these settings have defaults that you can accept and edit later.

  7. Click the OK button.

    A tab for the target opens, providing additional settings you can edit. For more information about these settings, see the target type under Target Types and Moving and Renaming Files After Delivery.

    To avoid creating a target, click Cancel.

  8. Click the Save button after editing.

    To undo all changes since the last save, click Revert.

  9. Click the Deploy button after saving.

    You can add an optional comment.

    This step is optional. Deploying a transfer deploys the associated source and target automatically.

If an existing target has most of the desired properties, you can duplicate it. See Duplicating an Existing Target.

Target Types

Oracle Managed File Transfer provides the following target types:

Oracle Managed File Transfer does not support embedded FTP or sFTP server targets.

FTP Remote Target Type

Using the FTP Remote target type means transferring files to an FTP server outside of Oracle Managed File Transfer. Table 2-3 lists the settings in the Targets dialog specific to the FTP Remote type.

Table 2-3 Targets Dialog Settings for the FTP Remote Target Type

Setting Description

Host Name

Specifies the host name.

Folder

Specifies the directory to which files are transferred.

User

Specifies the user as whom to access the target.

Password

Specifies the user password.

Confirm Password

Confirms the user password.

Control Port

Specifies the port for the target.

SSL

Specifies the use of SSL if checked. This is optional.

Implicit SSL

Specifies the use of implicit SSL if checked. This is optional.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the target, see "Target—FTP Remote" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

FTP Remote Target settings for MVS Transfers

When creating a FTP Remote target type for MVS Mainframe systems, you need to select MVS as List Parser Key in advance properties.

For MVS FTP response formats, MVS can be configured to use HFS (Unix style) response or MVS native response formats. If the target type uses MVS HFS (Unix style), you can configure the advanced Properties as you do with any other Unix system. For example, using ”/” as the path separator. However, if the MVS system uses a MVS native response format only, then you must configure the FTP Remote target type with following mandatory properties:

  • The ”Content Folder” field is not used, however it is a mandatory field. You must enter some text as a placeholder and cannot be left as blank filed. For example, Content Folder =”'FOLDER.'”

  • The FTP Path Separator field must be left blank/empty. For example, FTP Path Separator =””

  • The ”File Naming Convention” field specifies the absolute path to the file. You must include the filename in the path, and enclose it in single quotes. This field must be in the format, File Naming Convention=”MFTOUT.MFT%SEQ%.CSV”'. For example, 'QA.TEST.FILE '.

  • Change the Default Date Format. For example, yyyy/mm/dd:

  • Absolute Path Begin = ””

  • List Parser Key = MVS

You can configure the advance properties as shown in the figure listed below:

sFTP Remote Target Type

Using the sFTP Remote target type means transferring files to an sFTP server outside of Oracle Managed File Transfer. Table 2-4 lists the settings in the Targets dialog specific to the sFTP Remote type.

Table 2-4 Targets Dialog Settings for the sFTP Remote Target Type

Setting Description

Host Name

Specifies the host name.

Folder

Specifies the directory to which files are transferred.

User

Specifies the user as whom to access the target.

Password

Specifies the user password.

Confirm Password

Confirms the user password.

Control Port

Specifies the port for the target.

Authentication Type

Specifies the authentication type: Password or Public Key.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the target, see "Target—sFTP Remote" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

File Target Type

Using the File target type means transferring files to the local file system or to a network-attached system. The only required setting is Folder, which specifies the directory to which to transfer files. This directory must be accessible from Oracle Managed File Transfer.

Oracle Managed File Transfer uses the same file adapter used by Oracle SOA Suite.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the target, see "Target—File" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

SOAP Web Service Target Type

Using a SOAP web service type means transferring files to a web service. The only required setting is URL, which specifies the web service endpoint to which to transfer files.

For more information about integrating with Oracle Managed File Transfer as a web service, see Integrating with Web Services.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the target, see "Target—SOAP" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

SOA Target Type

Using the SOA target type means transferring files to the web service interface of a SOA application. The only required setting is URL, which specifies the web service endpoint to which to transfer files.

For more information about integrating Oracle Managed File Transfer with Oracle SOA Suite, see Integrating with Oracle SOA Suite.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the target, see "Target—SOA" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

Service Bus Target Type

Using the Service Bus target type means transferring files to the web service interface of an Oracle Service Bus application. The only required setting is URL, which specifies the web service endpoint to which to transfer files.

For more information about integrating Oracle Managed File Transfer with Oracle Service Bus, see Integrating with Oracle Service Bus.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the target, see "Target—Service Bus" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

B2B Target Type

Using the B2B target type means transferring files to an Oracle B2B trading partner. No settings are required if B2B is collocated. The most important settings are Trading Partner Name, which specifies the endpoint to which to transfer files, and Domain Alias, which specifies the domain to which to transfer files.

To define a trading partner in Oracle Managed File Transfer, see Integrating with B2B and Managing Domains.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the target, see "Target—B2B" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

Healthcare Target Type

Using the Healthcare target type means transferring files to an Oracle B2B for Healthcare domain. The only required setting is Endpoint Name, which specifies the endpoint to which to transfer files. Another important setting is Domain Alias, which specifies the domain to which to transfer files.

To define a Healthcare domain in Oracle Managed File Transfer, see Integrating with Healthcare and Managing Domains.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the target, see "Target—Healthcare" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

ODI Target Type

Using the ODI target type means transferring files to the web service interface of an Oracle Data Integrator application. The only required setting is URL, which specifies the web service endpoint to which to transfer files.

To define an ODI domain in Oracle Managed File Transfer, see Integrating with Oracle Data Integrator and Managing Domains.

For more information about other settings you can edit after you create the target, see "Target—ODI" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware MFT Composer Help Online Help.

Moving and Renaming Files After Delivery

After you create a File, FTP Remote, or sFTP Remote target, you can edit it to add file operations: moving and renaming.

The steps for this process are:

  1. Click the arrow to the left of Targets in the left pane navigator.

    The targets are listed.

  2. Click the target name or right-click it and then select the Open menu item.

    The target tab opens.

  3. Click the arrow to the left of Advanced Properties.

    The Advanced properties section opens.

  4. Click the Operation subtab.

    The Operation subtab opens.

  5. Select Move, Rename, or Move and Rename from the Action Type drop-down list.
  6. If you selected Move or Move and Rename, type a path in the Physical Target Directory field.
  7. If you selected Rename or Move and Rename, type a file name pattern in the File Naming Convention field.

    You can use variables in the file name such as %yyMMddHHmmssSSS% for the timestamp or %SEQ% for an incrementing integer. For example, File%SEQ%.txt numbers files File1.txt, File2.txt, and so on. See "Specifying the Outbound File Naming Convention" in Understanding Technology Adapters for more information.

  8. Save and optionally Deploy the target.

Duplicating an Existing Target

You can create a new target for file transfers by copying an existing one.

The steps for this process are:

  1. Duplicate a target in one of these ways:
    • Select the target to copy and then the Duplicate icon in the left pane navigator.

    • Right-click the target to copy in the left pane navigator and select the Duplicate command from the pop-up menu.

    The Duplicate Target dialog appears.

  2. Type a Name for the target.

    The name can include letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores.

  3. Click the Create button.

    A tab for the target opens, providing additional settings you can edit. For more information about these settings, see the target type under Target Types and Moving and Renaming Files After Delivery.

    To avoid creating a target, click Cancel.

  4. Click the Save button after editing.

    To undo all changes since the last save, click Revert.

  5. Click the Deploy button after saving.

    This step is optional. Deploying a transfer deploys the associated source and target automatically.

Retry Interval and Retry Count

After you create a target, you can edit the target type to add retry interval and retry count.

  • Retry Interval: This specifies the number of seconds between attempts to retry delivery of a failed transfer.

  • Retry Count: This specifies how many times retry of a failed transfer is attempted.

Setting Up Schedules

You can schedule file deliveries so they occur only at specific times or time ranges. If no schedule is configured, the file is delivered as soon as it is processed by Oracle Managed File Transfer. You can configure a source schedule as part of source configuration or a target schedule as part of transfer configuration.

If a schedule is defined for a listening source, the file is picked only when the schedule expires. For a non-listening source, the file is picked as soon as it arrives at the source location but remains with a status of Scheduled. When the schedule expires, the file is processed further and delivered. All transfers that reference the source happen only when the source schedule expires.

If a schedule is defined for a target, the file is delivered only when the schedule expires. Before that it remains at the source location with a status of Scheduled. Targets referenced by the same transfer do not share schedules.

Note:

Before adding a schedule, test the transfer without one to ensure that it works properly. See Deploying and Testing Transfers.

Note:

Oracle Managed File Transfer interacts with Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Service through the OracleSystemUser. Do not delete this user. If you do, clicking add schedule will result in an OracleSystemUser does not exist message, and Schedule Details may be blank in monitoring reports. For more information about users, see Configuring Users.

The steps for this process are:

  1. Click the arrow to the left of Sources or Transfers in the left pane navigator.

    The sources or transfers are listed.

  2. Click the source or transfer name or right-click it and then select the Open menu item.

    The source or transfer tab opens.

  3. If you don't see the add schedule option, you can display it. In the source tab, click the arrow to the left of Source Schedule. In the transfer tab, click the arrow to the left of the target.
  4. Click add schedule.

    The Scheduler dialog opens.

  5. Type a Name for the schedule.
  6. Select a value from the Frequency drop-down list: Once, Hourly/Minute, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly, or Custom.
    • If you selected Once, enter a date and time in the Start Date field.

    • If you selected Hourly/Minute, specify the interval in hours and minutes. Enter a Start Date and optionally an End Date.

    • If you selected Daily, specify the interval in days. Enter a Start Date and optionally an End Date.

    • If you selected Weekly, specify the interval in weeks. Enter a Start Date and optionally an End Date.

    • If you selected Monthly, select a Repeat option:

      • By day: Select a Week of the Month and a Day of the Week. For the Week of the Month, you can select Last.

      • By date: Select a day of the month or Last day of month.

      Enter a Start Date and optionally an End Date.

    • If you selected Yearly, select a Month and a Repeat option:

      • By day: Select a Week of the Month and a Day of the Week. For the Week of the Month, you can select Last.

      • By date: Select a day of the month or Last day of month.

      Enter a Start Date and optionally an End Date.

    Click the Date/Time icon to select a date and time instead of typing them or to select a different time zone. Click Customize Times to edit individual delivery times.

  7. If you selected Custom from the Frequency drop-down list or clicked Customize Times, the Scheduler dialog expands and displays a table of times.

    To add a time, click Add Time, specify a date and time in the Add Time dialog, and click OK. Repeat for each time you want to add.

    To remove a time, click Remove Time. To restore a removed time, click Add Back.

    If you clicked Customize Times, you can cancel adding custom times by clicking Change Frequency.

  8. To specify a time range in which file deliveries can occur, check Use Duration. Specify the duration in hours and minutes. The duration must be less than the Frequency.

    The duration is the range of time in which transfers occur. For example, if the Frequency is Weekly, the Start Date is a Monday at noon, and the Duration is one hour, then polling or transfers occur only on Mondays between noon and 1 pm.

  9. Click OK.

    To cancel adding a schedule, click Cancel.

  10. Save and Deploy the source or transfer.

Schedules with Polling Frequency and Minimum Age

The minimum age applies to the listening source types listed below:

  • Remote sFTP

  • Remote FTP

  • File

  • Storage Cloud Service

  • Webcenter

If a schedule is defined for any of these source types, polling frequency and minimum age applies only to the schedule duration. If the schedule ends before the expiration of polling frequency, then the listening source types will not be polled.

Upon each polling occurrence or schedule expiration, MFT downloads only the files that have a last modified time to a value that is larger than minimum age.

Deploying and Testing Transfers

After you create a transfer and its associated source and targets, you deploy the transfer to activate it, then test it to make sure it works as designed.

Note:

Before adding a schedule, test the transfer without one to ensure that it works properly. See Setting Up Schedules.

Deploying a Source, Target, or Transfer

Every artifact tab has a Deploy button. Before a transfer can deliver files, it must be deployed. You can deploy sources and targets separately to make them available for use in multiple transfers.

The deployment process has three steps:

  1. The deployment user interface displays the list of files to be deployed.

  2. The files are validated.

  3. If the validation is successful, the artifact is deployed.

Deploying a transfer for the first time automatically deploys the associated source and targets if they have been saved but not deployed. However, after the initial deployment, each artifact must be separately redeployed after any modifications.

Oracle Managed File Transfer maintains the version of the artifact. When an artifact is deployed, the current version of the artifact is deployed. The Oracle Managed File Transfer runtime engine operates only on the deployed version.

You can monitor, disable, and undeploy artifacts that have been deployed; see Monitoring Deployed Sources_ Targets_ and Transfers.

How to Tell If a Transfer Is Successful

To test a deployed transfer, copy to the source location a test file of the type the transfer is designed to deliver.

If you applied a content filter, you can also verify that a file of the wrong type is not transferred. See Setting Up Content Filters.

Note:

If you copy a binary file to the source location using an FTP client external to Oracle Managed File Transfer, be sure to configure it for binary transfer. Otherwise the file might become corrupted. Processing actions such as compression and encryption might not work properly.

Locating Received Files

You can verify that the transfer worked by verifying that the test file arrived at the target location.

If you applied preprocessing or postprocessing actions such as compression or encryption, you can examine the delivered file to verify that these actions occurred. See Setting Up Source Processing Actions and Setting Up Transfer Preprocessing and Postprocessing Actions.

You can also verify that actions such as moving and renaming occurred. See Archiving and Deleting Files Before Delivery and Moving and Renaming Files After Delivery.

Watching Active Deliveries

If your test file is large, you can watch its progress on the Dashboard tab of the Monitoring page. See Monitoring Active Deliveries.

Importing and Exporting Transfers

Exporting a transfer saves the transfer configuration and its associated source and target configurations to a ZIP file. Sources and targets cannot be exported separately.

To export a transfer, click Export on the transfer tab and follow the file saving procedure for your operating system.

You can import a transfer you have previously exported. The steps for this process are:

  1. Open the Import/Export tab on the Administration page.
  2. Click Browse.

    An operating system file uploading dialog box opens.

  3. Select the directory from which to upload the file.
  4. Select the ZIP file to upload.
  5. Click Open.

    The full path to the file appears in the Import text box next to the Browse button.

  6. Click Import.

This overwrites a transfer artifact with the same name, and overwrites any associated source and targets with the same names.