Connecting to an FTP Server

In order for Spectrum Technology Platform to access files on an FTP server you must define a connection to the FTP server using Spectrum Management Console. Once you do this, you can create dataflows in Spectrum Enterprise Designer that can read data from, and write data to, files on the FTP server.

Before connecting to an FTP server, verify that the timeout settings on your FTP server are appropriate for the jobs that will use this connection. Depending on the design of a job, there may be periods of time when the connection is idle, which may cause the connection to time out. For example, you may have a dataflow with two Read from File stages connected to an Import To Model stage. While the Import To Model stage is reading records from one Read from File stage, the other will be idle, possibly causing its connection to the FTP server to time out. Consider setting the timeout value on your FTP server to 0 to prevent connections from timing out.

Note: The FTP server must be running in active connection mode. Passive connection mode is not supported.
  1. Access the Connections page using one of these:
    Spectrum Management Console:
    Access Spectrum Management Console using the URL: http://server:port/management console, where server is the server name or IP address of your Spectrum Technology Platform server and port is the HTTP port used by Spectrum Technology Platform.
    Note: By default, the HTTP port is 8080.
    Click Resources > Connections.
    Spectrum Discovery:
    Access Spectrum Discovery using the URL: http://server:port/discovery, where server is the server name or IP address of your Spectrum Technology Platform server and port is the HTTP port used by Spectrum Technology Platform.
    Note: By default, the HTTP port is 8080.
    Click Connect.
  2. Click the Add connection button .
  3. In the Connection Name box, enter a name for the connection. The name can be anything you choose.
    Note: Once you save a connection you cannot change the name.
  4. In the Connection Type field, choose FTP.
  5. In the User name and Password fields, enter the credentials to use to authenticate to the FTP server. This is required only if the FTP server requires it.
  6. In the Host field, enter the host name or IP address of the FTP server.
  7. In the Port field, enter the network port number the server uses for FTP.
  8. Click Test to verify that the Spectrum Technology Platform server can connect to the FTP server.
  9. Click Save.