Configuring FTP/SFTP Connector

Load GL data, translations, and transaction data from FTP/SFTP server to the Planful application.

Pre-Requisites

Contact Planful Support to enable the EnableSftpDataLoads flag to access the FTP/SFTP option. Also, ensure that Ivy is enabled in your application before you start using the FTP/SFTP connector.

How to Configure FTP/SFTP Server to Load Data?

The initial step to integrate FTP/SFTP involves a one-time configuration on the Cloud Services page. To perform the FTP/SFTP configuration, follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to Maintenance > Administration > Configuration Tasks.
2. Click Cloud Services under Data Integration Configuration on the Configuration Task List page.
3. Click FTP/SFTP.
   Note:

   The FTP/SFTP edit feature requires activation through Planful Support.
4. Enter your IP address in the Host Name field.
5. Choose the FTP or SFTP radio button to indicate the preferred Protocol.
6. Enter the FTP/SFTP server User Name and Password to grant access to Planful to load data.
7. Click Save.
   

Upon successful server configuration, the system will automatically generate three folders: Input, Success, and Failure, in the configured server. Each DLR created in Planful with FTP/SFTP data load type will automatically create new folders with the DLR name within all three (input, success, and failure) folders.

• Input - Within this folder, place the data file into the corresponding DLR’s folder to execute the Process Flow in Planful.
• Success - If the Process Flow is successfully executed, the data file located in the corresponding DLR folder within the Input folder will be moved to the corresponding DLR folder in the Success folder.
• Failure - If the Process Flow fails, the data file located in the corresponding DLR folder within the Input folder will be moved to the corresponding DLR folder in the Failure folder.

How to a Create Data Load Rule (DLR) to Load FTP/SFTP File?

To create a DLR to load data from the FTP/SFTP server, follow the steps below:

1. Go to Maintenance > Data Integration > Data Load Rules.
2. Click New Data Load Rule.
3. Enter a Name and Description (optional).
4. For Load Type, select FTP/SFTP.
   
5. For Load Item, select Data.
6. For Sub Load Item, select either GL Data, Translation Data, or Transaction Data V2.
   

Complete the remaining fields as needed. Refer to Creating New Data Load Rules for detailed instructions. Once the DLR is created, a sub-folder with the DLR’s name will be created in all the input, success, and failure folders on the server.

For instance, if you named a DLR “SFTP Server” in Planful, the DLR folders will be created in the input, success, and failure folders on the server with the name “sftp_server”. Now, you can add the data file to the specific DLR folder. You can add a total of 20 files to the DLR’s folder, with each file having a maximum capacity of 1GB.

Schedule and Execute the DLR with Cloud Scheduler from the server

Users can execute a Process Flow in Cloud Scheduler once DLR data is added/updated in the DLR’s sub-folder. Process Flow is a set of tasks to be executed in parallel or sequentially, and can be scheduled to run once or can be recurring.

To schedule and run the Process Flow in Cloud Scheduler, click here.