Deliver a Burst via FTP or a Shared Drive

This feature enables users to post content to FTP and Shared Drives.

Version 5.2.1 allows to set up and manage Bursts via FTP and/or a Shared Drive in addition to, or instead of, sending them via email.

PREREQUISITES:

  • Users must have "Create FTP Connections " Privilege to be able to create and edit FTP connections. 
  • Shared Drive can be created by the Admin only.

Create and Send a Burst via FTP/Shared Drive

Once an FTP connection/Shared Drive has been added, it becomes available for Bursting and will be displayed in the FTP/Drive Location dropdown of the Burst Editor

  1. Name and define the content of your Burst
  2. Choose a Schedule
  3. Select the FTP server location and/or a Shared Drive
  4. Filetype: specify the required file format
    • The difference between "CSV:Raw" and "CSV:Formatted" file types is explained in the NOTE below
  5. [Save and Enable]
  6. [Send Now] will send the Burst immediately

NOTE:

Metric Insights supports two CSV formats: "CSV Raw" and "CSV Formatted".  When using these file types, remember the following:

  1. "CSV: Raw" files contain unformatted data.
  2. "CSV: Formatted" is a file type that has been changed by a Metric Insights User (e.g, had a Display Mask applied to it, was reorganized in some way at Element level).
  3. CSV data contained in External Reports can only be passed in a raw CSV format.
  4. Email services usually transform CSV: Raw files to look more user-friendly. They are still considered unformatted (Raw) by Metric Insights' standards.

To learn more about how to set up and manage Bursts, check Report Bursting

Create a new FTP connection

Access Admin > Distribution > FTP Connections

When you need to set up a new FTP connection, access FTP Connections Editor

  1. Click [+Add FTP Connection]
  2. Select Protocol:
    • FTP
    • FTPS
      • Specify whether to use Explicit (default) or Implicit FTPS
    • SFTP
  3. Choose the Host Server location. As a rule, this is <hostname>.metricinsights.com
  4. Enter the Port number
    • The default ports are: 21 for FTP and Explicit FTPS, 22 for SFTP, 990 for Implicit FTPS
  5. Type in User credentials (Username and Password)
  6. Specify the Directory to which your content will be pushed

Users can register one or more FTP Servers within Metric Insights and specify access credentials for each server.

Add a Shared Drive
Create a New Shared Drive Folder

Prior to adding a Shared Drive profile in Metric Insights UI, make sure the needed folder is created in a Linux Server.

  1. SSH to the Linux server where MI app is deployed
    • Root user access is required
  2. Access a web container:
    • For Simple Installation – sudo mi-console
    • For orchestrated environments, use the corresponding command – docker exec -it <web container ID> -- bash
  3. Access the directory where you want to create a new shared drive folder
    • Example: cd /opt/mi/iv/data/temp
  4. Create a new directory: mkdir <new directory name>
    • Example: mkdir test_directory/ 
  5. Change user access for the newly-created directory: chown www-data:www-data <new directory name>/
    • Example: chown www-data:www-data  test_directory/ 
  6. Change access privileges for the directory: chmod 755 <new directory name>/
    • Example:  chmod  755 test_directory/
  7. Follow the steps below to add a new Shared Drive
    • It is recommended to [Test Connection] to the drive, once it's added in MI

Admin > Utilities > Shared Drive Editor

  1. From the Admin dropdown, access Shared Drive Editor
  2. Select Shared Drives
  3. Click [+New Shared Drive]
  4. Specify the Name of the Shared Drive and Path to the Shared Drive folder to which the content will be distributed
  5. Save and test connection

Only admins can create Shared Directories. Users can only burst to shared directories to which they have access.

Troubleshooting

If any failures occur when Bursting to FTP, a “File Upload Errors” email will be sent to the Burst Creator.

Notification of Burst failures to Shared Drive will be implemented soon.