New type of file transfer requirement

[Gary Chismar]

Hello All,

We are on Automic V11.2, upgrading to 12.3 in a few months.  That aside, I have been asked to have Automic monitor and transfer files from a Windows server (its called Samba here) to a third party.  I plan on transferring the files to our Linux file server first so they can all be zipped up.  The files on the Windows server are in about 18 different locations.

I have never tried to transfer files from Windows to Linux so this is very new for me.  I am experimenting using the delivered Automic FTP object now.

What I am looking for is for people who have successfully set this up in the past and can share insights as to what must be done.

I have requested our middleware team to set up an agent on the server but they want me to first test this out on an existing Windows server where an agent is already installed.

I feel blind as a bat as the FTP object does not allow you to see any of the directory structure as the RA FTP object does.

Any helpful information will be greatly appreciated.  I went to file a case with Broadcom/CA but the site is down for maintenance.  I have until mid September to complete the task and I feel once I get over this hurdle then the rest will fall into place.

Thank you all in advance for your help.

Cheers,
Gary Chismar

[Toni Waechter]

Hi Gary,

we don´t use the FTP-Agent, but we use the normal filetransfer from agent to agent (windows <> unix) successfully and very often.

Another way to transfer files from a mountable (samba?!) network-share will be to mount the same network-shares on the linux-server and make a local copy from on directory (eg windows-share) to another (linux-share). But i would prefer the agent to agent solution.

Best regards,

Toni

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Administrator and Developer Jobautomation
BNP Paribas S.A. Niederlassung Deutschland
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[Richard Beck]

Adding to the above reply.  I've done the same.  The agent to agent transfer is fairly robust.   
I also agree that I like the agent to agent transfer rather than dealing with connection/permission/ownership hassles of NFS over a WAN connection to a multiprotocol share. 
I also want to add that just because you mentioned you are picking up from 18 locations with windows shares.  This doesn't mean you need a n agent on each server.   You can make this work by connecting to a single windows box an using the smb \\hostnames\sharename\director...\file type path to access the shares from the single windows host.

[Nicole Boeger]

We do file transfer between unix and windows as well very successfully.
Another small hint that hopefully avoids some struggle for you: use file format "binary" by default. Then the files will be transferred as they are. With file format "text" line feeds will be translated between the operating systems and that corrupts files that have binary formats like .pdf.

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Regards, Nicole
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[Gary Chismar]

Thanks for the insight.  I am a little confused when you speak of Agent to Agent versus FTP-Agent.  What I have found out since is that the drive that contains the files that I need to transfer from is their master storage array.  I am being told that a VM will be set up to connect to the array and that Automic will just connect to the VM.

That being said, middleware will be setting up a FTP agent on the VM so Automic can connect.  Are you saying that it only needs an OS agent and not a FTP Agent installed? Or, are you saying the FTP-Agent is the RA File transfer agent that you are not using and are using the JobF file transfer object.

My experience has been transferring using a Linux file server with NFS mounts.  None of our file transfers have ever been from a Windows host so I am a novice in once sense and seasoned in another sense.

BTW, still very new here in this forum so I am struggling with my default signature.  Not looking for help, just advising that it may be a bit wonky until I get it set up correctly.

[Toni Waechter]

You can use the RA FTP Agent to connect to the ftp server on the vm that get´s access to the source filesystems. But that´s not the RA FTP Agent, because the agent connects to a ftp server. It isn´t a ftp server. You have to install the RA FTP Agent on the destination machine to transfer the files via ftp protocol.

Or you let install an automic os agent on the source vm (with access to the file systems of course) and install another os agent on the destination server (with access to the destination file system ;-) and use uc4 filetransfer jobs to transfer the files. In UC4 it doesn´t belong, which os is used on the source and/or destination. All combinations from windows, linux, unix (e.g. solaris) work together. With textfile transfers you should be aware to set the binary format as mentioned from Nicole before.

In my experience i would prefer the os agent variant with uc4 filetransfer protocol. , but i assume, that both solutions would work.

We use two windows vm´s (two for fail over, but we using almost one at all) with one windows os agent installed on each vm. And aproximately 98% of our filetransfers with a windows file share on source and/or destination goes over this agent.
Just give it the needed firewall rules and give the uc4 os user the needed windows ad rights for the windows directories and this is easy ;-)

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Administrator and Developer Jobautomation
BNP Paribas S.A. Niederlassung Deutschland
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[Gary Chismar]

Richard,
Thanks for the input.  I actually found a NT server that I am mapped to as part of my other duties and noticed an Automic agent had been installed there for some time.  I attempted to access and was able to log on but was unable to get to the folder\files for my test.

You mention it should be \\hostnames\sharename\directory\file.  I do not think I have a share name.  My guess is that share name = drive name (i.e., c:\ d:\, etc.)?  Is this correct?  And if so, where, in Automic, would you set that?  Looking over the JobF object, I do not see where I can set that.  I you could attach or reply with a specific working example, that would be very helpful.  The Automic documentation does not go into the depth needed for someone doing this for the first time.

Thanks again,

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Cheers,

Gary Chismar
Manager, Automic, PeopleSoft HCM/FI
Florida State University
Florida
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[Toni Waechter]

If you access a locally mounted drive on a windows (nt) host that is mapped to a drive-letter like d: then you have to use this letter in the JOBF-path on tha agent of this machine, too.
You enter the path as you would with a "dir"-command on the cmd on that host.

If you want to access a directoy on a smb-file server then you have to use \\servername\share\directory1\directory2\... . The path fields on the JOBF are just text fields there you can enter whatever path you want. And the corresponding os-agent will interpret this text as a path/filename-combination as it see´s it with the user rights mentionend in the login object.

Copy files from server win01 with directory c:\temp\testfile.txt to server linux02 with directory /tmp/testfile.txt you should enter this in the JOBF-fields:

Source-Part (upper window):
--------------------------------------
Login: login object with a windows user that has access to the local directory and read (and maybe delete) the file
File: c:\temp\testfile.txt

Destination-Part (lower window):
-------------------------------------------
Login: login object with a linux-user with access rights to write the file
File. /tmp/testfile.txt

Quick test: If you can see the file with a dir-command (on the windows host), you can access it with the same user and path on a JOBF ;-)
Sometimes it´s required to test the dir-command with a JOBS if your organisation uses fileaccess-rights on a windows (smb) share.

Best regards,
Toni

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Administrator and Developer Jobautomation
BNP Paribas S.A. Niederlassung Deutschland
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[Frank Muffke]

Hi

silly question (sorry but absolutely not sure):
Are you sure you know the difference between FTP (protocol) and common filetransfer in Automic?

common filetransfer works only between 2 OS agents, FTP between FRA_FTP Agent and any FTP Server

The easiest way to transfer a file beween Samba(Win) and NFS(linux) is the agent to agent filetransfer (=common filetransfer with JOBF object)
for this you need an OS agent on the win server and the linux server (simplified)

if on both servers runs an FTP daemon you might use an RA FTP job. in this case the RA_FTP Agent can be installed on any server that has TCP/OIP conenction to both servers.
If only one server of them has a FTP daemon running, the RA_FTP agent needs to be installed on the other server (to be able to connect & transfer files)

hope this helps a bit...

cheers, wolfgang


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I know I do really know it!
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