Advanced Functionalities for Folders
This topic describes additional functionalities you can use to configure advanced settings for folders in ActiveTransfer:
SMB Protocol for File Sharing
In ActiveTransfer, you can configure folders to exchange files with an SMB server. The SMB protocol allows ActiveTransfer to read, create, and update files on a network file share or a remote server that supports SMB, with the option to specify the user name and password for access. ActiveTransfer supports SMB 1.0, SMB 2.0, and SMB 3.0 versions. By default, Microsoft Windows systems support the native SMB protocol. However, UNIX systems must have interoperability utilities like Samba. SMB also allows for cross-platform file access. For example, ActiveTransfer running on Microsoft Windows system can access files on a Linux system.
Typically, file operations are faster when you connect to a network file share using SMB protocol (SMB://host/Folder/) than when directly using a network file path (for example, FILE:////host/SharedFolder/). This is especially true when the operations are carried out on a large number of files.
Encryption and Decryption Options for a Folder
You can define specific file-based encryption and decryption PGP keys for a folder. When files are uploaded or downloaded to the folder through the ActiveTransfer Server, ActiveTransfer encrypts or decrypts the files in stream. Encrypted files are decrypted only if they are transferred back through ActiveTransfer using the same key that was used to encrypt them.
The encryption and decryption settings are applicable only when a user connects to ActiveTransfer Server and performs an upload or download operation. ActiveTransfer does not use these keys when the folder is used in an event. If you want to use the encryption and decryption keys in an event, create an encryption or decryption action in the event.
When encryption and decryption keys are configured at multiple levels (user, server, and folder), ActiveTransfer enforces the following order of preference:
1. Users
2. Folders
3. Listeners
For example, if user A accesses port 10 and uploads a file in a FS MN, then ActiveTransfer checks if the encryption or decryption key is available for user A. If no key is available at the user level, then ActiveTransfer checks for the folder settings for a key. If no key is present at the FS level, then ActiveTransfer checks the server level settings for the key.
User, Group, and Role Permission Propagation for a Folder
ActiveTransfer propagates user, role, or group permissions for folders as follows:
If you grant user, role, or group permissions to a parent folder, the user will also have the same permissions to all subfolders.
If you grant a user, role, or group permissions to a subfolder, the user will automatically have the permission to traverse through the parent folders.
You can override the inherited permissions and specify a different set of permissions to a folder for a user, role, or group. These new permissions are then be inherited by any subfolders under the folder.