• Introduction
• Task
• Implementation
• How it works
• More information

Introduction

This topic shows you how to connect to FTPS and SFTP using Iguana.

Task [top]

Connect to FTPS and SFTP Clients according to best practices.

Implementation [top]

Both the examples shown here use password authentication, which is the simplest way to setup a connection.

For building FTPS connections using password authentication:

1. Use the net.ftps.init command to initialize the connection.
2. You only need to use the following six parameters:
   

   Parameter	Description	Recommendation
   Server	The server hostname you are connecting to
   username	The user name you use to login
   password	The password for the user
   verify_peer=false	Verify the peer security certificate (default = true)	For the highest security set this to true
   verify_host=false	Verify the host security certificate (default = true)	For the highest security set this to true
   timeout	Timeout for operations (default = 15 seconds)	60 seconds minimum, more for large files

3. Your net.ftps.init Translator code will look something like this:

   The variable “Conn” contains a persistent connection that can be re-used (for many queries) throughout your channel code.

    

   Conn = net.ftps.init{
   server=Destination_HostName,
   username=Destination_Login,
   password=Destination_Password,
   port=Destination_Port,
   verify_peer=false,
   verify_host=false,
   timeout = 60
   }

4. If you need to download large files you will need to adjust the timeouts:

   The exact timeout settings will depend on the size of your files and the bandwidth of the connection. You will need to experiment to identify the correct settings. If your files take longer than 300 seconds (5minutes) to download then you will also need to increase the script timeout beyond the default value of 300 seconds (5minutes). If you need help with this please contact us at support@interfaceware.com.

   • You will have to increase the timeout value (net.ftps.init parameter).
   • If you set the FTPS timeout to greater than 5 minutes (300 seconds) — then you will need to increase the timeout value for your script (iguana.setTimeout) to match.
   • Your Translator code will look something like this:

     In this case we set the FTPS timeout to 360 second (6 minutes) and increased the script timeout to 370 seconds.

      

     Conn = net.ftps.init{
     server=Destination_HostName,
     username=Destination_Login,
     password=Destination_Password,
     port=Destination_Port,
     verify_peer=false,
     verify_host=false,
     timeout = 360
     }
     iguana.setTimeout(370)

1. Use the net.sftp.init command to initialize the connection.
2. You only need to use the following five parameters:
   

   Parameter	Description	Recommendation
   Server	The server hostname you are connecting to
   username	The user name you use to login
   password	The password for the user
   port	The port to use (default = 22)
   timeout	Timeout for operations (default = 15 seconds)	60 seconds minimum, more for large files

3. Your net.sftp.init Translator code will look something like this:

   The variable “Conn” contains a persistent connection that can be re-used (for many queries) throughout your channel code.

    

   Conn = net.sftp.init{
   server=Destination_HostName,
   username=Destination_Login,
   password=Destination_Password,
   port=Destination_Port,
   timeout = 60,
   }

4. Timeout settings for downloading large files:

   The exact timeout settings will depend on the size of your files and the bandwidth of the connection. You will need to experiment to identify the correct settings. If your files take longer than 300 seconds (5minutes) to download then you will also need to increase the script timeout beyond the default value of 300 seconds (5minutes). If you need help with this please contact us at support@interfaceware.com.

   • You will have to increase the timeout value (net.sftp.init parameter).
   • If you set the SFTP timeout to greater than 5 minutes (300 seconds) — then you will need to increase the timeout value for your script (iguana.setTimeout) to match.
   • Your Translator code will look something like this:

     In this case we set the SFTP timeout to 360 second (6 minutes) and increased the script timeout to 370 seconds.

      

     Conn = net.sftp.init{
     server=Destination_HostName,
     username=Destination_Login,
     password=Destination_Password,
     port=Destination_Port,
     timeout = 360
     }
     iguana.setTimeout(370)

How it works [top]

This page shows you how to use password authentication for FTPS and SFTP connections, which is the simplest way to setup these connections. Specifying the SFTP and FTPS parameters according to this guide allows you to establish a persistent connection that can be used throughout your translator code for many queries at a time.

If you need the most secure connection you will need to ensure that the security certificates are checked. Certificate checking is implemented differently for FTPS and SFTP:

FTPS:

• FTPS includes the checking as part of the net.ftps.init command (verify_peer & verify_host).
• This is because the FTPS protocol initiates it’s own SSL connection and then needs to perform it’s own certificate checking.
• To enable certificate checking you need to set verify_host and verify_peer = TRUE.

SFTP:

• SFTP does not include checking as part of the net.sftp.init command.
• This is because the SSH protocol already includes commands for certificate checking.
• SFTP runs over an existing SSH connection, and therefore depends on how that SSH connection is setup.
• You will need to talk to whoever administers your SSH connection if you need verify security certificates.

More information [top]

• FTP interfaces
• API Reference: net.ftps.init
• API Reference: net.sftp.init
• Read from FTP site — repository code to queue and process files using FTP
• Using SSL security, certificates and verify peer etc