- 7 minutes to read

SFTP (SSH) Category

Monitor your SFTP Sources and make sure you are not stockpiling messages. In addition to basic authentication, there is support for using passphrase-protected private keys (e.g. .PPKs in OpenSSH format).

Use the Nodinite File and FTP Folder Monitoring Agent to monitor files based on the user-defined criteria on one or more SFTP sites, with or without using a Proxy.

You can fine-tune the files to monitor based on filter settings. These filters can be applied to either include and/or exclude files and folders based on the following user-configurable options:

Age (time-span)
- Warning threshold
- Error threshold
Count
- Warning threshold
- Error threshold
Size (bytes)
- Min
- Max
- It supports an exclusion range
RegEx based filter
Include child folders
- Exclude child folders
- Exclude child folder by RegEx

Remote Configuration

As a Nodinite Administrator, click on the 'Configuration' button to open a modal to configure the agent:

Example of the 'Configuration' button, available on the Monitoring Agent Configuration administration page

For Monitor View with the Remote Actions feature enabled, you can manage specific monitoring configurations using the Action button on the specified Resource.

To Manage the SFTP configuration, you must be a member of the Nodinite Administrator Role.

Add SFTP Server

The agent can monitor many SFTP Servers/Folders. Add and remove SFTP servers from the 'SFTP (SSH)' tab.

An example of the SFTP tab.

Click the Add button to add another SFTP Server to monitor; Repeat as needed.

You can set the following common properties for each SFTP configuration:

Enabled - Flag to set if monitoring for this configuration is enabled or not
Display Name - The user-friendly name for this FTP configuration. This name is also the Resource name in Monitor Views
Description
Application ID - Resources groups by Application name, and then by Category name using the value from the Name text field. Read more about Applications here:
Applications

Additional configuration options are available from within the following tabs:

Basic tab

From within the Basic tab, you can enter the essential information to connect with the SFTP server to monitor:

Host - Server Host-name or IP-address
Folder - The base path of the Folder to monitor
Port - The TCP port to use (channel specific)
Filter - Filter file names by the use of a RegEx (match). To match only XML files (.xml) you should use \.xml$ as the value for the RegEx. The filter is case insensitive and ignores multiple white spaces.

The Windows-style filter *.xml can NOT be used!

Time zone - Specify the time zone the SFTP server is located for the correct evaluation of thresholds. The default time zone is from where the monitor agent is installed.

RegEx Filter examples:

Filter	Example	Comment
`\.xml$`	XML Files	All XML files with suffix ".xml"
`\.txt$`	Text Files	All text files with suffix ".txt"
`^ONLYME\.data$`	Specific file	Only this file "ONLYME.data"

Proxy tab

From within the Proxy tab, you can enter the additional information to connect with the SFTP site to monitor using a Proxy service:

Type - The type of Proxy setting to use, select 'None' (default) to disable the use of a Proxy
- None - Not in use
- Socks4
- Socks5
- Http
Host - The Proxy address (DNS name or IP-address)
Port - The TCP Port to use when connecting with the Proxy service
User name - User name to authenticate with Proxy service
Password - Specify the Password to use for user authentication

Advanced tab

From within the Advanced tab, you can enter the additional information to connect with the SFTP site to monitor:

Filter on size.
Include child folders - When checked, all the folders within subfolders are searched except Exclude child folders and their children.
Exclude child folders - A full match like C:\temp\INT001 - Demo\Out to exclude the Out folder and their children if Folder is set to C:\temp\INT001 - Demo.
Exclude child folders by RegEx - List of matched child folders to exclude from monitoring if the 'Include child folders' option is checked.
An example configuration is in detail in the Folders (SMB) user guide.

Filter on size

You can opt to monitor files based on filter settings for the size of files to be monitored.

Enabled - Turn on/off monitoring based on size
Max size filter - Max size filter in bytes
Min size filter - Min size filter in bytes

Range exclusion option: For example; If you wish to exclude the files larger than let's say 1000 bytes AND smaller than 5000 bytes, enter Max=1000 and Min=5000. The Files that are smaller or larger than the user-defined thresholds are then included in the monitoring.

Include child folders

To include files in a subfolder in the monitoring, enable this option. Exclude specific child folders with a configuration entry in the 'Exclude child folders' list..

Exclude child folders

List of child folders to exclude (The include child folders option must be checked).

Thresholds tab

From the Thresholds tab, you can enter the following monitoring thresholds:

Warning time span The longest allowed time-span before Warning alert is raised should be in the following format (days.hours:minutes:seconds e.g. 7.12:30:59).

TIP: Use the same time as Errors (or higher) to disable the use for warnings.

Error time span The longest allowed time span before Error alert is raised should be in the following format (days.hours:minutes:seconds e.g. 7.12:30:59).
Enable count evaluation

The different evaluated states are documented in the Overview

Enable count evaluation

Count based monitoring options.

Enable count evaluation - When checked, the number of files will be evaluated
Warning count - The 'Warning' threshold for the maximum number of allowed files
Error count - The 'Error' threshold for the maximum number of allowed files

Scheduling tab

From within the Scheduling tab, you can manage the following schedule-related monitoring properties:

> An example configuration is detailed in the Folders (SMB) user guide

Authentication tab

From the Authentication tab, you can enter the essential information to authenticate the connection with the SFTP site to monitor:

User name - Authenticate as a user
Password - password for the user
Use a Private Key - When checked enables the use of a private key
- Private Key - Enter the Private Key in the OpenSSH format
- Passphrase - When required; Enter the Passphrase for the specified Private Key; otherwise, leave this field empty
The Private Key must be in OpenSSH format

Private Key

Use the PuTTy Key Generator to convert and/or generate a key and export it with the OpenSSH key format.

The format should look like the following example (PEM encoded PKCS#1):

-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
...
-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----

Save

You must click Save for changes to be written to the agent and take effect.

NOTE: The delay in presenting the new evaluated state depends on the synchronisation interval set for the monitoring agent. Click the Sync Now button to force an immediate synchronisation.

Save and close, saves, and then closes the dialogue. Cancel, close the dialogue without saving any changes.

Remote Actions

	Resource Name	Monitoring	Actions	Metrics/Statistics
	NFS		List files Edit	-

All operations you and other Users perform are logged to the Nodinite Audit Log, ensuring you stay compliant with policies and applicable regulations.