Configuring the FTP server for receiving documents

Note: This section applies only to receiving documents over FTP or FTPS from participants. Sending documents to participants is described in Setting up an FTP gateway and Setting up an FTPS gateway.

If you are going to use FTP or FTPS as a transport for incoming documents, you must have an FTP server installed. If you are planning to use FTP and do not currently have a server installed, do so now before continuing. Make sure that one of the following scenarios is true for your installation:

Configuring the required directory structure on the FTP server

After the FTP server is installed, the next step is to create the required directory structure under the home directory of the FTP server. WebSphere Partner Gateway requires a particular directory structure that the Receiver and Document Manager components use to correctly identify the participant sending the incoming document. The structure is illustrated in Figure 15.

Figure 15. FTP Directory structure
This figure shows an FTP directory structure and the required folders, which are described in the following paragraphs

Each participant directory contains a Binary directory and a Documents directory. Both the Binary and Documents directories contain a Production directory and a Test directory.

The Documents directory is used when a participant sends an XML document containing complete routing information (using FTP) to the hub. This requires the creation of a custom XML definition.

The Binary directory is used when a participant sends any other documents (using FTP) to the hub.

For each participant who will use FTP to send or receive documents, create the following folders from the root directory of your FTP server:

  1. Create a folder for the participant.
    Note: The name of the folder should match the name you specify for Company Login Name when you create the participant. Creating participants is described in Creating participant profiles.
  2. Create subfolders under the participant folder named Binary and Documents.
  3. Create subfolders under the Binary and Documents folders called Production and Test.

How files sent over FTP are processed

It is important to understand how binary and XML files are processed by the FTP server.

Binary files

Binary files have a required file name structure, because the files are not inspected at all by the Document Manager.

The file name structure is: <To_ParticipantID><Unique_Filename>

When a binary file is detected by the Receiver, it is written to shared storage and passed to the Document Manager for processing.

The name of the directory in which the file was detected is used to evaluate the From Participant Name, and the first part of the file name is used to evaluate the To Participant Name. The position of the directory in the directory structure is used to evaluate whether the transaction is a Production or Test transaction.

For example, a file named 123456789.abcdefg1234567 is detected in the \ftproot\partnerTwo\binary\production directory. The Document Manager knows the following information:

The Document Manager looks for a Production participant connection from partnerTwo to partnerOne for:

The Document Manager then processes the file.

XML files

An XML file has no file name requirements because the file is inspected by the Document Manager and the routing information is extracted from the document itself.

When an XML file is detected by the Receiver, it is written to the shared storage and passed to the Document Manager for processing.

The Document Manager compares the XML file to the XML Formats that have been defined and selects the required XML Format. (Setting up XML formats is described in Custom XML documents.) The From Participant Name, To Participant Name, and the Routing information are extracted from the XML File.

The position of the directory in the directory structure is used to evaluate whether the transaction is a Production or Test transaction.

The Document Manager then uses this information to locate the correct participant connection before processing the file.

Additional FTP server configuration

After creating the required directory structure, you configure your FTP server for each of the participants in the hub community. The way you configure the FTP server depends on which server you are using. Refer to the FTP server documentation, and perform the following tasks:

  1. Add a new group (for example, Participants).
  2. Add a user to the newly created group for each participant who will be sending or receiving documents over FTP.
  3. For each participant, set up the FTP server to map the incoming participant to the respective directory structure you created for the participant in the earlier section Configuring the required directory structure on the FTP server. Refer to your FTP server documentation for additional information.

Security considerations for the FTPS server

If you are using an FTPS server to receive incoming documents, the security considerations for the SSL sessions are handled solely by the FTPS server and client that the participant is using. There is no specific security configuration for WebSphere Partner Gateway on incoming FTPS documents. WebSphere Partner Gateway retrieves the documents from the FTP target (which is described in Setting up an FTP target) after the server has successfully negotiated the secure channels and received the document. Refer to the FTPS server documentation to determine which certificates are needed (and where they are needed) to successfully configure a secure channel that the participant can contact.

For server authentication, provide the certificate of the Receiver to the participants. If the certificate is issued by a Certifying Authority (CA), also provide the CA certificate chain. If client authentication is supported by the FTPS server, the client authentication certificates of the participants should be specified in the FTPS server. Consult the FTPS server documentation for information about specifying client authentication and client authentication certificates.

Copyright IBM Corp. 2003, 2005