Connect to SFTP Data in RunMyProcess through Connect Server

Akorbi Digital RunMyProcess makes it easy to create applications for complex business processes, such as budget application and contract management. CData Connect creates a virtual database for SFTP and can be used to generate an OData API (natively consumable in RunMyProcess) for SFTP. By pairing RunMyProcess with the CData Connect Server, you get direct connectivity to all your SaaS and cloud-based Big Data and NoSQL sources - no need to migrate your data or write your own integrations. Simply connect to Connect Server from RunMyProcess as you would any other REST service and get instant, live access to your SFTP data.

In this article, we walk through connecting to SFTP from CData Connect and accessing SFTP data through an OData feed in RunMyProcess.

Configuring Connect Server

To work with live SFTP data in RunMyProcess, we need to connect to SFTP from Connect Server, provide user access to the new virtual database, and create OData endpoints for the SFTP data.

Add a Connect Server User

Create a User to connect to SFTP from RunMyProcess through Connect Server.

1. Click Users -> Add
2. Configure a User
3. Click Save Changes and make note of the Authtoken for the new user

Connect to SFTP from Connect Server

CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.

1. Open Connect Server and click Connections
2. Select "SFTP" from Available Data Sources
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SFTP

   SFTP can be used to transfer files to and from SFTP servers using the SFTP Protocol. To connect, specify the RemoteHost;. service uses the User and Password and public key authentication (SSHClientCert). Choose an SSHAuthMode and specify connection values based on your selection.

   Set the following connection properties to control the relational view of the file system:

   • RemotePath: Set this to the current working directory.
   • TableDepth: Set this to control the depth of subfolders to report as views.
   • FileRetrievalDepth: Set this to retrieve files recursively and list them in the Root table.
   Stored Procedures are available to download files, upload files, and send protocol commands. See gdatamodel for more on using SQL to interact with the server.

4. Click Save Changes
5. Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions (SELECT is all that is required for RunMyProcess).

Add SFTP OData Endpoints in Connect Server

After connecting to SFTP, create OData Endpoints for the desired table(s).

1. Click OData -> Tables -> Add Tables
2. Select the SFTP database
3. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Next
4. (Optional) Edit the resource to select specific fields and more
5. Save the settings

(Optional) Configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)

When accessing and connecting to multiple domains from an application, such as Ajax, you might violate the limitations of cross-site scripting. In that case, configure the CORS settings in OData -> Settings.

• Enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS): ON
• Allow all domains without '*': ON
• Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, PUT, POST, OPTIONS
• Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Authorization

Save the changes to the settings.

Sample URLs for OData Feeds

Once you have configured a connection to SFTP, created a user, and created OData endpoints in Connect Server, you can access OData feeds for SFTP data. Below, you will see the URLs to access tables and the list of tables. For information on accessing the tables, you can navigate to the API page for Connect Server (click the API link on the top right of Connect Server Web page). For the URLs, you will need the URL of Connect Server, likely in the form: CONNECT_SERVER_URL/. Since we are working with Angular, we will append the @json parameter to the end of URLs that do not return JSON data by default.

As with standard OData feeds, if you wish to limit the fields returned, you can add a $select parameter to the query, along with other standard OData URL parameters, such as $filter, $orderby, $skip, and $top. See the help documentation for more information on supported OData queries.

Retrieve SFTP Data from RunMyProcess DigitalSuite Studio

With the connection to SFTP and OData endpoints created, we are ready to add SFTP data to RunMyProcess for retrieval.

Create a Provider

1. Log into RunMyProcess and open DigitalSuite Studio.
2. Click Resources to bring up the Resources page, then select then the CONNECTORS tab. 　　
3. Click the + (New Provider) button to create a new provider, choose the project to use, then click Confirm.
4. In the provider settings page, configure the following properties.
   • URL：Set the OData endpoint in the CData Connect Endpoints page.e.g. CONNECT_SERVER_URL/api.rsc/
   • Authentication Schema：Select Login/Password.
   • Login：Specify the CData Connect User name configured above.
   • Password：Specify the Authtoken of the user.
5. Fill in the same properties in the ACCEPTANCE and TEST tabs. Note: You can copy the configured settings by clicking 'Copy this configuration button,' then pasting the content in the new tab by clicking 'Paste previously copied configuration.'
6. Click Save to save the properties.

Retrieve SFTP Data by Creating a Connector

1. In the CONNECTORS tab, click the button with three dots to create the provider, then select Add connector from the menu.
2. In the following page, set Connector URL to the OData endpoint configured in Connect Server.e.g. odataendpoint/
3. Click Save then Launch to test the connector execution. Click Launch test to execute. The process is successful if you get the JSON response of your configured table information.

More Information & Free Trial

Now, you have created a provider and connector to retrieve SFTP data. For more information on creating OData feeds from SFTP (and more than 200 other data sources), visit the Connect Server page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live SFTP data in RunMyProcess.