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What Syncplify AFT! is ​

Managed file transfer (MFT) takes two parts working together:

  • a file transfer server, which receives, stores and serves the files: that is Syncplify Server!
  • an automated file transfer client, which moves the files between systems on a schedule or in reaction to events: that is Syncplify AFT!

Syncplify Server! is the SFTP and FTPS server. Syncplify AFT! is the automation engine next to it: it connects to servers, cloud storage and local folders and runs the transfers, transformations and notifications a business process needs, without anyone typing commands.

What Syncplify AFT! does ​

Every job in AFT! is a script written in SyncJS: plain JavaScript extended with objects and functions for file transfer and automation. A script can be a few lines (check that a host is up and send an email if it is not) or a long running job that watches a folder and reacts to every change. The building blocks:

  • Client objects for SFTP, FTPS, Amazon S3 and S3 compatible services, Azure Blob Storage and Google Cloud Storage, with upload, download, listing and deletion, overwrite policies, versioning, atomic uploads through temporary names, and on the fly encryption.
  • Virtual file systems: named connection profiles kept in the VFS library. A script opens one by name, and files can be copied or moved directly from one VFS to another without touching the local disk.
  • Watchers: a local file system watcher that reacts to operating system notifications, and a remote watcher that polls a VFS for new, changed or removed files.
  • Secrets: a store for passwords, tokens and keys, read at run time with GetSecret, so that no credential ever appears in a script.
  • Integration functions: an HTTP client; email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Twilio SMS and Telegram notifications; AMQP message queues; PGP encryption, decryption, signing and verification; CSV and XML parsing; archives and checksums.
  • Scheduling and triggering: cron jobs inside AFT!, a REST API with API keys for external systems, and the aft command line for shell scripts and CI pipelines.
  • A web UI for administrators, with scripts, cron jobs, virtual file systems, secrets, API keys, the running and finished jobs and the operation log in one place.

The video below is a tour of the product and a good first look before reading the recipes in this section.

Where to go next ​