FTP
Article 12/16/2022
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In this article
Use the FTP action group to upload and download files and manipulate directories on FTP servers.
To establish an FTP connection, use the Open FTP connection action. The following example has a specified host, port, and credentials. Additionally, the set timeout makes the action fail if the connection isn't established on time.
Download files using the Download file(s) from FTP action. The following example shows the connection variable in use and the selected destination folder. The remote file has also been specified and set to overwrite existing files in the same location.
Upload files using the Upload file(s) to FTP action and specifying the file and the remote location.
Open FTP connection
This action establishes a specific connection to a remote FTP server, and stores that connection as a variable for later use.
Argument
Optional
Accepts
Default Value
Description
Host
No
Text value Enter the FTP server address here.
Port
Yes
Numeric value 21
Enter the FTP server port here.
Active mode
N/A
Boolean value False
Specify the mode of the connection
Username
No
Text value Specify the username of the FTP account to use
Password
Yes
Direct encrypted input or Text value
Specify the password of the FTP account to use
Timeout
Yes
Numeric value 10
Set the time in seconds that you want to wait for the connection to be established before the action fails
Variables produced
Argument
Type
Description
FTPConnection
FTP connection The FTP connection
Exceptions
Exception
Description
Login failure error
Indicated that the login failed
Connection error
Indicates that there's a problem with the connection
List FTP directory
This action returns the subdirectories and files contained in the current directory of an FTP connection.
Argument
Optional
Accepts
Default Value
Description
Connection
No
FTP connection The FTP connection
Path
Yes
Text value The path that you want to list.
Variables produced
Exceptions
Exception
Description
Listing error
Indicates that the listing of the folder couldn't be performed
Not connected error
Indicates that there's no open connection with the FTP server
Directory doesn't exist error
Indicates that the directory couldn't be found
Open secure FTP connection
This action establishes a specific secure connection to a remote FTP server, and stores that connection as a variable for later use.
Argument
Optional
Accepts
Default Value
Description
Host
No
Text value Enter the FTP server address here.
Port
Yes
Numeric value 22
Enter the FTP server port here.
Active mode
N/A
Boolean value True
Specify the mode of the connection
Secure FTP Protocol
N/A
SFTP, FTPS explicit, FTPS implicit
SFTP
Choose the FTP protocol you wish to use to encrypt your connection
Authentication method
N/A
Username and password, Private key, Private key and passphrase
Username and password
Choose the method you wish to use to authenticate yourself on the FTP server
User name
No
Text value Specify the username of the FTP account to use
Password
Yes
Direct encrypted input or Text value
Specify the password of the FTP account you wish to use
Path to private key
No
Text value Enter the file path to the private-key to be used for authentication
Private key pass phrase
Yes
Direct encrypted input or Text value
Enter a variable containing the private-key pass phrase here
Timeout
Yes
Numeric value 10
Set the time in seconds that you want to wait for the connection to be established before the action fails
Variables produced
Argument
Type
Description
SftpConnection
FTP connection SFTP connection
Exceptions
Exception
Description
Login failure error
Indicated that the login failed
Connection error
Indicates that there's a problem with the connection
Close connection
This action closes an open FTP connection.
Argument
Optional
Accepts
Default Value
Description
Connection
No
FTP connection The FTP connection
Variables produced
This action doesn't produce any variables.
Exceptions
Exception
Description
Not connected error
Indicates that there's no open connection with the FTP server
Change working directory
This action sets the current working directory for an FTP connection.
Argument
Optional
Accepts
Default Value
Description
Connection
No
FTP connection The FTP connection
Set working directory to
No
Text value Set the path to be set as the working directory
Variables produced
This action doesn't produce any variables.
Exceptions
Exception
Description
Not connected error
Indicates that there's no open connection with the FTP server
Directory doesn't exist error
Indicates that the directory couldn't be found
Can't change working directory error
Indicates that it isn't possible to change the working directory
Download file(s) from FTP
Downloads one or more files from an FTP server.
Argument
Optional
Accepts
Default Value
Description
FTP connection
No
FTP connection The FTP connection to work with. This variable must have been previously specified in an Open FTP connection action
Download into folder
No
Folder The folder to be the destination of the file(s) that will be downloaded
File(s) to download
No
List of FTP files The file(s) to download
Transfer type
N/A
Auto, Binary, ASCII
Auto
Enter ASCII or binary to specify the method for downloading a single file. If the file type is uncertain, or more than one is downloaded, choose Auto to follow the transfer rules specified in options
If file exists
N/A
Overwrite, Do not download, Download with unique name
Overwrite
Specify what to do if the file already exists. Overwrite writes over the original file so you can't access it anymore, and download with unique name adds an underscore and a sequential number to the end
Variables produced
This action doesn't produce any variables.
Exceptions
Exception
Description
Not connected error
Indicates that there's no open connection with the FTP server
Remote file doesn't exist error
Indicates that the file doesn't exist on the FTP server
Directory doesn't exist error
Indicates that the directory couldn't be found
FTP connection aborted error
Indicates that the FTP connection was aborted
Can't download file error
Indicates that it wasn't possible to download the file
Download folder(s) from FTP
Downloads one or more folders from an FTP server.
Argument
Optional
Accepts
Default Value
Description
FTP connection
No
FTP connection The FTP connection to work with. This variable must have been previously specified in an Open FTP connection action
Folder(s) to download
No
List of FTP directories The name of the folder path(s), or FTP folder(s) to download
Download into local folder
No
Folder The full path of the destination of the FTP folder(s) you're downloading
Variables produced
This action doesn't produce any variables.
Exceptions
Exception
Description
Not connected error
Indicates that there's no open connection with the FTP server
Remote directory doesn't exist error
Indicates that the directory doesn't exist on the FTP server
Directory doesn't exist error
Indicates that the directory couldn't be found
FTP connection aborted error
Indicates that the FTP connection was aborted
Can't download directory error
Indicates that it wasn't possible to download the directory
Upload File(s) to FTP
Uploads one or more files to an FTP server.
Argument
Optional
Accepts
Default Value
Description
FTP connection
No
FTP connection The FTP connection to work with. This variable must have been previously specified in an Open FTP connection action
File(s) to upload
No
List of Files The file(s) to upload
Remote location
Yes
Text value The location where the files should be uploaded
Transfer type
N/A
Auto, Binary, ASCII
Auto
Enter ASCII or binary to specify the method for downloading a single file. If you're not sure what type the file will be, or if you're downloading more than one, choose Auto to follow the transfer rules specified in Options
If file exists
N/A
Overwrite, Do not download, Download with unique name
Overwrite
Specify what to do if the file already exists. Overwrite writes over the original file so you can't access it anymore, and Download with Unique Name adds an underscore and a sequential number to the end
Variables produced
This action doesn't produce any variables.
Exceptions
Exception
Description
Not connected error
Indicates that there's no open connection with the FTP server
File not found error
Indicates that the file wasn't found
FTP connection aborted error
Indicates that the FTP connection was aborted
Upload file error
Indicates that the file couldn't be uploaded
Upload folder(s) to FTP
Uploads one or more folders to an FTP server.
Argument
Optional
Accepts
Default Value
Description
FTP connection
No
FTP connection The FTP connection to work with. This variable must have been previously specified in an Open FTP connection action
Folder(s) to upload
No
List of Folders The folder(s) to upload. The folders being uploaded shouldn't already exist within the active directory of the FTP server
Remote location
No
Text value The location where the folders should be uploaded
Variables produced
This action doesn't produce any variables.
Exceptions
Exception
Description
Not connected error
Indicates that there's no open connection with the FTP server
Remote directory doesn't exist error
Indicates that the directory doesn't exist on the FTP server
FTP connection aborted error
Indicates that the FTP connection was aborted
Upload directory error
Indicates that the directory couldn't be uploaded
Delete FTP file
Deletes one or more files from an FTP server.
Argument
Optional
Accepts
Default Value
Description
FTP connection
No
FTP connection The FTP connection to work with. This variable must have been previously specified in an Open FTP connection action
Files to delete
No
List of FTP files The files to delete
Variables produced
This action doesn't produce any variables.
Exceptions
Exception
Description
Not connected error
Indicates that there's no open connection with the FTP server
File not found error
Indicates that the file wasn't found
Can't delete file error
Indicates that the deletion of the file wasn't possible
Rename FTP File
Renames a file that resides on an FTP server.
Argument
Optional
Accepts
Default Value
Description
FTP connection
No
FTP connection The FTP connection to work with. This variable must have been previously specified in an Open FTP connection action
File to rename
No
FTP file The file to rename
New file name
No
Text value The new name for the file. If you enter a name with a path, the file will also be moved to that location. If the location doesn't exist, it will throw an exception
Variables produced
This action doesn't produce any variables.
Exceptions
Exception
Description
Not connected error
Indicates that there's no open connection with the FTP server
Can't rename file error
Indicates that it wasn't possible to rename the file
File not found error
Indicates that the file wasn't found
Create FTP directory
Creates a directory on an FTP server.
Argument
Optional
Accepts
Default Value
Description
FTP connection
No
FTP connection The FTP connection to work with. This variable must have been previously specified in an Open FTP connection action
New directory
No
FTP directory The new directory. If a path is specified, all of the new folders leading to the new directory will be created
Variables produced
This action doesn't produce any variables.
Exceptions
Exception
Description
Access denied error
Indicates that this account doesn't have access for an operation
File exists error
Indicates that the file already exists
Create directory error
Indicates that it wasn't possible creating the directory
Directory doesn't exist error
Indicates that the directory couldn't be found
Not connected error
Indicates that there's no open connection with the FTP server
Delete FTP directory
Deletes a directory from an FTP server.
Argument
Optional
Accepts
Default Value
Description
FTP connection
No
FTP connection The FTP connection to work with. This variable must have been previously specified in an Open FTP connection action
Directory to delete
No
FTP directory The folder to be deleted. Everything in the folder will be deleted as well
Variables produced
This action doesn't produce any variables.
Exceptions
Exception
Description
Delete directory error
Indicates that it wasn't possible to delete the directory
Remote directory doesn't exist error
Indicates that the directory doesn't exist on the FTP server
Working directory change error
Indicates that the working directory couldn't be changed
Not connected error
Indicates that there's no open connection with the FTP server
Invoke FTP command
Invokes the given literal FTP command on the server.
Argument
Optional
Accepts
Default Value
Description
FTP connection
No
FTP connection The FTP connection to work with. This variable must have been previously specified in an open FTP connection action
FTP command
No
Text value The command to run along with any arguments. For example, you could run FEAT, or CHMOD here
Valid reply code(s)
Yes
Text value The code(s) that could be returned by the command, separated by semi-colon. If the FTP command returns a code that wasn't entered here, this action will throw an exception. Only applies over simple FTP or FTPS connections
Variables produced
Argument
Type
Description
ReplyCode
Text value The actual code that was returned. Only applies over simple FTP or FTPS connections
ReplyText
Text value The text returned by the FTP server
Exceptions
Exception
Description
Invoke command error
Indicates that an error occurred while invoking an FTP command
Not connected error
Indicates that there's no open connection with the FTP server
Synchronize directories
Synchronize the files and subdirectories of a given Folder with a given remote FTP directory.
Argument
Optional
Accepts
Default Value
Description
FTP connection
No
FTP connection The FTP connection to work with. This variable must have been previously specified in an Open FTP connection action
Synchronization direction
N/A
Remote -> local (Download), Local -> remote (Upload)
Remote -> local (Download)
Direction of the Synchronization method. Whether the local folder will be synchronized to the remote directory (DOWNLOAD) or the remote directory will be synchronized to the local folder (UPLOAD)
Files to sync
N/A
All files, Only files matching the file filter, Only files not matching the file filter
All files
Choose whether you want to synchronize all files, or you want to use a file filter to include or exclude a specific set of files
File filter
No
Text value *
File-name pattern that controls which files will be included or excluded. This option allows wildcards such as ".txt", "document?.doc". The option also allows for multiple filters by using coma as a separator, " .txt,*.pdf,document?"
Local folder
No
Folder Name of the local folder to be synchronized
FTP directory
Yes
FTP directory /
Name of the FTP directory to be synchronized
Delete if source is absent
N/A
Boolean value False
This option will delete a file or folder that exists in the target directory and not the source.
Include subdirectories
N/A
Boolean value True
This option will include subdirectories in the synchronization process.
Time difference in hours
Yes
Numeric value 0
Time difference in hours of the remote server in case it operates on a different Time Zone.
Time difference in minutes
Yes
Numeric value 0
Time difference in Minutes of the remote server in case it operates on a different Time Zone.
Time difference ahead
N/A
Boolean value True
Specify whether the server's time zone is ahead or not.
Variables produced
Argument
Type
Description
FtpFilesAdded
List of FTP files List of FTP files that initially existed in the source and after the synchronization process were added to the target.
FtpFilesModified
List of FTP files List of FTP files that initially existed in both the source and the target and after the synchronization process were added to the target.
FtpFilesDeleted
List of FTP files List of FTP files that initially existed in the target directory and after the synchronization process were deleted.
FilesAdded
List of Files List of files that initially existed in the source and after the synchronization process were added to the target.
FilesModified
List of Files List of files that initially existed in both the source and the target and after the synchronization process were added to the target.
FilesDeleted
List of Files List of files that initially existed in the target directory and after the synchronization process were deleted.
Exceptions
Exception
Description
Listing error
Indicates that the listing of the folder couldn't be performed
Not connected error
Indicates that there's no open connection with the FTP server
File not found error
Indicates that the file wasn't found
FTP connection aborted error
Indicates that the FTP connection was aborted
Upload file error
Indicates that the file couldn't be uploaded
Remote file doesn't exist error
Indicates that the file doesn't exist on the FTP server
Can't download file error
Indicates that it wasn't possible to download the file
Delete directory error
Indicates that it wasn't possible to delete the directory
Synchronization failed error
Indicates that the synchronization process failed due to an unexpected error.
