FME Flow: 2025.0

FTP Directory

The FTP Directory trigger monitors activity on an FTP server, and sends JSON messages about that activity, which can include adding, changing, and removing files.

The FTP Directory trigger has two output ports. The success port (✔) can send a message if the trigger polls successfully. The failure port (x) can send a message if the trigger fails to poll.

Note  Messages about changed files are based on file name and size. If the size of a file after it is changed or overwritten is the same as the initial size, a message is not sent.

Parameters

Note  See also Working with Parameters in Automations Workflows.
Tip  To test that your parameters work as expected, click Validate.
  • Host: The FTP host name. For example, ftpserver.com.
  • Port: The FTP port number. The default for unencrypted connections is 21.
  • Username: The FTP user name for authentication.
  • Password: The FTP user password for authentication.
  • Encryption: The encryption protocol, depending on the FTP server connection requirements. Options are None, FTPS and FTPES.
  • Verify SSL Certificate: If Yes, the connection to the specified host is verified with a valid, signed SSL certificate. If No, the connection is not verified with an SSL certificate. This option is not secure and not recommended unless absolutely necessary, such as using a self-signed certificate.
  • Connection Type: The FTP connection mode. Passive Mode requires your FTP server to create connections using port numbers greater than 1023. Active Mode uses only ports 20 and 21 on the FTP server.
  • Path to Watch: Specify a location on the FTP server to watch for changes, using forward slashes. For example, /this_directory.
  • Watch Subdirectories: To watch activity in the specified Path to Watch and all subdirectories, select Yes. To watch activity only in the specified Path to Watch and not in its subdirectories, select No.
    • Note  Messages may be delayed if Watch Subdirectories is Yes, and includes a large number of subdirectories. The scale of the delay depends on the number of subdirectories, the FTP server type, and where the FTP connection originates.
  • Poll Interval: Specify how often to poll the FTP server.
    • Note  Changes to existing files require an additional poll interval, after the upload completes, before a message is sent.
  • Events to Watch for: By default, all actions on the specified directory are monitored, including adding (CREATE), changing (MODIFY), and deleting (DELETE) files (and folders, if applicable). To monitor only one or two of these actions, click the "x" beside the action you do not want to monitor to remove it. To add an action after removing it, click inside the dropbox and select it.
    • Note  If a file is overwritten with one of a different size, a MODIFY event is triggered.

Output Attributes

See Also

Attribute Description
time Event time
source Event type
error.type

(Failure port only) Error type:

  • InvalidMessage: An error occurred while configuring this component, such as missing or malformed values.
  • DeadLetter: An error occured while connecting to an external resource. Examples may include connection issues, invalid credentials, or generic external resource exceptions.
error.message (Failure port only) Error message
file.event (Success port only) File action (Create/Modify/Delete)
file.path (Success port only) File path
file.rootName

(Success port only) File root name
ftp.user (Success port only) User
ftp.host (Success port only) Host