Using the FTP Distribution Option


This section provides information about distributing scheduled output using File Transfer Protocol (FTP). FTP distribution options can be accessed by clicking the FTP Server button in the Options group on the ribbon. The FTP Distribution Options dialog box is shown in the following image.

The FTP Distribution dialog box with the default configuration of (Customized FTP) in the FTP Server Name field.

  • You must be authorized to distribute by FTP in order to create a schedule that uses FTP distribution.
  • If your organization limits the range of available FTP server configurations to a list of predefined FTP servers, the FTP Server Name field is the only available field. When you select a value from the FTP Server Name list, the remaining fields in the dialog box are populated with the values from the predefined FTP Settings configuration.
    • If you do not select an FTP Server Name, and your FTP Settings configuration includes a (Default Settings) configuration, the server and location identified in the (Default Settings) configuration will be used for the distribution, by default. However, if your FTP Settings configuration does not include a (Default Settings) configuration, no FTP Server connection is defined and your distribution will not be able to complete the connection.
  • If your organization does not limit the range of available FTP server configurations to a list of predefined FTP servers, fields in the FTP Distribution Options dialog box remain available as long as the (Customized FTP) value appears in the FTP Server Name field.
    • If you leave the (Customized FTP) value in place, you can add the values that establish an FTP server configuration for this schedule in the FTP Distribution Options dialog box. The values you assign in this way are available only in this schedule.
    • If you leave the (Customized FTP) value in place but do not add values that establish an FTP server configuration, the server and location identified in the (Default Settings) configuration will be used for the distribution, by default. However, if your FTP Settings configuration does not include a (Default Settings) configuration, no FTP Server connection is defined and your distribution will not be able to complete the connection.
    • If you select a predefined FTP Setting configuration from the FTP Server Name list, the remaining settings in the FTP Distribution Options dialog box are populated with the values from your selected predefined FTP Settings configuration and are unavailable for further updates.
  • Credentials for FTP servers are stored on a user level when a schedule is created in the same way that Reporting Server credentials are stored. The user needs to enter credentials only once for each FTP server. Those credentials will be available in the Basic Scheduling tool each subsequent time that the user creates a new schedule that utilizes that FTP server for distribution.

    If the FTP Server requires SFTP, select the This server requires a secure SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) check box. Select one of the following options to specify an authentication method:

    • Select Password if the server requires authentication with a user ID and password.
    • Select Public Key to authenticate against the server using Public Key Authentication.
    • Select Public Key and Password (Multi-factor) to authenticate using Public Key Authentication and indicate that the server requires authentication with a user ID and password.

      Note:

      • There is more than one format for the Public and Private key pair used for authentication to an SFTP Server. If the Public and Private key pair used by your SFTP server is in a format that is not recognized by the Distribution server, you can generate keys in the appropriate format with the sshkeygen utility on the Distribution server.
      • The Private Key for the server using Public Key Authentication must be added to the sftp_private_key.txt file, which is located in the \cfg directory on the Distribution Server.
    • If the FTP Server requires FTPS, select the This server requires a secure File Transfer Protocol over TLS/SSL (FTPS) check box. Options include:
      • Security Mode. Options include Explicit and Implicit mode.
      • Protocol. Options include Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Socket Layer (SSL).
      • Data Connection Security. Options include Clear security (neither Integrity nor Privacy) and Private security (Integrity and Privacy).
    • When distributing HTML reports by FTP, the scheduled report (.fex) must set a fully qualified FOCEXURL and FOCHTMLURL for the report styling options defined below. These reference the JavaScript components located on the web or application server where the Client is configured. The Distribution server will set a fully qualified FOCEXURL and FOCHTMLURL for FTP distribution using the host name and port provided at installation time. This can be overridden by setting these values in the scheduled procedure. For example:
      SET FOCEXURL='hostname:port/ibi_apps/'
      SET FOCHTMLURL='hostname:port/ibi_apps/ibi_html'

      Styling options include:

      • Accordion reports
      • Table of Contents (TOC) reports
      • Peer Graphics/Data Visualization graphical reporting
      • Multi-drill reports
      • HFREEZE options

    Procedure: How to Use the FTP Distribution Option

    Note: You can use parameters (amper variables) when specifying values in the FTP settings of a schedule. These parameters can be system variables, such as &YYMD, or any amper variable for which a value is returned by the Reporting Server when the scheduled procedure is executed. To use the dot file extension separator after a variable, terminate the variable with the '|' character (for example, &YYMD|.htm). Similarly, to use the ampersand character itself, follow the ampersand with the '|' character (for example, Smith&|Jones). If a value for a parameter specified in a schedule is not returned by the Reporting Server when the procedure executes, the schedule will fail with a "No report to distribute" error. If the scheduled task is burst, you can also use the '%BURST' symbol to include the burst value. If the multiple reports are distributed in one archive file, the burst value will not be substituted in the Zip filename.

    1. Right-click a report procedure (FEX), point to Schedule, and then click FTP.

      The Basic Scheduling tool appears.

    2. Click the Properties tab.
    3. Enter a title in the Title box or leave the default. Optionally, enter a summary in the Summary box.
    4. Click the Distribution tab.
    5. From the Type drop-down menu, select the method in which you will provide the file names to distribute to the FTP server. The options are
      • Distribution List. The report will be sent to all FTP addresses in the selected Distribution List.
      • Distribution File. Type the full path and file name of the external distribution file you want to use for this schedule. ReportCaster cannot validate the file existence. The path and file must be accessible to the ReportCaster Distribution Server.
      • Single File. Type the name and file extension of the file you will distribute. The value contained in the Save Report As field of the schedule will automatically populate the Name field. When you burst the scheduled report, ReportCaster automatically adds the burst value to the end of the file name for each burst file. Optionally, you can add the '%BURST' syntax to the beginning of the file name, add a directory to the beginning of the file name, or both at the same time.

        Note:

        • In order for the report to distribute correctly, you must add a file extension to the Name value. By default, the Single File Name value does not include a file extension. To add a file extension, you can select the Override the Format Specified in the Procedure check box and select a report format in the Task tab or type the file extension manually.
        • ReportCaster does not validate the location of the file path or whether the specified file already exists.
        • The maximum length of this field is 800 characters.
      • Dynamic Distribution List. A Dynamic Distribution List enables you to return in memory either a list of burst values and destinations, or a list of only destinations from a data source (for example, a flat file, SQL database, FOCUS data source, or LDAP).

    6. In the Report Compression section, specify options by which to compress the report. Select Create an archive file (.zip), Create compressed file(s)(.zip), Create compressed file(s)(.gz), or accept the default, None.

      Note:

      • The default setting for Report Compression is derived from the configuration settings.
      • Support of Unicode characters in a Zip file name and content within a Zip file on Windows 7 and Windows 2008 Server R2 requires the following hotfix from Microsoft: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2704299/en-us

        Without this hotfix, file names are corrupted after you decompress a .zip file in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2.

    7. Select the Notification tab to specify whether to send an email notification of the schedule job status. If you select Always or On Error, you must specify the Reply Address, Subject, Brief Message To, and Full Message To.
    8. Select the Properties tab to specify the Title, Priority, whether to delete the schedule if it will not run again, and whether the schedule is enabled to run. For more information, see About Properties in the Basic Scheduling Tool.
    9. Select the Recurrence tab to specify how often to run the schedule. If you want the schedule to run on the current day, set the Start Date and Start Time to values later than the current time.
    10. Select the FTP Server tab to open the FTP Distribution Options dialog box.
    11. In the FTP Server Name field, perform one of the following steps:
      1. Accept the default value (Customized FTP) in the Server Name field and leave the remaining fields blank in order to use the default FTP Server configuration defined in the (Default Settings) page of the ReportCaster Configuration tab.
      2. If your organization permits, accept the default value (Customized FTP) in the Server name field and type values in the remaining fields in order to create a new FTP Server configuration that applies to this distribution schedule exclusively.
      3. Select a predefined FTP Settings configuration from the FTP Server Name list.
    12. Click the Save & Close button.