Adding Endpoints

An endpoint serves as a transfer source or destination for transfers initiated in the Console UI between nodes (managed or unmanaged) and between nodes and clusters. It is defined by a login credential and address. These appear in the Transfer drop-down menus for Source and Destination as login@address, such as xasp1@10.0.0.2 for a node or ats-aws-us-east-1.aspera.io for a managed cluster.

When a node or cluster is added to Console, a "wildcard" endpoint is automatically created with the form *@address. The wildcard endpoint is listed as just the IP address or domain name. When a user selects the wildcard endpoint as a source or destination, they must enter credentials to authorize the transfer. Wildcard endpoints enable you to monitor all transfers on a node per user account or access key.

Console admins can add more endpoints to nodes and clusters, and configure them with credentials. The credentials required to set up and use an endpoint depend on the endpoint type:

SSH: An Aspera transfer user's username and either a password or SSH key.
Node API: An Aspera node username and password. (Only supported for managed nodes)
Access Key: An Aspera access key and secret. (Only supported for clusters)

When you create a new endpoint, you can enter the credentials or leave the password/secret field blank (you must provide a login - a username or access key). Sharing a credentialled endpoint with a user who does not have login credentials allows that user to send or receive files without compromising the security of your nodes. When the password for the endpoint is not set, the user must enter it when initiating a transfer. These credentials are then stored in the user's Saved Endpoints under the Preferences tab.

Tip: To use domain names as transfer endpoints, create an unmanaged node using a domain name, then add an endpoint to this unmanaged node.

Open the Endpoint dialog for a node or cluster.
To add an endpoint to a managed node or cluster, go to Nodes and click edit for the node or cluster to which you want to add an endpoint. To add an endpoint to an unmanaged node, go to Nodes > List Unmanaged Nodes and click edit for the node or cluster to which you want to add an endpoint. Click the Endpoints tab.
Add a new endpoint.
Click Add Endpoint and enter the following information:
- Endpoint type: Select the endpoint type from the drop-down menu.
- Login: The username or access key.
- Password: The password, SSH public key, or secret. If left blank, users must enter the password, SSH public key, or secret to authorize a transfer with the endpoint. To use SSH keys, the user must have their private key configured in Console. For instructions, see SSH Keys.
  Important: When using SSH key authentication, make sure that the key file on the node is not a shared key. On the node computer, the key file should be a "private" key in the specified user account.
- Label: Optional descriptive name for the endpoint. Default is login@node_address
- Email address: The email address to receive notifications of transfer activity on this endpoint. You can enter multiple email addresses by clicking Add after each one, then select which notifications to send to which email addresses from the drop-down menus.
Click Create.
Verify that your endpoint is configured correctly and that the connection works.
The new endpoint appears in the list of endpoints. To test the connection, click test and, on the following page, Test Connecting to Host. If successful, a confirmation message appears in green at the top of the page. If unsuccessful, a description of the error appears in red at the top of the page and the SSH Client Log appears at the bottom of the page.

The endpoint is now configured. If Password Saved is selected in the Endpoints table, the endpoint contains a password, an SSH key, or a secret, depending on the endpoint type, and permitted users are not required to enter credentials to use this endpoint. To edit or remove an endpoint, click edit or delete.