Creating a Pull Watch Folder with aswatchfolderadmin

These instructions describe how to create a pull Watch Folder by using the aswatchfolderadmin utility. aswatchfolderadmin requires a JSON configuration file with the syntax introduced in 3.8.0 (described in the following section). Pull Watch Folders can still be created from JSON configuration files that follow the 3.7 version syntax by using the Watch Folder API.

1. Create a Watch Service on the remote server.
   If you have SSH access to the server, create the service from the server's command line.
   1. Create the service.

      # /opt/aspera/sbin/asperawatchd --user username

      The username is for a system user with permissions to the source path.
   2. Confirm that the service was created.

      # /opt/aspera/bin/aswatchadmin query-daemons

      If the service exists, the following output is returned (in this example, the user is "root"):

      # /opt/aspera/bin/aswatchadmin query-daemons
      [aswatchadmin query-daemons] Found a single daemon:
           root

      If other services are running on the server, other daemons are also returned.

   If you do not have SSH access to the server, use the Node API from your local computer to create the service. This approach requires that you have node credentials for the server. For instructions, see Creating a Pull Watch Folder with the API.
2. Create a Watch Folder service for your user on the local computer.

   # /opt/aspera/sbin/asperawatchfolderd --user username

3. Verify that the service is running for the user.

   # /opt/aspera/bin/asrun send -l

   The output is similar to the following (in this example, the user is "root"):

   [asrun send] code=0
   {
       "services": [
            {
                  "id":"d109d1bd-7db7-409f-bb16-ca6ff9abb5f4",
                  "configuration": {
                        "enabled":true,
                        "run_as":{
                             "pass": "*****",
                             "user":"root"
                         },
                         "type":"WATCHFOLDERD"
                  },
                  "state":"RUNNING",
                  "state_changed_at":"2016-10-20T00:11:19Z"
              }
        ]
   }

   Use the aswatchadmin and aswatchfolderadmin utilities to retrieve a list of running daemons. Daemons usually have the same name as the user for which they are running. For example, if you used the root user to run your services, you should see the root daemon listed when you run the following commands:

   # /opt/aspera/bin/aswatchadmin query-daemons
   [aswatchadmin query-daemons] Found a single daemon:
   	root
   
   # /opt/aspera/bin/aswatchfolderadmin query-daemons
   [aswatchfolderadmin query-daemons] Found a single daemon:
   	root

   Note: Daemons for services that are started in the GUI are named with the ID of the service, rather than the user.
4. Create a JSON configuration file for your Watch Folder.
   The Watch Folder JSON file describes the source, target, and authentication to the remote server, and can also specify transfer session settings, file handling and post-processing, filters, and growing file handling.

   A basic pull Watch Folder configuration has the following syntax:

   {
       "source": {
           "path": "source_directory",
           "location": {
               "type": "REMOTE",
               "host": "ip_address",
               "port": port,
               "authentication": {
                   "type": "authentication_mode",
                   "user": "username",
                   "pass": "password"
                }
           }
       },
       "target": {
           "path": "target_directory"
       },
       "watchd": {
           "scan_period": "scan_period",
           "identifier": "daemon"
       }
   }

   For a full configuration reference, see Watch Folder JSON Configuration File Reference.

   Field	Description	Default
   source path	The source directory on the remote server. For SSH and Node API user authentication, the path is relative to the associated transfer user's docroot, or the absolute path if the transfer user is configured with a restriction. For Shares authentication, the path is the share name and, optionally, a path within the share. For access key authentication, the path is relative to the storage specified in the access key.	N/A
   location type	Set "type" to "REMOTE" for the remote server. "type": "REMOTE" is assumed if "host" is specified.	"REMOTE"
   host	The host IP address, DNS, hostname, or URL of the remote file system. Required. The host can be specified with an IPv4 or IPv6 address. The preferred format for IPv6 addresses is x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x, where each of the eight x is a hexadecimal number of up to 4 hex digits. Zone IDs (for example, %eth0) can be appended to the IPv6 address.	N/A
   port	The port to use for authentication to the remote file system. By default, if the authentication type is SSH, then the SSH port for the ascp process (the value for tcp_port in the "transport" section) is used. If the authentication type is NODE_BASIC, 9092 is used. For Shares, IBM Aspera Transfer Cluster Manager, or IBM Aspera on Cloud endpoints, enter 443.	If authentication type is SSH, then default is the value for tcp_port in the "transport" section (default: 22). If authentication type is NODE_BASIC, then default is 9092.
   authentication type	How Watch Folders authenticates to the remote server. Pull Watch Folders must use NODE_BASIC and authenticate with a Node API username and password, Shares credentials, or an access key ID and secret.	NODE_BASIC
   user	The username for authentication. Required. Depending on the type of authentication, it is the transfer user's username, Node API username, Shares username, or access key ID.	N/A
   pass	The password for authentication, depending on the type of authentication.	N/A
   target path	The target directory on the local computer, relative to the transfer user's docroot.	N/A
   watchd identifier	The daemon associated with the Watch Service that is used to monitor the file system. Optional. Required only when you want to use a Watch Service that is run by a user who is not associated with the Node API user or access key.	The system user that is associated with the Node API user or access key.
   scan_period	The time between file system scans of the watches (from end of one to start of the next). These scans are independent of the snapshot minimum interval and snapshot minimum changes to ensure that changes are identified. To never scan (asperawatchd relies entirely on file notifications), set to "infinite". On file systems without file notifications, such as object storage, mounted storage (NFS), Solaris, AIX, and Isilon, file system scans triggered by the scan period are used to detect file changes. In this case, set the scan period to frequently scan for changes. On operating systems that support file notifications (Linux, Windows, macOS), asperawatchd uses the file notifications as the primary means for detecting changes, and the scan period serves as a backup. In this case, the default value of 30 minutes is usually acceptable and no change is necessary. To never scan, and rely entirely on file notifications, set to infinite. For pull Watch Folders, file systems scans that are triggered by scan_period are the sole means for detecting changes in the source directory. Lower scan periods detect changes faster but can result in greater resource consumption, particularly for object storage. Note: The value for scan period cannot be empty, otherwise the configuration is rejected.	30m

   Save the configuration file. The path to the configuration file is used in the next step.

5. Create the Watch Folder.

   # /opt/aspera/bin/aswatchfolderadmin create-folder daemon -f json_file

   Where daemon is the user that is running the Watch Folder services and json_file is the path to the Watch Folder configuration file. If you do not know the daemon, retrieve a list of running daemons by running the following command:

   # /opt/aspera/bin/aswatchfolderadmin query-daemons
   [aswatchfolderadmin query-daemons] Found a single daemon:
   	root

   Daemons usually have the same name as the user for which they are running. For example, if you used the root user to run your services, you should see the root daemon listed.

   Note: Daemons for services that are started in the GUI are named with the ID of the service, rather than the user.

   For example, using the root daemon and a valid JSON file, watchfolderconf.json, the output of the aswatchfolderadmin command should look like the following:

   # /opt/aspera/bin/aswatchfolderadmin create-folder root -f watchfolder_conf.json
                               [aswatchfolderadmin create-folder] Successfully created instance b394d0ee-1cda-4f0d-b785-efdc6496c585.

   If aswatchfolderadmin returns err=28672, confirm that the user's docroot allows access to the source directory. If you need to make changes to your docroot, see Updating the Docroot or Restriction of a Running Watch Folder Service.

   If aswatchfolderadmin returns err=2, a Watch Service is not running for the user. See the previous section for instructions on starting a Watch Service.

6. Verify that the Watch Folder is running.
   To retrieve a list of running Watch Folders, run the following command:

   # /opt/aspera/bin/aswatchfolderadmin query-folders daemon_name

   For example:

   # /opt/aspera/bin/aswatchfolderadmin query-folders root
                               [aswatchfolderadmin query-folders] Found a single watchfolder:
                               b394d0ee-1cda-4f0d-b785-efdc6496c585

7. Test your Watch Folder.
   If the source directory contains files, the Watch Folder collects them into a drop after the Watch service scan interval passes and transfers them to the target.

   Note: No files are transferred until the first scan interval passes. If the Watch service scan interval is set to the default, files transfer after 30 minutes.