Setting Up a Transfer User for a Windows Node

Aspera's Web applications authenticate to remote node services using a Node API username and password. The Node API credentials can then be used to create nodes. Different nodes may use different Node API username and password pairs.
Note: The following instructions require you to have administrative privileges.
  1. Create a new system account on the node usingControl Panel > User Accounts.
    Tip: After creating a Windows user account, log in as that user at least once for Windows to set up the user's home folder.

The following steps require you to modify the aspera.conf file. You can find the aspera.conf file at:

OS Version File Location
32-bit Windows C:\Program Files\Aspera\Enterprise Server\etc\aspera.conf
64-bit Windows C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspera\Enterprise Server\etc\aspera.conf

  1. Add the new system user to aspera.conf by adding the following section to the file.
    <aaa>
      <realms>
         <realm>
            <users>
               <user> <!-- Each user tag contains a user's profile. -->
                  <name>username</name> <!-- user name -->
                  <authorization>...</authorization> <!-- authorization settings -->
                  <transfer>...</transfer> <!-- transfer settings -->
                  <file_system>... </file_system> <!-- file system settings -->
               </user>
               <user> <!-- another user's profile -->
                  ... <!-- settings -->
               </user>
            </users>
         </realm>
      </realms>
    </aaa>
  2. Set the docroot in aspera.conf.
    Add the <file_system> section to your user.
    <user>
        <name>username</name>
        <file_system>
            <access>
                <paths>
                    <path>
                        <absolute>docroot_filepath</absolute>
                        <read_allowed>true</read_allowed>
                        <write_allowed>true</write_allowed>
                        <dir_allowed>true</dir_allowed>
                    </path>
                </paths>
            </access>
        </file_system>
    </user>
    CAUTION:
    Aspera recommends that you not use spaces in your docroot. If your docroot contains spaces, you may not receive all email notifications relating to transfer activity.
  3. Enable persistent storage in aspera.conf for use with stats collector.
    In the <central_server> section, set <persistent_store> to enable as shown below. By default, <persistent_store> is disabled (not set).
    <central_server>
      <address>127.0.0.1</address>
      <port>40001</port>
      <compact_on_startup>enable</compact_on_startup>
      <persistent_store>enable</persistent_store>
      <persistent_store_on_error>ignore</persistent_store_on_error>
      <persistent_store_max_age>86400</persistent_store_max_age>
      <event_buffer_overrun>block</event_buffer_overrun>
    </central_server>
  4. Restart the Aspera NodeD service from the Services window. Open Star Menu > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services.
  5. Set up a transfer user with a Node API username and password.
    > asnodeadmin.exe -a -u transfer_user -p secure_password -x system_user
    Run the following command to check the system user was successfully added to asnodeadmin:
    > asnodeadmin.exe -l
    The result should be similar to the following example:
                    user       system/transfer user                    acls
    ====================    =======================    ====================
                xferuser                   asp_user    []