Setting Up Watchfolders

A watchfolder is an automation of file transfers from a source to a destination system. Files placed into a source folder are automatically transferred to the destination. It runs on the client side only and the recipient Aspera server endpoint does not need additional software components to support receiving data. Using the REST API provided by the asperanoded service, a user can create, remove, query and modify watchfolder instances. The asperanoded service forwards requests to the corresponding watchfolder instances over Redis.

Important: You must have a valid, watchfolder-enabled license installed.

Enable asperawatchd in aspera.conf. Set <enabled> and <master> to true using asconfigurator.

> C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspera\Enterprise Server\bin\asconfigurator.exe -x "set_server_data;watchd_master,true;watchd_enabled,true"

Configure and start the Aspera WatchD service.
Go to Start > Administrative Tools > Services. Right-click on Aspera WatchD and select Start.
Start the Aspera WatchFolderD service.
Go to Start > Administrative Tools > Services. Right-click on Aspera WatchFolderD and select Start.
Map the root user to a correctly configured Node API user. The user must have administrative privileges to interact with Aspera WatchFolderD. If your root user is not associated with a Node API user, run the following command to create a new Node API user.
```
> C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspera\Enterprise Server\bin\asnodeadmin.exe -a -u node_username -p node_user_passwd -x system_user --acl-set impersonation
```
For example:
```
> C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspera\Enterprise Server\bin\asnodeadmin.exe -a -u watchfolder_user -p X245lskd3 -x Administrator --acl-set impersonation
```
Adding, modifying, or deleting a node-user triggers automatic reloading of the user database and the node's configuration and license files. For more information on the Node API, see your transfer server's administrator guide.

Verify that you correctly added the node user.

> C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspera\Enterprise Server\bin\asnodeadmin.exe -l

The output should resemble the following:

                user       system/transfer user                    acls
====================    =======================    ====================
    watchfolder_user              Administrator         [impersonation]

At this point, the source host is configured to start watchfolder instances. You can start watchfolder instances using IBM Aspera Console. For more information, see Adding Watchfolders to Console.