HTTP Gateway [BETA] Service

Note: If the administrator did not install the HTTP Gateway [BETA] service, you are unable to use HTTP Gateway Service and cannot see the options described below.

The HTTP Gateway [BETA] service allows you to send and download packages from Faspex without using IBM Aspera Connect. Since this service is still in beta, Aspera recommends users use Connect for high-speed transfers and HTTP fallback transfers instead of HTTP Gateway. The HTTP Gateway service should be used in situations in which users need to send and download packages without using Connect.

Instead of initiating a direct fasp transfer session with IBM Connect, the HTTP Gateway service communicates with the browser to perform HTTP uploads and downloads to transfer files from the Faspex node to the user's server. Transfers do not take advantage of Aspera transport technology and transfer speeds are dependent on your network situation.

The workflow for sending and downloading packages using the HTTP Gateway service is nearly identical to sending and downloading packages with Connect. The sections below highlight the key differences.

Sending Packages

When sending a new package, the HTTP Gateway service allows you to upload multiple files with two restrictions:

  1. You can upload multiple files, but you cannot upload folders.
  2. Faspex limits the number of packages you can upload at a time to ten (10) files.
Just like in transfers using Connect, files uploaded through HTTP Gateway are stored on the Faspex server for recipients to download.

If the Faspex server does not have valid SSL certificates installed, you need to open port 4001 on your browser by accessing HTTP Gateway through the server. Enter the Faspex hostname or IP address followed by :4001 in the browser URL. For example: http://faspex.example.com:4001. The browser displays the following message:

"Successfully connected to the Aspera HTTP Gateway service! Plugin-less HTTP fallback upload and downloads should work from this client machine's browser now. Be sure to mark this page as an exception with the browser so that future accesses to it will not require seeing a warning page again."

Downloading Files

When viewing lists of packages on the Received or Sent pages, Faspex displays the following warning to the right of each title:

"Warning: You are currently using low speed HTTP. To enable high speed transfers with Aspera, please visit User Preferences to enable/download the Connect browser plugin."

Warning: Do not navigate away from the page until you successfully download your files. If you leave the page before the download is completed, the download does not complete. When you initiate a download, Faspex displays the following message: "Ongoing downloads will be aborted if you navigate away from this page." This warning disappears when the download is complete.
Note: Since the HTTP Gateway service transfers files through the browser, it starts a new HTTP session for each individual file. If your browser is configured to prompts you each time it initiates a download, and you choose to download twenty files, the browser prompts you twenty times, once for each file.

Limitations with Faspex Reporting

When a user downloads a package with two or more files using the HTTP Gateway service, Faspex reports the package as partially downloaded. If package storage expiration options relying on package download confirmation were enabled for the package, Faspex does not count the partial download as download confirmation and will not delete the files. An admin must manually delete the files. The two specific package expiration options this limitation affects are:
  • Delete files after any recipient downloads all files
  • Delete files after all recipients download all files
Tip: If a downloaded package has only one file, Faspex correctly reports the package as downloaded.

Log Location

You can find logs for the HTTP Gateway service at: /opt/aspera/httpgateway/httpgateway.log.

Defaulting to HTTP Gateway Service

To use the HTTP Gateway service and disable the Connect dialogue, go to your account preferences, enable the Disable Aspera Connect plug-in option, and click Update preferences.