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AS3 Connector

Version 22.0.8473

AS3 Connector

AS3 Connectors support sending and receiving files via the AS3 protocol.

Overview

Each AS3 Connector is configured to exchange files with a single AS3 trading partner. AS3 Connectors use the FTP protocol to transfer files, and add security and verification through digital encryption and signatures. Configuring an AS3 trading relationship requires exchanging AS3-specific profile details, such as AS3 identifiers and digital certificates, and the connection details for the target FTP server.

Connector Configuration

This section contains all of the configurable connector properties.

Settings Tab

Trading Partner Info

Settings for identifying and connecting to a specific AS3 trading partner.

  • Connector Id The static name of the connector. All connector-specific files are held in a folder by the same name within the Data Directory.
  • Connector Description An optional field to provide free-form description of the connector and its role in the flow.
  • AS3 Identifier The AS3 identifier specific to the target trading partner.

Connection Info

Settings related connection parameters for the target FTP server.

  • Host The hostname or IP address of the FTP server.
  • Port The port on which to connect to the FTP server.
  • User The username credential for logging in to the FTP server.
  • Password The password credential for logging in to the FTP server.
  • SSL Type How to negotiate SSL/TLS when connecting to the server. When set to ‘Explicit’, a plaintext connection will be established and then SSL/TLS will be started with an explicit command. When set to ‘Implicit’, SSL/TLS will immediately be negotiated without first establishing a plaintext connection.
  • Send Message Security Whether to sign and/or encrypt outgoing AS3 messages. Signatures and encryption are strongly recommended.
  • Receive Message Security Whether to require that signatures and encryption are present for incoming AS3 messages. An error will be thrown if a received message does not have a required security parameter.
  • Compression Whether to compress the payload of outgoing messages.
  • Connection Timeout The length of time the connector will wait for a connection response before throwing a timeout error.

MDN Receipts

Settings related to requesting MDNs when sending AS3 messages.

  • Request MDN Receipt Whether an MDN Receipt should be returned in response to outgoing AS3 messages. Requesting MDN Receipts is strongly recommended.
  • Security Whether the MDN Receipt should include a signature block verifying the message integrity and identity of the recipient. MDN Security is strongly recommended.

Upload

Settings related to how outgoing AS3 messages will be uploaded.

  • Remote Path The folder path on the remote FTP server where outgoing messages should be uploaded.

Download

Settings related to how incoming AS3 messages will be downloaded.

  • Remote Path The folder path on the remote FTP server from which incoming messages should be downloaded.
  • File Mask A glob pattern that determines which files within the Remote Folder should be downloaded (e.g. *.txt).
  • Delete files (after download) Whether files should be deleted from the FTP server after they are successfully downloaded.

Trading Partner Certificates

Settings related to the public certificates provided by the trading partner.

  • Encryption Certificate The public certificate used for AS3 encryption when sending messages. This certificate must be paired with the trading partner’s private decryption certificate, and the trading partner should provide this public certificate when sharing AS3 configuration details.
  • Verification Certificate The public certificate used to verify AS3 signatures when receiving messages. This field is often unnecessary; most AS3 parties will use the same private certificate for both signing and decrypting, and if this field is not specified then the application will use the Encryption Certificate to verify signatures.
  • SSL Server Certificate The public certificate used to verify the identity of an SSL/TLS server. Only necessary if the FTP server requires FTPS (FTP over SSL/TLS). If the trading partner does not provide an SSL server certificate, this setting can be left blank, to allow the underlying OS/JVM to perform certificate validation, or it can be set to ‘Any Certificate’ to unconditionally trust the target server’s identity.

Automation Tab

Automation Settings

Settings related to the automatic processing of files by the connector.

  • Upload Whether files arriving at the connector will automatically be uploaded to the remote FTP server.
  • Retry Interval The amount of time before a failed send is retried. A retry is triggered when the server does not respond to a send attempt, or responds negatively to communicate that the file was not received.
  • Max Attempts The maximum number of times the connector will process the input file. Success is based on a successful server acknowledgement and validation of the receipt (when requested synchronously). If this is set to 0, the connector will retry the file indefinitely.
  • Resend Interval The amount of time before unacknowledged messages are resent. A resend is triggered when the server receives the file, but an MDN Receipt is not provided within the expected timeframe.
  • Max Attempts (async) The maximum number of times the connector will process the input file when asynchronous receipts are requested. Success is based on the return of an asynchronous receipt within the Resend Interval after a successful server acknowledgement (if a successful server acknowledgement is not returned, Max Attempts is applied instead). If this is set to 0, the connector will resend the file indefinitely.
  • Receive Interval The interval between automatic downloads.
  • Minutes The number of minutes to wait before downloading. Only applicable when Receive Interval is set to Minute.
  • Minutes Past the Hour The minutes offset for an hourly schedule. Only applicable when Receive Interval is set to Hourly. For example, if this value is set to 5, the automation service will pull at 1:05, 2:05, 3:05, etc.
  • Time The time within a given day that the download should occur. Only applicable when Receive Interval is set to Daily, or Weekly, or Monthly.
  • Day The day on which the download should occur. Only applicable when Receive Interval is set to Weekly or Monthly.
  • Cron Expression An arbitrary string representing a cron expression that determines when the download should occur. Only applicable when Receive Interval is set to Advanced.

Advanced Tab

Alternate Local Profile

Settings that identify the local AS3 profile.

  • Local AS3 Identifier Your AS3 identifier.
  • Private Certificate The certificate that will be used to decrypt incoming messages and sign outgoing messages.
  • Certificate Password The password required to access the local private certificate.

SSL Client Authentication

Settings related to client authentication when two-way SSL authentication is required.

  • Private Certificate The private certificate presented during SSL client authentication.
  • Certificate Password The password required to access the SSL client certificate.

Server Commands

An arbitrary set of FTP commands to execute on the remote server at various times during connector execution: directly after connecting, after downloading each file, after uploading each file, before downloading each file, and before uploading each file.

Performance

Settings related to the allocation of resources to the connector.

  • Max Workers The maximum number of worker threads that will be consumed from the threadpool to process files on this connector. If set, overrides the default setting from the Profile tab.
  • Max Files The maximum number of files that will be processed by the connector each time worker threads are assigned to the connector. If set, overrides the default setting from the Profile tab.

Proxy Settings

A collection of settings that identify and authenticate to the proxy through which the FTP connection should be routed.

Other Settings

Settings not included in the previous categories.

  • Encryption Algorithm The algorithm to use when encrypting outgoing AS3 messages.
  • Signature Algorithm The algorithm to use when signing outgoing messages.
  • Active Mode Whether to enable Active or Passive mode on the remote FTP server. Passive mode is less likely to result in firewall interference with the connection.
  • Excluded Extensions A comma-delimited list of file extensions that will not be processed by the connector.
  • Local File Scheme A filemask that determines how the connector will name files downloaded and pushed to the Output/Receive Folder. The following macros are supported:

    %ConnectorId%
    %Filename%
    %FilenameNoExt%
    %EXT%
    %ShortDate%
    %LongDate%
    %RegexFilename:%
    %DateFormat:%

    For example: %%FilenameNoExt%_%ShortDate%%EXT% Log Level The verbosity of logs generated by the connector. When requesting support, it is recommended to set this value to Debug.
  • Parent Connector The connector from which settings should be inherited, unless explicitly overwritten within the existing connector configuration. Must be set to a connector of the same type as the current connector.
  • SSL Enabled Protocols The list of SSL/TLS protocols supported when establishing outgoing connections. It is strongly recommended to only use TLS protocols. Some obsolete operating systems do not support TLS 1.2.

Miscellaneous

Settings for specific use cases.

  • Other Settings Allows configuration of hidden connector settings in a semicolon-separated list, like setting1=value1;setting2=value2. Normal connector use cases and functionality should not require use of these settings.

Establishing a Connection

To connect to the remote FTP server, specify the Host, Port, User, Password, and SSL Type required by the server. The Test Connection button can be used to verify that the connection parameters are correct.

Once connected, the upload and download Remote Path should be specified so that files are placed in and read from the appropriate location to communicate with the trading partner.