Ingest assets with SFTP

  • Updated

Optimizely Content Marketing Platform (CMP) has a secure file transfer protocol (SFTP) to upload and ingest assets – and the accompanying Excel tagging – into the CMP, in an exclusive directory that only you can access after authentication of the User that you will create.

Create SSH key pair

Create a Secure Shell (SSH-RSA) key pair (Public and Private) before you create your user. The Public Key must be in OpenSSH format (produced automatically using the terminal).

You can use free programs such as PuttyGen on Windows. If you use PuttyGen, ensure you copy the OpenSSH format.

To create a SSH key pair from a Windows, Mac, or Linux terminal:

  1. Open command prompt and enter to create a SSH key, using the provided email as a label.

    $ ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "your_email@example.com"

    This displays the message: Generating public/private RSA key pair.

  2. Press Enter when prompted to Enter a file in which to save the key. It will be saved to the save location, which is displayed on the screen, and looks something like:
    • Windows – C/Users/[your name]/.ssh/id_rsa
    • Mac – /Users/[your name]/.ssh/id_rsa
    • Linux – /home/[your name]/.ssh/id_rsa
  3. Enter a passphrase. Leave this blank and press Enter twice if you want to leave it blank. Keys are generated and stored in a folder.

Create your user

After you generate a SSH key pair, send the Public Key to your CMP contact and keep the Private Key.

Keep your Private Key secure! This is your access to the SFTP.

CMP creates your user using the Public key, following which you can access the SFTP with the following credentials:

  • Host name – client-sftp.optimizely.com
  • User name – [your organization name]
  • Port number – 22

You can upload assets through the command-line interface or one of the available client programs, such as WinSCP. This document covers both methods.

Transfer Files with WinSCP (Windows)

Ingest-1.png

  • If you are using WinSCP, enter the credentials as shown in the previous image and leave the Password box empty. Instead, click Advanced, select Authentication and click browse (...) to upload your Private Key. Click OK.

    You may be prompted to convert your SSH key to PPK format. If this is the case, click OK and and continue.

    Ingest-2.png

  • Before continuing, modify the following settings. Select Tools > Preferences and in the resultant options, select Transfer > Endurance.

    Ingest-3.png

  • Select Disable to prevent decreases in upload performance and failure of large file uploads. Click OK to save and return to the previous screen.
  • Select Advanced > Transfer Settings Rule. Clear Preserve timestamp to prevent non-critical errors during file transfer.

    Ingest-4.png

  • Click Login. A side-by-side view displays with the left showing your local storage, and the right showing your CMP SFTP. Drag and drop files from the left to the right to upload into your SFTP.

After you upload, notify your CMP contact to upload your assets in accordance with agreed times.

Transfer Files with OpenSSH (Mac / Linux)

For Linux or Mac users:

  1. Enter the following into a command terminal:
    % sftp -i transfer-key sftp_user@client-sftp.optimizely.com
    Where ‘sftp_user’ is your username and ‘transfer-key’ is your private key
  2. Enter the following command at the sftp> prompt:
    sftp> pwd
  3. Enter the following text on the next line:
    /uploads.optimizely.com/sftp_user
  4. Enter the following command to transfer your file:
    sftp> put filename.txt
    A message indicates the file transfer is in progress or complete:
    uploading filename.txt to /uploads.optimizely.com/sftp_user/filename.txt
    some-file.txt 100% 127 0.1KB/s 0:00
  5. When completed, notify your CMP contact to upload your assets.