Group Folder Scenario

Overview

SFTP Gateway v3.x has a folder management feature that makes it easier to share files between SFTP users.

This article walks you through configuring a "Group Folder Scenario".

Let's say you have multiple SFTP users who want to have a shared folder to drop in files. You can achieve this with SFTP Gateway using Folders and Cloud Connections.

Initial Setup

Before we create anything special, first create some SFTP users.

By default, these users are chrooted in the following path on the default Cloud Connection:

/users/username/

Create two users (e.g. user1 and user2), and you should see this folder structure:

/
|--users/
   |--user1/
   |--user2/

Each SFTP user is chrooted in their respective folder, and cannot traverse to the parent users directory.

Create a Cloud Connection

Next, create a new Cloud Connection. Point this to its own S3 bucket.

This Cloud Connection will be used as underlying storage for the "Group Folder".

Create some Folder mappings

Under the chroot directory of each SFTP user, create a new Folder named GroupFolder. Each Folder should be mapped to the Cloud Connection you created above.

The folder structure should look like this:

/
|--users/
   |--user1/
      |--GroupFolder --> points to the "Group Folder" Cloud Connection
   |--user2/
      |--GroupFolder --> points to the "Group Folder" Cloud Connection

Test the configuration

When you log in as user1, you should see the following:

/
|--GroupFolder/

Any files dropped into the chroot directory (/) will be stored in their own user folder on the default Cloud Connection.

But, the GroupFolder points to the other S3 bucket you configured earlier.

Likewise, user2 will see the same folder structure:

/
|--GroupFolder/

Through the GroupFolder, both user1 and user2 can see a live view of the same files.