Why am I seeing a "Failed to connect to FTP. Please check connection details." error when a job tries to import from my FTP?

Question

Our organization moved to a new S/FTP server. Even though exports to the new S/FTP server are working, our attempts to import from the S/FTP (for our bursar system) failed. The jobs produced the following error: 

Failed to connect to FTP. Please check connection details. Error: On upload subDirectory alma/example_import Failed to upload file test.txt to FTP directory alma/example_import from directory /shared_app_storage/Alma_root//0000/0001/temp/external_systems/temp/.

Why are we not able to import from our new S/FTP? And what is the "test.txt" file that the error refers to? 

Answer

There are multiple reasons that the job was unable to connect to the S/FTP. In this case, the source of the issue was the permissions set on the new S/FTP did not allow Alma access to perform the import. Other common reasons for this error message could be incorrect credentials for the S/FTP connection, or that there is not enough available disk space on the S/FTP server. 

When jobs are trying to connect to a S/FTP server, Alma will first test the connection before attempting to export/import the actual files - this is the same test that can be performed manually by using the "Test FTP" option in a S/FTP's connection configuration when working in the "S/FTP defnitions" menu. Alma is uploading a very small text file to the S/FTP in order to verify that it is able to 1) upload a file, 2) download a file, and finally 3) delete a file. If these tests pass, the job continues like normal. If they fail for any reason, the job will end and will contain an error message like the one above.

• Article last edited: 18-Oct-2023