Setting Up a File Server with Logical Folders

When file servers and logical folders are set up in the application, you can use them to specify locations for uploading or downloading files and documents. File servers and logical folder specifications can be used in either of these cases:

  • On-premises applications, with FTP servers or shared servers
  • Cloud applications, where the file servers are predefined as Amazon Web Service Simple Storage Services (AWS S3) “buckets” by the cloud team

Prerequisites:

  • You must be a system administrator for this application, with permission to access the appropriate forms.
  • Decide where your file servers should reside (cloud, FTP server, or shared on-premises server), and know the file path and login information, if on-premise.
  • Decide what logical folders you need to create. Some logical folders are predefined by the application. Others might depend on your company’s needs, for example, HR documents.
  • Determine which logical folders should reside on which file server, if you have a choice of file servers.
  • Decide which users should have access to which logical folders.
  1. For an on-premises application, define each file server on the File Servers form.
    For a cloud application, the file servers might be predefined by the cloud team. You can define your own file server in this environment by using the default AWS bucket with a root path, or with the Additional Properties section (see below).
    1. Specify this information:
      Active
      Select this field if the file server is currently active and available for use.
      Server Name
      Specify a name that describes the server, for example FTP_EDI, fileserver1, or EDI_bucket.
      Server Type
      Select one of these options:
      • FTP
      • Shared Path
      • AWS S3: This option is available only for cloud applications.
    2. If you select a server type of AWS S3, specify this information:
      Bucket Name/Set as Default Bucket
      Specify an AWS bucket name or select Set as Default Bucket to set this field to Default.
      Root Path
      Specify a sub path to use after the bucket path. This allows you to create different file servers under the same bucket name.

      For example: Server1 has a Root Path of /Benefits/

      The full path is infor-awsbucket-prd-csbi/PRIVATE/csbi/903/tenant1/site1/Benefits/

      Server2 has a Root Path of /CustomerOrders/

      The full path is infor-awsbucket-prd-csbi/PRIVATE/csbi/903/tenant1/site1/CustomerOrders/

    3. If you select a server type of FTP or Shared Server, specify this information:
      Domain
      Specify the domain for user logins.
      Shared/FTP Path
      Specify the path to access the shared server or FTP site, for example: //FTP_Server/Infor
      User ID
      Specify the user ID to access the shared server or FTP site.
      Password
      Specify the user password to access the shared server or FTP site.
      Remote Server Name
      Specify the DNS name/IP address of the server. This is optional for FTP but required for a shared UNC server.
    4. If the Server Type is AWS or FTP, click Additional Properties to open a new form where you can set key value pairs. These properties are optional.

      For AWS, use these properties to override the default properties:

      • aws_bucket: Use this property to define a multi-tenant users’ bucket name. The application uses this as the bucket path; otherwise the bucket path defined in the EC2 instance is used. You must define the whole root path in this case.
      • aws_access_key_id
      • aws_secret_access_key
      • aws_session_token
      • aws_region
      • aws_service_url
      • aws_request_expires_after_seconds

      For FTP, to enable SSL, set the key to enablessl and the value to true.

    5. Click Validate to verify the server login information.
    6. Click Activate. The file server is now available for selection on other forms.
  2. On the File Server Logical Folders form, specify this information to create logical folders in a file server:
    Active
    Select this field to immediately activate a new file server without restarting the IDO Runtime. File servers are automatically activated when the first login occurs in the application. The file server is available for use in other forms when Active is selected.
    Logical Folder Name
    Specify a name for the logical folder.
    Server Name
    Select the file server where you want the logical folder to reside.
    Folder Template
    Specify a substitutable folder path. If this template is form-specific, you can use P() and V() values. These substitutable variables can be used for any template:
    • USERGROUP() is replaced by the authorization group name.
    • LOGICALNAME() is replaced by the logical folder name.
    • USERNAME() is replaced by the session user name.
    Folder Access Depth
    Specify the level to which users can access files under this folder.

    See Example: Setting Up Templates for Logical Folders.

  3. Set up the user groups that can access certain logical folders:
    1. On the Groups form, set up a group and add users to it.
    2. Click Group Authorizations,
    3. In the Object Authorizations for Group form, for the selected group, select File Server as the Object Type.
    4. In the Object Name field, select a logical folder whose access should be restricted to this group.
    5. Set these access privileges to Granted: Delete, Edit and Read.
  4. For on-premise applications, set up physical folders on the server machine to match the logical folder structure, and set up sharing on those folders as appropriate.
After the file servers and logical folders are defined, you can select them on parameters forms and on the Documents and Attached Documents forms. Then users can access the files from the File Maintenance form as shown in this diagram:

SelectFiles-LogicalFolders