May 2024

In May 2024, we added detailed logging for FTP and SFTP activity, giving you better information for troubleshooting.

FTP Logs and SFTP Logs

Detailed FTP and SFTP activity logs are now available to site administrators, so you can track activity and issues related to transmission. These logs help with troubleshooting issues your users encounter when connecting via FTP/S or SFTP. Several filters are available so you can look at targeted activity. The logs are available to all sites, and no action is needed to enable this feature.

Learn more about FTP Logs and SFTP Logs.

Minor Updates

In addition to the new logging for FTP and SFTP, we've also added many other platform improvements this month.

Use Wildcards to Search File and Folder Paths in History

Activity History and File History logs support the * and ? wildcards in the Folder Path and File Path filters. For example, you can search for *Invoice*.txt to filter any .txt file names containing the key word 'Invoice'. No action is required to enable this feature.

Learn more about File History and Activity History.

Share Link Access Log Enhancements

The Access Logs for Share Links list all types of share link visitor activity, including: registration, download, upload, delete, move, and copy. No action is needed to enable this detailed logging.

Learn more about Share Links access logs.

Sync Log Improvements

When a Sync runs but does not copy a file because it's already at the destination, the sync no longer logs a message that the file matches the destination. This reduces log noise and makes actionable information easier to spot within a sync's run log. This is already applied to all syncs.

Learn more about Sync run logs.

Automatically Create Missing Parent Folders via FTP or SFTP

Some older FTP/SFTP clients do not attempt to create a parent folder before uploading a file. A new setting for FTP and SFTP tells Files.com to create the missing folder automatically when the client uploads. Site administrators can change this setting on the FTP or SFTP pages.

Learn more about the settings available for FTP and SFTP.

S3 Remote Server Configuration Form

The form for adding an S3 Bucket Remote Server now clarifies your options when setting up access to a subfolder of a bucket. No action is needed for existing S3 integrations; you'll see the updated form when you add a new integration.

Learn more about setting up an AWS S3 Remote Server.

Downloading Files That Have Failed To Automatically Decrypt

Files that could not be automatically decrypted can now be downloaded via any of the Files.com interfaces. Previously, files that could not decrypt were not visible for download, and required contacting Customer Support for assistance. The downloaded file is still encrypted, so to access the contents you will need to decrypt the file on your own device after downloading. No action is needed to enable this improvement.

Learn more about automatically encrypting or decrypting files.

Limit the Length of Filenames

A new folder setting lets folder admins and site administrators cap the total length of a filename uploaded to that folder. This prevents problems exchanging files with remote systems that enforce short filename requirements. If filename lengths affect your data flows, take a look at this setting.

Learn more about this setting.

Share Link and Inbox Email Invitations Reply-To Address

When a user invites recipients to a share link or an inbox, the reply-to address of the email now contains that user's email address, rather than the global reply-to address of the account. Recipients can reply directly to the person they're already working with on the file exchange. No action is needed to enable this change, but you may need to let users know to watch their email for responses from recipients.

Learn more about Share Link invitations and Inbox invitations.

Inboxes Display Per-Folder Logo

If an Inbox folder has a custom logo assigned, that logo is displayed to web visitors. This is useful when you've assigned different brands to folders in your site; inboxes created in those branded areas reflect the most relevant branding. If you handle multiple brands in your site and use Inboxes, review the logo settings for your folders.

Learn more about Per-Folder Logos.

New Options for Previewing Files

Site administrators can define custom extensions for text-based files that can be previewed directly within the web interface. This allows you to avoid converting office-like files, such as CSV. To configure this feature, visit the Viewer & Editor page within your site.

Learn more about previews.

New Authentication Method: Password + SSH Key

At the request of some customers with specific security requirements, you can now configure users to require both their password and an SSH key when connecting via SFTP. To enable this for users, edit the desired users and change their authentication method.

Learn more about the available user authentication methods.

Okta SCIM Deprovisioning Users With "Delete" Method

The Okta SCIM deprovisioning method now deletes users when "Delete" is the selected method. Previously, users were always disabled when deprovisioned through this integration. Site administrators using Okta SCIM provisioning need to verify the deprovisioning settings match the behavior they expect.

Increased Stability When Running Multiple CLI Instances

Some customers run several independent Files.com Command Line Interface (CLI or files-cli) processes on the same machine. Performance of multiple concurrent files-cli instances is now improved. To take advantage of this, update to the latest version of files-cli.

Learn more about files-cli.

Improved Error Messages in files-cli

The Files.com Command Line Interface (CLI or files-cli) reports a more useful error message when you attempt to upload to a path you don't have permissions for. Update your files-cli to the latest version to take advantage of this improvement.

Learn more about files-cli.

Web Interface Polish

The color and placement of confirmation buttons are now consistent across all forms in the web interface.

PHP SDK Version 2.0 Released

The official Files.com PHP SDK has been updated to new major revision 2.0. The SDK was updated to comply with both the PSR-12 coding standard and the PSR-4 autoloading standard. As a result, some classes were moved to different namespaces. If you are using the PHP SDK, you may need to update client code that references the moved classes.

See the README on Github for more details about the changes.

Python SDK More Efficient

The official Files.com Python SDK has been updated to re-use the same session object provided by the requests library. This prevents a problem caused by the source system sending requests from multiple IP addresses. Be sure to update to the most recent version of the Python SDK to get this improvement.

Check out the updated Python SDK on Github.

Developers Site Code Examples Improved

Some of the code examples at https://developers.files.com used confusing logic for two-step examples (such as finding a record by ID and then deleting it). These have been updated to make more sense.

See the code examples in our Developer Site.

SDKs Type-Hinting Improved

The data types of array properties on responses have been updated across all official Files.com SDKs. When you update to the latest version of your SDK, verify that your client code handles responses the way you expect.

Learn more about our SDKs.

Sync Retry Improvements

Our Sync processes now use more intelligent retry logic to reduce the number of failed syncs. No action is needed for this performance boost.

Improved Performance for ExaVault Host Key

Customers who upgraded from the ExaVault platform and who use a storage region outside the US will now see better performance via SFTP when using the ExaVault Host Key for their site. No action is needed; the improvement is already applied to all appropriate sites.

Learn more about the Regional Storage options available to you.