Documentation Campaign Campaign Web User Interface

Transfer file

Last update: April 3, 2025

Applies to:
Campaign v8 Web User Interface

The Transfer file activity is a Data Management activity. It allows you to receive or send files, test for file presence, or list files on a server. The protocol used can be either server-to-server protocol or HTTP protocol.

NOTE

With the Campaign Web User Interface, two activities have been consolidated into one by merging both File transfer and Web download capabilities. This consolidation does not impact the functionality of the activity in any way.

Follow the steps detailed below to configure the Transfer file activity.

Choose the transfer protocol and operation

Add a Transfer file activity into your workflow, then specify the type of transfer to perform depending on the protocol that you want to use:
- For HTTP protocol, select Web Download. This allows you to perform a GET or POST operation to download a file on an explicit URL, an external account, or an Adobe Campaign instance.
- For other server-to-server protocols and related actions, select File transfer.
Select the action to perform with the activity. Available actions depend on the type of transfer you have selected. Expand the sections below for more information.
Actions available with File transfer type activities
File download: Download a file from the server.

File upload: Upload a file to the server.

Test to see if file exists: Check if a given file is present on the server. Generates two outbound transitions after the activity: “File exists” and “File does not exist.”

File listing: List all the files available on the server.
Actions available with Web download type activities
Simple transfer (GET): Retrieve a file.

Transfer using a form (POST): Upload a file and additional parameters.
By default, for file upload actions, the activity uses the file specified in the previous activity. To use a different file, toggle the Use file from previous activity option off and click the Add file button.

In the Source field, enter the desired file name, or use the expression editor to calculate the file name using event variables. Learn how to work with event variables and the expression editor. Repeat the operation to add as many files as needed.

Define the transfer destination

In the Remote server section, specify the server to connect by using one of these methods:
- Use connection parameters defined in an external account: Connect to a server using the connection parameters of an external account. In the Server folder field, specify the path to the file (or to the folder for file listing actions).
- Quick configuration: Enter the URL of the file (or folder for file listing actions).
- Adobe Campaign instance (Web download type activities): Download a file from an Adobe Campaign instance server.
For Web download POST actions, you can pass additional parameters with the operation. To do this, click the Add parameter button, then specify the name and value of the parameters. You can add as many parameters as needed.
By default, for file upload, the files uploaded to a server are automatically saved. If you do not want to keep this history, toggle the Keep history of files sent option off.

Historization settings

Every time a Transfer file activity is executed, it stores the uploaded or downloaded files in a dedicated folder. One folder is created for each Transfer file activity of a workflow. By default, files are saved on the default storage directory of the Adobe Campaign installation folder (/vars) before being processed. To use a specific folder, toggle the Use a default storage directory option off and enter the path of the directory.

Screenshot showing workflow transfer file historization settings

It is important to limit the size of this folder to preserve physical space on the server. To do that, define a maximum number of files or total size for the activity’s folder. By default, 100 files and 50 MB are authorized.

Every time the activity is executed, the folder is checked as follows:

Only files created more than 24 hours before the execution of the activity are taken into account.
If the number of files taken into account exceeds the value of the Number of files field, the oldest files are deleted until the maximum number of files allowed is reached.
If the total size of files taken into account exceeds the value of the Maximum size (in MB) parameter, the oldest files are deleted until the maximum size allowed is reached.

CAUTION

If the activity is not executed again, its folder will not be checked or purged. Be cautious when transferring large files.

Advanced & error management options

In the Advanced options, additional options are available based on the type of activity that you are configuring. Expand the sections below for more information.
Additional options for File transfer type activities
Delete the source files after transfer: Erase the source files after a successful transfer.

Display the session logs: When this option is activated, information related to the transfer operation is displayed in the workflow logs once the workflow has been executed.

List all files (File listing actions): This option indexes all the files present on the server in the vars.filenames event variable, in which the file names are separated by the n characters. Learn how to work with event variables
Additional options for Web download type activities
Follow redirections: File redirection lets you use overrides to direct data input or output to a device of a different type.

Add the HTTP headers to the file: In some cases, you may wish to add additional HTTP headers to a file. Most commonly, these headers will be used to provide additional information for troubleshooting purposes, for Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS), or to set specific caching directives.

Ignore the HTTP return code: HTTP return codes, also known as HTTP status codes, indicate the outcome of an HTTP request.
The Process errors option allows you to activate an “Error” outbound transition after the activity if any error occurs during the transfer.

Additionally, for File transfer type activities, the Process missing file option allows you to activate a “No file” outbound transition after the activity if the file is not available on the specified path.

recommendation-more-help