Hints and tips for using MFT

Here are some suggestions to help you to make best use of Managed File Transfer.

  • If we change the agent.properties file, stop and restart the agent to pick up the changes.
  • If you start a file transfer and there is no sign of transfer progress and no errors are reported, check that the source agent is running. If the transfer is shown but does not progress, check that the destination agent is also running. We can check the current state of agents in the agent log or verify that the agent is active with an ftePingAgent command.
  • When we cancel an individual transfer using the fteCancelTransfer command, we can use either the source or destination agent in the -agentName parameter. However, when you delete a transfer schedule using the fteDeleteScheduledTransfer command, we must use the source agent name in the -agentName parameter.
  • When creating a file transfer the source and destination file paths, either absolute or relative, are significant only on the source and destination agents. The system and directory that the fteCreateAgent command is issued from has no relevance to the file being transferred.
  • Your default environment setup might not be able to fully support Managed File Transfer, particularly if we are running multiple concurrent transfers. If an agent has an error indicating it has run out of memory, check and update the following parameters as required:

    • For UNIX platforms: run the command: ulimit -m 1048576 (or approximately 1 GB). This maximum resident set size is enough to allow a maximum of 25 concurrent transfers (25 concurrent transfers is the default for the maximum number of transfers for an agent).
    • For all platforms: set the BFG_JVM_PROPERTIES environment variable as follows: BFG_JVM_PROPERTIES=-Xmx1024M

    To allow numbers of concurrent transfers greater than the maximum default of 25, use larger sizes for ulimit and BFG_JVM_PROPERTIES than those suggested.

    Note: For Connect:Direct bridge agents the default for the maximum number of concurrent transfers is 5.
  • When we use Managed File Transfer to transfer files in text mode between different platforms, the default file encoding of the source platform might not be supported by the destination platform. This causes a transfer to fail with the following error: 
    BFGIO0058E: The transfer source encoding xxx is illegal or for an unsupported character set.
    You can resolve this error by setting the source encoding to one that is supported by the destination platform using an environment variable. Set the BFG_JVM_PROPERTIES system environment variable on the source system as follows: BFG_JVM_PROPERTIES=-Dfile.encoding=xxx, where xxx is an encoding supported by the destination platform. For example, if we are transferring files in text mode to a different platform and the source locale is set to "ja", set BFG_JVM_PROPERTIES as follows: BFG_JVM_PROPERTIES=-Dfile.encoding=EUC-JP. If the source locale is set to "ja_JP.PCK", set BFG_JVM_PROPERTIES as follows: BFG_JVM_PROPERTIES=-Dfile.encoding=Shift_JIS.

    We can also resolve this error for an individual transfer by using the -sce parameter when you start a new transfer. For more information, see fteCreateTransfer: start a new file transfer.

Parent topic: MFT general troubleshooting