S-Filer Portal

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User Guide ​

Using S-Filer Portal ​

This section describes the operations that can be performed by all users in non-administrative mode. The word "file" can refer either to a file or to a folder (directory).

The following sections describe the functions available to the all users:

Logging on as an invited user ​

This section covers the steps you will go through as an invited user. You should read this section if you received an email invitation to join S-Filer Portal and recover important documents.

You received this email because somebody requested that a user account be created for you. When your account is created, the system automatically sends you a notification email containing your username, a temporary password, a domain name, as well as a link to the S-Filer Portal web site. Click the link to get started.

In the following example Mike Smith received an email with his username msmith, a temporary password 3TdNE(Y6, and a Domain Name Business Partner.

Note: all three fields are required to logon and they are in bold in the email received.

To log on to S-Filer Portal, go to the S-Filer Portal web address specified in the email sent when your account was created. A login page will appear, it will probably look similar to the one below but since S-Filer can be completely customizable, the host organisation may have changed the logos, colors.

With the <Auto-detect> domain you can now enter the name you received in the email invitation. If your name is not unique you will receive a message and you will need to specify the Domain Name received in the email in the Domain drop down field.

In either case you need to enter your supplied username in this case msmith and the password 3TdNE(Y6

Note: username and password are case sensitive.

As this is the first time you log in, the system prompts you to change the password.

A dialog box similar to the following will open requesting you to enter information in the following fields:

  • Temporary or expired password: Enter the password you received by email, in the example 3TdNE(Y6.
  • New Password: Enter a new password. The S-Filer Portal administrator has defined password rules (e.g., the minimum number of characters) that you must follow. These rules will be displayed if the password you entered in the New Password field does not meet them.
  • Retype New Password: Enter the same password that you entered in the New Password field.
  • Click Login to change your password and continue with your session.

If the new password you selected does not meet corporate password policy, you will be prompted to pick a better password. In this case, a new window displaying the Password Policy requirements will be displayed.

Lost password ​

In your future logins, if you ever forget your password, click the Lost Password link. You will receive a new temporary password by email. You will then proceed with the same sequence as described above.

  • Username: Enter your user name.
  • Email: Enter your email address.
  • Enter the 5 characters in the right image: Enter the validation information (CAPTCHA image) in the example below it will be ckebc. The validation information is not case sensitive so ckebc or CKEBC will work.

You can also switch to an audio captcha challenge.

This requirement is a protection against anyone using automated tools to try to break into the system.

Click Send password to send the password. You will receive your password by email and will have to go through the steps described in Logging on as an invited user.

Password Expired ​

Passwords have a lifetime set by the S-Filer administrator. If you are notified that your password expired, the new password dialog box will open, simply follow the same steps as for your first login to select a new qualifying password.

Changing your password ​

Your My Profile at the top right corner page under your user name has a Change Password link, unless your Administrator has set the option not to permit you to change your password.

Simply click the link, this will bring you to the Change Password dialog box. Then follow the instructions above.

You are now logged on ​

As an invited user, you can now go directly to the section entitled Sharing files

Logging on to S-Filer ​

To connect to S-Filer Portal

  1. Launch a browser session
  2. Type the S-Filer Portal URL. This URL address was supplied to you by your administrator in the invitation email you received originally when your account was created.
  3. Select the appropriate authentication domain.
  4. Enter you ID and Password in the corresponding fields

If your authentication domain is the corporate Active Directory domain, you must enter your Windows ID and current password.

If the Authentication dialog box offers using Single Sign-on (SSO) or to authenticate with an external identity provider (for example, Microsoft and Google) and you are a member of this domain and not an invited user, simply click on the link without entering your ID and password.

Note

Notice the Lost Password link. This feature is not available to users authenticated through Active Directory or using SSO or authenticated through an external identity provider. You cannot change your password on other domains from the S-Filer Portal application. This feature is only available to Invited users.

Managing your profile ​

From time to time, you may wish to update your account details (i.e., your user profile). Click My Profile in the top right corner under your user name to view and update your account details. Your Administrator may restrict your profile to simply view it and not be able to modify it.

Here are the fields that you can change:

  • Full Name: Normally, this is your "real" given name and family name. It will appear with your Login Name (i.e., the username you provide when you logon to S-Filer Portal) in the group lists and community lists.
  • Email: The email address that S-Filer Portal uses to send you a notice each time that you or someone in your community uploads, downloads, or deletes a file (providing that you have selected Email Notification, below). This is also the email S-Filer Portal will use to send you a new temporary password should you have forgotten your password.
  • Language: Select the language to be used by S-Filer Portal.
  • Inbox Alias: The label used to identify your Inbox. If you leave this field empty, the label Inbox will be used.
  • Email Notification: Select whether or not you wish to receive e-mail notifications.
Changing your password ​

The link Change password appears in the top right corner under your user name. This feature is not available to users authenticated through AD, through an external identity provider or in SSO. You cannot change your password on other domains from the S-Filer Portal application. This feature is only available to Invited users.

Multi-Factor authentication (MFA) ​

S-Filer Portal supports multi-factor authentication (MFA) using TOTP (Time-based One Time Password). There are system level and user group level configurations to determine the users for whom MFA is enforced. If the configuration makes MFA optional for a user, he may still decide to activate it on a voluntary basis.

The following sections describe how to manage and use MFA in S-Filer Portal:

MFA activation ​

If MFA is enforced for your user profile, a screen for configuring MFA will be automatically displayed when you first connect to S-Filer Portal. In the case of voluntary activation, you must use the Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) link available in the drop-down menu represented by your username and click on the Setup MFA button in the window that appears. In both cases, a screen similar to this one will be displayed:

You need to use an application such as Microsoft Authenticator or Google Authenticator to scan the QR code shown on the screen and then enter the code displayed in the application in the MFA Code field.

How MFA works ​

Once MFA has been activated in your user profile, the following screen will be displayed each time you log on to S-Filer Portal:

In the Authentication Code field, you must enter the code displayed in the application.

To avoid having to enter the code each time you log on to S-Filer Portal, you can skip this step once you've successfully logged on the first time. Simply check the option Skip this next time on this device before submitting the code. This option should only be used on a trusted device (e.g. your own computer or phone). It's important to note that after a certain period of time (system default is 7 days), you'll need to enter the authentication code again (you can then check the option again to skip this step for another period of time).

There are some exceptions where MFA will never be requested, even if it is enabled in your user profile:

  • Authentication is performed using an SSH key. This authentication method is not possible via the web interface, but can be used to perform an operation (e.g. file transfer) using the SSH protocol.
  • Authentication is performed using an access token (see Access tokens section).
  • Authentication is performed with an external identity provider and the response returned indicates that MFA has been provided. For example, you are part of a Microsoft AzureAD domain and want to authenticate in S-Filer Portal. By using the corresponding button on the S-Filer Portal login page, you will be redirected to the Microsoft authentication page. In this system, MFA is activated for your user profile, so you'll need to provide a second factor to authenticate yourself. The response returned by Microsoft will tell S-Filer Portal that you have authenticated with MFA. In this case, S-Filer Portal will not ask you for MFA.
MFA replacement and revocation ​

When MFA is enabled for your user profile and you use the link Multi-factor authentication (MFA) available in the drop-down menu represented by your username, the following screen will appear:

As a security measure, it can sometimes be useful to replace the MFA configuration with a new one. This can be done by clicking on the Replace button. If you no longer wish to use AMF for your user profile, you can deactivate it by clicking on the Revoke button.

Note

If the configuration makes the MFA enforced for your user profile, the Revoke button will not be present on the screen. In this case, the only option is to replace it, as it cannot be deactivated.

Access tokens ​

An access token is represented by a string of characters and acts like a password to allow a user to authenticate in S-Filer Portal. However, there are certain behaviors that distinguish it from a password. Firstly, the access token is valid from the moment it is created until the moment it is deleted (there is no rule to force a user to change it). In addition, the use of an access token means that the user is not required to provide a second factor during authentication, even if multi-factor authentication is mandatory and/or configured for this user. Although it can be used as a password in the authentication page of the S-Filer Portal web interface, access tokens are mainly used in an automated process. Indeed, it is difficult for such a process to provide a second factor during authentication and it is desirable not to have to modify the process because of a password change. The access token solves both these problems.

To manage your access tokens, use the Access Tokens link available in the drop-down menu represented by your username. In this screen, you can view existing tokens, delete them individually (by clicking on the trash can icon next to each one) or delete them all (by clicking on the - Remove all button). To create a new access token, click on the + Add button, enter a name and click on the Create access token button. The string representing the access token will then be displayed:

Note

You should make a note of the access token immediately after creating it, as this is the only time it can be viewed.

Sharing files ​

S-Filer Portal is used to share files securely between all members of a community, Share or to in some cases directly to someone as an ad hoc operation.

Understanding the Home Page ​

After you have logged in to S-Filer Portal, you will see a home page that looks like this:

This page has seven sections, shown above in red.

  • Section 1: Lets you search for a community or Share by name, this is helpful when you have many communities or your community is not displayed on the home page.
  • Section 2: Displays the Received Files and Sent Files, Displays the inbox, communities and Shares containing shared files and folders. Received Files and Sent Files contains the files you sent and files you received. Inbox contains your own files, communities contain files for each of the communities to which you belong followed by Shares. Click on any of these containers to see details.
  • Section 3 Displays the various files and folders available to you. Click on a file to download it to your computer (providing you have the necessary rights). Click Delete to erase any files or folders that you no longer wish to share in S-Filer Portal. Use the Search button (the button with the magnifying glass) to filter the file list according to the contents of the adjacent text box. The filter is applied on the from column and the File column.
  • Section 4: Contains all action buttons applicable to files listed below.
  • Section 5: Offers a link to view and update your S-Filer Portal profile, to generate activity reports as CSV files or PDF files. Your Administrator may restrict your profile to simply view it and not be able to modify it.
  • Section 6: Displays the last few completed operations. This section starts clean on every new session.
  • Section 7: Displays the navigation bar. You can use these links to go up in parent folders.

Understanding the tree view ​

Depending on the system configuration and according to your rights and user settings, you may see all or only some of these objects:

  • Administration: If you are an administrative user you will see under this label all communities, Shares and user group you are responsible for. Refer to sections below for more information on administering these objects.
  • Received Files: In the Received Files you will have a detailed list of all files sent to you.
  • Sent Files: In the Sent Files you will have a detailed list of all the files you uploaded.
  • Inbox: This is where incoming transfers will be sent if files and folders were sent specifically to you and not to a community or Share.
  • Community: You then have a list of all communities of which you are a member of. Communities are created by administrative users. In the example above we have "Marketing"
  • Shares: These items are Shares, which are similar to communities but these Shares can be created by non-administrative users. These Shares will only be available if the administrator has configured S-Filer to allow Shares. The allows creation of a new Share. In the Example above, one can see an existing Share called AcmeShare.

All these containers once selected offer the same transfer options via buttons in Section 4.

Understanding Received Files ​

The Received Files provides a detailed view of all files available for downloads. You can simply click on the file and start the download or you can click on the Community/Folder to go directly where the file is located.

Understanding Sent Files ​

The Sent Files provides a detailed view of all files you uploaded. You can simply click on the file and start the download or you can click on the Community/Folder to go directly where the file is located.

Understanding advanced functions ​

In the main screen area, one can notice at the far right of each file listed, up to 3 icons.

  • Versions: If the versioning feature is enabled, the files uploaded to the community will be maintained with the upload dates and a version ID. To get a list of the different version of a file click on this icon and a new window will open listing all existing versions of the file. You can then select the appropriate version to download.
  • Time to Live: This function lets you change the default time-to live settings for a specific file.
  • Rename: To rename the file or folder to the left

Understanding Action buttons ​

If you do not see these buttons on your screen, that means you do not have the access rights needed or that some options are not configured.

Downloads ​

From the action buttons, you can see 2 possibilities for downloads.

Download ​

From the home page, you can download (if you have the right) any of the files displayed. Click on the file that you wish to download. To download several files at a time, use the checkboxes to select the files and then click the Download button. You can only download several files at a time if you are using the Java Applet.

Download All ​

If you want to download all files without having to tag each file on the current page and all pages you can click on Download ALL button.

You can open the file immediately, save it on your computer, or even cancel the operation.

In this case, since the browser handles the transfer, S-Filer Portal cannot display the transfer progress. Moreover, if a transfer is interrupted for any reason, there is no way to restart it. Accordingly, we do not advise using HTTPS transfers for very large files where there could be communication failures

Upload and Send ​

To upload or send files you have 4 options. All 4 can initiate APPLET or HTTPS transfers. As explained above HTTPS is not available for multiple files.

Upload ​

To upload files to all members of a community. When you click on upload, the context will determine where you are uploading the file. You can see in the top navigation bar where you currently are. In this case, we are in Marketing. So if you click on Upload, you will upload files to the community called Marketing. Your Administrator may have setup a default community so when you log in the context will set to that default community and not you're Inbox. For any upload that uses the web interface, start by clicking Upload in the detail section of the current object of the S-Filer Portal home page:

After you click Upload, a new dialog box will open offering to include a text message to recipients. If left empty, the Email notice won't include any extra paragraph and will only include the recipient and file name.

Send ​

To upload to specific community members, you need to select the community in the left hand side navigation tree. Once this community active, you will use the button in the button bar with the label "send" and prefixed by an arrow pointing to an avatar.

Select the members of the community to whom you wish to send the file and move them to the right hand selection box. These members will receive the file in their Inbox, rather than in their folder for that community.

You will also be able to include a text message to recipients.

@Send ​

To upload to a specific user that is not part of an S-Filer community, you have a button in the button bar with the label "send" and prefixed by @.

S-Filer Portal will send an email to the recipient. The message will contain a link which, when clicked, will start an HTTPS file transfer. Once the file is downloaded, it will be deleted from the S-Filer Portal server and cannot be downloaded again unless the time to live properties are changed for this file to be retained for a longer period of time or a number of download. Files that are not downloaded after a period of time (determined by the administrator) are automatically deleted. If the email address is not valid, you will be automatically notified by email, and the file will be deleted from the S-Filer Portal server.

Optionally, you can set a password for the file. The person who receives the email and clicks the link must then enter that password in order to start the download.

The password is not included in the email. You must find some other way to send the password to the recipient. You also have access to the time to live advanced options.

Drag and Drop transfers ​

Drag and Drop upload can be used with browser supporting HTML5.

Drag and drop is only supported for file uploads

Open your file explorer and select and drag files to your Inbox, community or Share.

There is an indicator in green to show the progress of the transfer.

Storage properties ​

All uploads and send offer advanced options in the new window.

  • Storage properties: from a new window you will be able to select Time to live or number of downloads. See example below
  • Upload: Launches the upload or Send command.
  • Cancel: Cancel operation.

These parameters are self-descriptive except for the first one that refers to the default set by S-Filer Portal administrator.

The time to live properties can also be modified if the file was sent to a community. Simply select the community and click the icon to the right of the desired file.

Upload using HTTPS transfers ​

You will see the following File Selection as part of the upload panel:

Click Browse... The Choose File to Upload dialog box will open:

Select a file and click Open. You will return to the File Selection dialog box, where you click Upload to start the transfer. You can follow the progress of the file transfer at the bottom of the dialog box

While the transfer is in progress, you will see "Http file transfer started. Do not leave or refresh this page while transfer is in progress" in the top slide down yellow status bar. Once the transfer is finished, the yellow bar will close and a message will be added to the bottom left hand message box:

Deleting a file ​

You can delete files that reside on the server if the Delete button is available. You may not have access to this action button if your administrator has not given you the right to delete files or if you are not the administrator of the community or if you are not the owner of the Share.

To delete a file, select the check box to the left of the filename, and then click Delete.

Creating folder ​

To create a new folder in the tree shown below.

Moving files or folders ​

To move a file or folder to a new community or Share or in another folder.

Audit Transfer Report ​

You can use the Audit Transfer Report dialog box to generate reports of your uploads (transfers to the server) and downloads (transfers from the server). The reports shows your actions (uploads, downloads, and deletes); the names of the files; the date and time that each file was uploaded, downloaded, or deleted; and the file attributes.

To produce these reports, click the Report button on the S-Filer Portal home page. The Audit Transfer Report dialog box will open:

  • Start Date: The first date that will be included in the report. Default: the first day of the current month.
  • End Date: The last date that will be included in the report. Default: the last day of the current month.
  • Action Type: Select one or more of the following:
    • Uploads completed successfully
    • Downloads completed successfully
    • Files deleted successfully
  • Report Type: Two report formats are available:
    • PDF
    • CSV (comma-separated variable). This format can be imported into Microsoft Excel and other programs.

Logging Out ​

You can end your session with S-Filer Portal by clicking Logout, which appears at the top right of each page:

To protect your files, we suggest that you logout from S-Filer Portal whenever you leave your computer. If you do not use S-Filer Portal for a period of time (determined by an administrator), you will be logged off automatically.

Note: It is important that you DON'T close the windows by using the "X" button before logging out because any actions done during the session will be forgotten.

Shares ​

A Share is a variant of a community. It can be created and administered by a user. A community, on the other hand, can only be created by the system administrator.

See also

Refer to the user interface configuration documentation to activate the shares feature.

Create a share ​

You can create a Share from the user interface by clicking on the link in the navigation tree entitled Create a Share.

Here are the fields available for creating your Share:

  1. Name : You must give a name to your Share. This field is mandatory.
  2. Expiration Date : You can set an expiration date for this Share. Once this date has been reached, the Share will be automatically deleted, along with all associated files.
  3. Template : You can choose a predefined Share template. This choice allows you to benefit from the configurations pre-determined by the administrator for your Share.

See also

Refer to the template configuration documentation to choose a template in the Share creation screen.

Click on Save to create the Share.

Add members to a Share ​

Click on the desired Share in the navigation tree. The Share will have the name you chose in the previous section. In the window that opens on the right, click on the Share settings button.

To add members, please use the section Enter the email(s) of the person(s) with whom you wish to share files.

You can enter email addresses that are not yet present in the S-Filer Portal data repository by following these steps:

  1. Enter the full email address.
  2. Press [ENTER] on your keyboard.
  3. The address will now be displayed in a gray box in the field.

You can also select existing users by following these steps:

  1. In the search box, enter the name of the person you are looking for.
  2. Users matching your search will be displayed.
  3. Click on the name of the desired person.
  4. The person will be added in a gray box in the field.

Once the people are in the box

  1. Click on + Add.
  2. A new window opens to determine certain configurations. In the example above, "jack.stevens@thatcompany.com" is a new user that will be created during this process. The user "afortin" already exists in the S-Filer Portal repository and will be added to this Share.
  3. From this window, you can modify the user's username, full name, email address, language and role. You can also add a message that will be sent to new users created automatically during this member addition process.
  4. Click on Confirm addition to add users.

Once you've completed the above steps, you'll be able to view users as members of the Share.

Additional actions ​

At the bottom of the Share settings screen, you can expand the More settings, Ownership and Delete areas.

More settings ​

This section provides a link to the community management screen. A shared is basically a sharing community. It is therefore possible to modify the advanced configurations of a Share via its community screen.

See also

Ownership ​

This section allows you to become the owner of the Share. To access this action, you must have access to the Share settings screen, which means you must be an administrator.

See also

Delete ​

This section lets you permanently delete a Share.

Warning

Once this operation has been carried out, it cannot be undone. It's important to note that deleting the Share will also delete all associated files.

Delegated administration ​

An S-Filer Portal administrator may wish to delegate some administrative privileges to users. If so, those users become delegated administrators who can then use the web interface to administer specified groups or communities. This section explains how delegated administrators can administer S-Filer Portal.

The following sections introduce the functions available to the different S-Filer Portal administrator:

Administration Concepts ​

S-Filer Portal administration is based on 2 levels of administration.

  • Master Administrator: Only the master administrator can create groups and communities.
  • S-Filer Portal users use S-Filer Portal to transfer files interactively. Users belong permanently to one or more groups. These groups can be based on the more permanent administrative divisions of a company such as Finance, Human Resources, and so on. Users can also be members of communities. These communities can be based on commercial or business requirements such as individual projects or comities.

S-Filer Portal users can be given administrative privileges:

  • Group administrators: As a group administrator, a user can manage the group membership as wells as options and permissions assigned to the group.
  • Community administrators: As a community administrator one can appoint users from different groups to be members in their community. A user can belong to zero, one or more communities. One or more community administrators manage the community.

User groups ​

A user group is a set of users (i.e., people who will use S-Filer Portal). The group grants its members certain rights with regard to S-Filer Portal. You can configure four rights for each group:

  1. Uploads permitted: This right, if enabled for a group, allows any member of the group to upload files. Otherwise, uploads are not permitted.
  2. Downloads permitted: This right, if enabled for a group, allows any member of the group to download files. Otherwise, downloads are not permitted.
  3. Uploads to an email address permitted: This right, if enabled for a group, allows any member of the group to upload a file to an email address. Note: if the S-Filer Portal administrator has deactivated uploading to email addresses, then enabling this right for a group has no effect.
  4. IPs permitted: In this option, you can specify a list of IP addresses. Each address must be in nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn format. Only users whose IP addresses appear in this list can interact with S-Filer Portal. You can also use a mask to specify a range of IP addresses. For example, a mask of 192.*.*.* allows any user whose IP address begins with 192 to access S-Filer Portal. Users whose IP addresses are not specified in the list cannot interact with S-Filer Portal.

A user (or more precisely, a user account) can belong to one group, several groups, or no group at all. If a user is not a member of any group, he or she cannot upload or download files. If a user is a member of one group, he has all the rights that were granted to the group. If a user is a member of two or more groups, his rights may be inclusive or exclusive, depending on the configuration of S-Filer Portal. For example, if a user is a member of one group that permits receiving files and another group that does not, then the user may not be able to receive files. To change the configuration, contact the S-Filer Portal administrator.

Communities ​

A community is a group of users who can exchange documents with each other. When you create a community, you assign one or more user groups to it. The members of these groups are then potential members of the community, but they do not automatically become members. After you create a community, you can select the members of the community from the users who are potential members.

Shares ​

A Share is similar to a community. A Share can be created and administered by a user whereas a community must be created by the Super-administrator. Once created, a community can be administered by an admin user.

File Transfer Notification ​

S-Filer Portal can be configured to automatically send email notification when a com-munity member uploads, downloads, or deletes a file.

Enabling Email Notification ​

For a community member to receive email notification the feature must be enabled both in the community and the community member's user profile.

Understanding Email Notification ​

Once email notification is enabled, S-Filer Portal sends email notifications according to the rules summarized in the table below.

ActionTargetNotification
Upload toCommunity folderAll community members
One or several community membersThose community members who received the file
Your own My Documents folderNone
Email AddressRecipient
Download fromEmail Address
Community folder		Recipient
The community member who uploaded the file
My Documents folder, where another member uploaded the fileThe community member who uploaded the file
My Documents folder, where you uploaded the fileNone
Delete fromCommunity folderAll community members
My Documents folder, where another member uploaded the file
My Documents folder, where you uploaded the fileNone

Administering a User group ​

You can become a delegated administrator of any user group to which you belong. You can be granted this right either by the S-Filer Portal administrator or by a delegated administrator of that group. If you are a user group administrator, your home page will display something like this:

Click User Groups Management to view the list of groups that you administer:

As a delegated administrator, there are three things that you can do:

  • Change the properties ("User Group Details") of a group.
  • Add a new user to a group.
  • Grant membership in a group.

Change the properties of a user group ​

To see the properties of a user group, click on its name in the list of user groups. The User Group Details dialog box will open:

You can change the following properties:

  • Name: The name of the group.
  • Description: Text that describes the group.
  • Theme: At the group level, you can assign a theme. If no theme is specified the default theme will be used. If you specify a theme, it will be used at the login screen and emails URL will include the theme as well.
  • Download Allowed: Grant or revoke the right of the group's members to download files.
  • Upload Allowed: Grant or revoke the right of the group's members to download files.
  • Password Policy: At the group level you can assign a Password Policy for that group. If no specific group password policy is assigned the System Default Password Policy is used.
  • Quick Send Allowed: Grant or revoke the right of the group's members to upload files to an email address.
  • Quick Send Password Policy: At the group level you can assign a Password Policy to use with the Quick Send Allowed. This will make using a password mandatory, if no password policy is assigned you are able to Quick Send with out a password.
  • IPs Allowed: A list of IP address from which the group's members can connect to S-Filer Portal. If the list is empty, users can connect from any IP address. You can use an asterisk to specify a range of IP addresses. For example, enter 192.168.*.* to permit the group's members to connect from any IP address that begins with 192.168.

Add a new user to a group ​

As a user group administrator, you can create an account ("user profile") for a new internal user (typically, a new employee/partner). However, since you are a delegated administrator, you cannot change or delete an account. This means that you must be very careful whenever you enter data for a new account. The new user is automatically a member of the group in which his or account was created.

Here are the fields in the New User Profile dialog box:

  • Username: The username used to login the user.
  • Full Name: The user's "real" full name.
  • Email: The user's email address. S-Filer Portal will send the user's password to this address.
  • Language: Select the language that the user prefers.
  • Role: as a group administrator you cannot change the user's role.
  • Expiration date: you can set the expiration for a user account. If left blank the software will add by default 60 days to the expiration date when the user first logs in.
  • Account locked: this box will be checked if the users tries to login and had more than 3 failed attempts (the default is 3 failed attempts but this can be changed by a administrator). As a group Administrator you can check this box to prevent a user from logging in.
  • Current theme: For a new user it will display the default current theme.
  • Default community: You can set the community in which a user will point to when they login. If not set the focus will be on the user's Inbox.
  • Inbox Alias: Optionally, you can create an alias (e.g., "My Documents") for the user's personal Inbox. This alias will be used in place of "Inbox" on the user's home page.
  • Reference ID: a general field you can use, is not used during transfers.
  • User quota: This parameter limits the size of shared spaces created by this user.
  • Non-Editable by user: Enable or disable if a user can modify their profile. If unchecked the user can modify their profile. If checked the user will be able to see their profile but not modify it.
  • Upload permitted to inbox: This field can be used to limit the size of the inbox to prevent users from using S-Filer Portal to keep copies of personal items like photos...
  • Allow Email Notification: Enable or disable email notification for this user. Email notification can be used when a new file is uploaded to the user, for example.
  • Password reset and Confirmation: This option permits a Group Administrator to choose a password for the user. Usually passwords are sent by mail when a user is created, but if they have problems receiving their password by mail a Group Administrator can set the user's password and send it using a different method.
  • Service account: This option is used for users performing automated tasks where we do not want to have to change password or provide multi-factor authentication (MFA) in a script. The S-Filer CLI (Command-Line-Interface) has a function that generates an encrypted password to use in a script.
  • Prevent user from changing his password: if this option is enabled the user will not be able to modify their password.
  • Require password change on next logon: This option is on by default and will require that the user change their password on their first logon.
  • SSH key: When doing transfers in SFTP this will be the public key to be used for SSH authentication. When using the SSH key no password is required for authentication

Grant or revoke membership in a user group ​

As a delegated administrator of a user group, you can add S-Filer Portal users to your group.

Use the + Add (1) button to select to add a new user to the group, use - Remove (2) button to remove a user from the group.

You can also remove group administrators from the Group Administrator(s) list Group Administrators will have a check mark beside their user name. You cannot, however, remove yourself from the Selected Administrator(s) list. Only a master administrator can delete a user from the application.

View or modify a user profile in a user group ​

As a delegated administrator of a user group, you can view or modify a user's profile in your group.

Just click on the highlighted user to open the user profile.

Administering a Community ​

You can become a delegated administrator of any community to which you belong. You can be granted this right either by the S-Filer Portal administrator or by a delegated administrator of that community. If you are a community administrator, your home page will display something like this:

Click Communities Management to view the list of Communities that you administer:

As a delegated administrator, there are two things that you can do:

  1. Change the properties ("Community Details") of a community.
  2. Generate reports about the file-transfer activities of the community.
  3. Assign or Revoke membership to users

Change the properties of a community ​

To see the properties of a community, click on its name in the list of communities. The Community Details dialog box will open:

You can change the following properties:

  • Name: The name of the community
  • Description: Text that describes the community.
  • Security Profile: The type of encryption used for file transfers.
  • Compression Profile: The type of compression used for file transfers.
  • Email Notification: Notifications used by this community.
  • Transfer Option: If enabled, community members can only send files to the entire community. If disabled, community members can also send files to individual members.
  • Display Option: If disabled, community members who do not have download rights can nonetheless view the list of files.
  • Collaboration: This option if checked will keep different version of a file. To always replace the file, leave this option box unchecked. The Allow synchronization with client computers option, if enabled will permit files from this community to be synchronized on member's computers using the Sanctum client.
  • Quota (Mb): The Quota field will restrict the total amount of megabytes allowed for the community.
  • Maximum file size: will restrict the size in megabytes that a user is allowed to upload the community. If the quota is attained the user will receive an email informing them that they have exceeded the quota for the community.
  • Time to Live: The default time to live for a community can be set by number of days, number of hours or number of downloads before the file is deleted. The default time to live is now displayed on the community Manager page. This information is useful because if the application admin has permitted It you can specify a higher value than the default if required.
  • Community Expiration Date: Select an end date for the community. community. When this date is reached, the community will be deleted.
  • Inactivity period: Select a period of inactivity for the community. community. When this period is reached, the community will be deleted.

Generate Reports ​

The Community Audit Transfer Report dialog box allows you to generate reports of the file-transfer activities of all community members. The reports show file-transfer actions, the date and time of the actions, and the names, size and properties of the transferred files.

To generate reports, click the Report icon (This button is present at the end of each community line)

The Community Audit Transfer Report dialog box will open:

  • Start Date: The first date that will be included in the report. Default: the first day of the current month.
  • End Date: The last date that will be included in the report. Default: the last day of the current month.
  • Action Type: Select any of the following: Uploads completed successfully, Downloads completed successfully, Files deleted successfully, show advanced action types to have the complete list of action types
  • Report Type: Two report formats are available: PDF, CSV (comma-separated variable). This format can be imported into Microsoft Excel and other programs.

Grant or revoke membership in a community ​

As a delegated administrator of a community, you can add S-Filer Portal users to your community, and you can also remove them from your community.

Use the + Add (1) button to select to add a new user to the community, use - Remove (2) button to select a user to remove from the community.

You can also search for a user to add to the community.

Community Administrators will have a check mark beside their user name.

You can also remove other community administrators. You cannot, however, uncheck yourself as the Community administrator while logged in.

For a user to be available or appear in the User(s) list, a user must be a member of a user group that is associated with the community.

Using templates ​

Templates offer the possibility of creating Shares by pre-configuring the entities that belong to them. A Share consists of users, a group and a community. Unlike communities, Shares do not reveal configuration details. This approach makes it possible to quickly implement a means of sharing files for users. The use of templates enables configuration parameters to be applied transparently to end-users. This makes it easy to assign similar characteristics to Shares without requiring administrators to make configuration changes.

The drop-down list offering the possibility of selecting a template will not be available if one of the following conditions is true:

  1. There is no template.
  2. There is only one template, and it is the default.

A model is described in four entities:

  1. The general template, which includes a user model, a group model and a community model. It is used to logically group entity models.
  2. The community model, which groups together the characteristics of a community.
  3. The group model, which groups together the characteristics of a group.
  4. The user model, which groups the characteristics of a user.

Warning

The user model differs from that of the community and group. Some properties, such as password, cannot be applied to end users.

Template creation is only available to administrators from the left-hand menu.

Use the Create model button to start creation.

Once in the screen, the administrator can select the various entities that will form part of the model. It is not necessary to select all entities, as they can always be added or modified at a later date. Only the model name is mandatory.

Warning

The use of models can have unanticipated side-effects. For example, if a template becomes an entity referred to by another template, the templates may become altered during use. It is recommended not to use entity models that are referred to by other entity models.

In order to create the model, it is necessary to create the entity models that will be assigned to it. Creating an entity template is done in exactly the same way as creating a regular entity. Simply use the user, group and community creation screens.

Once a template has been created, it can be modified by clicking on the "Modify" button in the template list.

Default template ​

The default template concept is designed to simplify template selection when creating a Share. For many organizations, there will be only one template. In this case, it is possible to define this template as the default. So, when a Share is created, the default template will automatically be selected. When this situation occurs, the drop-down list for selecting a template will not be displayed.

Default community assignment ​

Another special feature can be applied to templates. One of the special settings for a user is to assign him/her a community (or sharing space) by default. In many cases, the user and the Share are created at the same time. By activating this setting, the user will be assigned a default Share he or she is created. This avoids the need for administrators to manually assign this configuration to the user.

However, this setting only applies to new users. Existing users can be added to a Share, but will not be assigned the default Share. This rule applies so as not to alter the application's operation for existing users.

Simple use case ​

The simplest use case is to create a template that consists solely of a user model. A Share often contains a combination of internal and external users (users from outside the organization using the S-Filer solution). By applying a simple model containing only one user model, we ensure that we control the characteristics of the users who will be associated with the Share.

In concrete terms, the user model will be associated with specific characteristics aimed at limiting its ability to modify its user profile, as well as limiting the use of its inbox.

When creating the template, we'll make sure to select the user template we've just created. The groups and communities fields will remain empty for this template.

Once the Share has been created, the next step is to invite a new user who is not part of the S-Filer solution. To do this, we'll use the "Add user" button in the user list.

Note on existing users

For this use case, it's important to note that existing users who can be invited into this sharing area will correspond to the characteristics assigned to them when their account was created in the solution. Only new users invited into the Share will have the characteristics of the user template.

By inspecting the user that has been created, we can see that the characteristics of the user template have been applied.

This simple use case shows how it's possible to create a user template that will be applied to all users invited to the Share. It is possible to create more complex templates that will be composed of several entities. The following section illustrates one of these more complex use cases.

More complex use cases ​

An interesting use case is to create a model in which it would be possible to offer a distinct interface between internal and external users. This approach enables a different user experience depending on the user's origin. In addition, we'd like to apply extensions to Shares to limit the types of files that can be deposited there. Without the use of the model, assigning an extension would require the systematic intervention of an administrator.

Group template

For this use case, we're going to create a model consisting of a group named : external-group-model

We want users who are already part of the internal group to be automatically assigned when the Share is created, and we want external users integrating into the Share to have different characteristics to internal users. To achieve this, we need to ensure that the internal user group has the "Automatic assignment" attribute. This attribute enables users belonging to the internal group to be automatically assigned to the community. These users have a more privileged role than external users. They already have a profile with which they are comfortable. So there's no need to offer them a different interface.

User template

We'll also want to assign a particular user model to this template, which will apply to external users: external-user-model

This user model has distinct characteristics from internal users. They have a role with more limited permissions, and a distinct theme to provide a streamlined user interface.

Community template

The community to be used as a template must therefore have the internal group pre-assigned, so that all internal users are automatically assigned to the community.

It's worth taking advantage of the auto-assignment feature. This feature ensures that all users belonging to the internal user group are automatically assigned to the community. This approach avoids the need to manually add internal users to the Share. As soon as a user is added to the internal group, he or she will automatically be assigned to the Share.

To make things even more interesting, an additional feature will be applied to our Share. This feature is designed to ensure that files uploaded to it are images only. To achieve this, we need to use an extension that will be applied to the community template. In this way, all Shares using this template will inherit this feature.

The next step is to assign the new extension to the community and ensure that it is activated.

Recommendation

It is recommended to use a specific nomenclature to identify entities representing models. One suggestion would be to prefix entity names with "model-". This will make it easy to distinguish entities that are models from those that are not. It is also important to specify that entities referenced by a model cannot be deleted. It will be necessary to modify the template to remove the reference to the entity before it can be deleted.

With the various templates now in place, the next step is to create the Share. This step must be performed by a regular user with the necessary permissions to create Shares. The link for creating Shares is available from the left-hand menu.

Once the Share has been created, the next step is to invite a new user who is not part of the S-Filer solution. To do this, we'll use the "Add user" button in the user list. Once this user has been invited, he or she will have the characteristics of the external user model.

This more complex use case demonstrates how templates can save a significant number of manual management steps. Without this approach, it would be necessary to manually modify each new Share to assign an extension and apply features to each new user. By using templates, you can quickly create new Shares and ensure that their features are uniformly applied.

Using FTP, SFTP, and FTPS transfers ​

S-Filer Portal supports the standard FTP, SFTP, and FTPS file transfer protocols. As a result, you can use client applications that support these protocols to access your S-Filer account and to transfer files.

The following section describes the different communication protocols available in S-Filer Portal:

FTP Transfers ​

S-Filer Portal supports FTP, but we don't recommend its use: this protocol is not secure. All data---including your username, your password, and the files you transfer---are transmitted without encryption. This allows a third party "snooping" on the network to intercept them. On the other hand, you can use FTP if you are using a network that you know has been secured.

You cannot use FTP unless the S-Filer Portal administrator has configured it. By default, port 21 is used. You should check with your administrator if the default ports were used. The following example shows how to use the FTP client of Windows 7.

If your multi-protocol S-Filer server is, for example, on a machine named www.sfiler.com, you can access your S-Filer account by entering ftp://www.sfiler.com/ in the Address field of Windows Explorer. The Log On As dialog box will open:

You must enter the username and password that you use for S-Filer Portal. If your username belongs to a domain external to S-Filer Portal (such as Active Directory), add "@" and the domain name after your username. For example, if your username is jsmith and you use the okiok.com domain, then you must enter jsmith@okiok.com in the User name field.

It's very important to use the Domain name that is in the drop down list on the logon screen

It's very important to use the Domain name that is in the drop down list on the logon screen. In our case its okiok.com.

Once you login in this manner, you can access your own files as well as those of the communities to which you belong. You can upload and download these files using FTP.

Note: When using FTP, only the short name of each community appears (and not the description).

FTPS Transfers ​

S-Filer Portal supports FTPS, which is an FTP protocol that runs over a secure communication channel. We strongly recommend that you use FTPS rather than FTP.

You cannot use FTPS unless the S-Filer Portal administrator has configured it. By default, port 990 is used for implicit and port 21 for explicit FTP over TLS. You should check with your administrator if the default ports were used. The following example is based on FileZilla, a FTPS client for Windows. Here is how to configure a connection to the S-Filer server:

You must enter the username and password that you use for S-Filer Portal. If your username belongs to a domain external to S-Filer Portal (such as Active Directory), add "@" and the domain name after your username. For example, if your username is jsmith and you use the okiok.com domain, then you must enter jsmith@okiok.com in the User field.

Once authenticated, the user will have access to his files and those of the communities of which he is a member. It should be noted that the names of the communities used in FTPS mode are the short names of the community and not the content of the description field in the Web interface. It is now possible to send and receive files using the FTPS protocol.

Note: Check with the FTP configuration to be sure you use the correct domain name.

All FTP and FTPS transfers must use the Passive Transfer mode.

Below is an example of setting the Transfer mode to Passive for the FileZilla client

If your Inbox or community contains accented characters you should configure your FTPS client to use UTF8 to be sure the names are displayed properly.

The first time you login you will receive a warning for the FTPS certificate that S-Filer is using. You can trust this certificate and it will be the one used for all FTPS transfers.

Once you login in this manner, you can access your own files as well as those of the communities to which you belong. You can upload and download these files using FTPS.

Note: When using FTPS, only the short name of each community appears (and not the description).

SFTP Transfers ​

S-Filer Portal supports SFTP, which is an FTP protocol that runs over a secure SSH communication channel. We recommend that you use SFTP rather than FTP.

You cannot use SFTP unless the S-Filer Portal administrator has configured it. By default, port 22 is used. You should check with your administrator if the default port was used. The following example shows how to use the SFTP client of Windows. The following example is based on FileZilla, an SFTP client for Windows. Here is how to configure a connection to the S-Filer server:

You must enter the username and password that you use for S-Filer Portal. If your username belongs to a domain external to S-Filer Portal (such as Active Directory), add "@" and the domain name after your username. For example, if your username is jsmith and you use the Okiok.com domain, then you must enter jsmith@okiok.com in the User field.

Note: Check with the FTP configuration to be sure you use the correct domain name Figure 36 - Authentication for Active Directories Users

The first time that you connect to the S-Filer server, you will be asked to accept the S-Filer Portal key. You can trust this certificate and it will be the one used for all SFTP transfers

You can also use a SSH key authentication with S-Filer Portal

To use Public Key Authentication method you will have to provide the private key in the SFTP client

For FileZilla it's in the SFTP setting to add the Public Key Authentication

When using Public Key Authentication with SSH you do not need to supply a password.

Once you login in this manner, you can access your own files as well as those of the communities to which you belong. You can upload and download these files using SFTP.

Note: When using SFTP, only the short name of each community appears (and not the description).

Using the command-line interface (CLI) ​

S-Filer Portal can be used with a command-line interface. Once the CLI application sfiler.exe/sfiler.sh is installed on your workstation, you can use it to upload/download/delete files.

If the CLI application sfiler.exe/sfiler.sh is installed on your workstation, you can use it from the Windows command line or in batch files (scripts).

Assuming that you are in the folder that contains sfiler.exe/sfiler.sh, enter sfiler to start the program. Enter sfiler --h to display the available parameters.

Please refer to the S-Filer Portal Integration guide for a description of the CLI

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