7 ways to use APIs in MFT to Scale Deployment

If you want to boost the ROI of your Managed File Transfer (MFT) solution and scale your deployment, pairing your MFT with APIs is an efficient way to do so. The added automation, integration, scalability, and ability to customize your existing solution can help increase the use of MFT across your organization.

What is an API?

In short, an API, or Application Programming Interface, is a rule set that lets one software application communicate with another. APIs can be used in a wide variety of ways including mobile applications, web development, and more. Enabling APIs with a robust MFT solution is a no-fuss way to add even more value to your data transfer software.

Why Incorporate APIs into Your File Transfer Process?

Incorporating APIs can add more options for integration with applications your organization already utilizes each day, including CRM platforms, business intelligence tools, ERP systems, and more. This can help synchronize data across the organization, as well as deliver more secure collaboration. MFT solutions supporting APIs can also add more customization to meet unique business or operational needs.

An organization’s security controls can also benefit from incorporating APIs, as they can be used to help integrate MFT solutions with other data-centric security systems to protect sensitive data. Fortra’s Threat Protection bundle is one such solution, developed to add layers of protection around data.

In general, the overall user experience with the file transfer process is enhanced when you integrate MFT with APIs. The combo’s added flexibility to evolve and scale as your needs change can be a game changer for IT teams seeking to maximize the user experience and ROI. Fortra’s GoAnywhere MFT is a robust file transfer solution that supports APIs and as such, can be super-sized in its use when APIs are applied to its deployment in an organization.

Using APIs in GoAnywhere can also supercharge all new and existing automation workflows. Following are seven specific API features and techniques users can take advantage of within GoAnywhere to maximize the file transfer solution. GoAnywhere not only provides APIs, the solution can also consume third-party APIs, and act as middleman, or API gateway, between other applications.

1. RESTful API

As an interface used by two computer systems to securely exchange information over the internet, REST (Representational State Transfer) can be used to manage users, groups, triggers, projects, and schedules in GoAnywhere. This is advantageous for simplifying new user onboarding or migrating systems and environments. For example, you can use the REST API to create a new web user programmatically and eliminate the manual tasks often needed for on-boarding new trading partners. You can also start/stop file transfer jobs and query the status of active jobs.

2. REST Enable a Secure Form

Within the GoAnywhere dashboard you can select REST Enable Secure Forms to trigger more complex API calls on the backend of Advanced Workflows. Then, using standard REST calls you can invoke the secure form and its underlying project.

Rest Enabled Secure Forms can also act as a REST API gateway to computing resources normally not available to public internet users. The GoAnywhere server can be deployed on the secure network and the solution’s Secure Gateway can act as the link to the public internet in the DMZ.

An administrator can enable curated access to internal REST APIs that would normally be available only via VPN or by a dedicated network connection. Comprehensive audit logs and fine-grained user access controls can turn GoAnywhere MFT into a complete API gateway.

Above is an example of a Secure Form that can accept a file uploaded from a trouble ticketing system such as Jira or SalesForce.

 3. GoAnywhere HTTPS

You can use GoAnywhere HTTPS project tasks to automate file transfers, create Secure Mail Packages, or programmatically place files in Secure Folders for uploading or downloading

For example, do you need to send a large, automatically generated report to a user? You can enable the GoAnywhere HTTPS Send Package task in GoAnywhere to simplify this task. To do so, you would create a project to automatically pick a file(s) and send a package as a link via Secure Mail. Additionally, you can protect that package with a password, track the number of downloads, or set controls to auto-expire the download link after 24 hours. 

Another GoAnywhere HTTPS task is the ability to set up programmable uploads to GoDrive, a solution that provides Enterprise File Sync and Sharing (EFSS) services for employees and partners. 

4. Quick Uploads

Enabling Quick Uploads in HTTP Service lets you turn GoAnywhere into a REST endpoint for file exchange.  Quick Uploads (which requires a POST Method with Authentication) allows the solution to upload files to GoAnywhere via REST and can effectively turn your GoAnywhere Secure Folders feature into a REST-enabled file exchange gateway.

REST-enabled file exchange is very useful for other applications to have a place to store and exchange files. The end users don’t really know what is happening under the hood, but it allows application developers to provide lots of flexibility and build easy-to-use applications.

5. Project Run Mode

You can start a project in the background in the dashboard's triggers, schedules, and within the project designer’s Call Project task. For example, if you need to start a long-running job, you simply start a job in Batch mode, which will run in the background, and the system will be automatically notified when it is finished. Need to copy a huge file set? Run a Job that spawns multiple Batch jobs. For example, every sub folder in your file set could be sent as separately spawned batch jobs. Running multiple jobs in the background in parallel will help optimize your computing resources, increase your throughput, and can spread the workload to other nodes in your GoAnywhere cluster.

In addition to setting the run mode, you can also set the priority and the job queue. For example, some long-running CPU intensive jobs, such as archiving or backup, can be set to run on a lower priority status or on a lower priority queue so that your core MFT operations remain more responsive.

6. Consume Third-Party APIs

Consuming APIs is the process by which the application developer accesses the various APIs that are exposed by the API provider and then uses those APIs to develop one’s own software applications and products. 

Within GoAnywhere you can use HTTP/HTTP Post and GET Project tasks or Webservices REST tasks to call third-party APIs. For example, once a file is uploaded, you can create a trigger that will automatically import the file into third-party applications, such as a CRM or trouble ticketing system. Additionally, GoAnywhere offers cloud connectors to the most popular applications in the industry. If you cannot find a cloud connector for the application you need, use the Project Webservices or HTTP/HTTPS POST Project tasks to connect via REST to the application of your choice.

7. Promote Features

Continuous Integration and Delivery CI/CD functions are important in every large IT Project. GoAnywhere delivers the ability to promote every user, project, schedule, trigger, secure form etc., from development to staging to production. You can use “Promote” REST API calls to automatically migrate your configurations from development to staging to production.

Working on a live production system can be problematic, as even the most diligent administrators can make mistakes and accidentally delete or rename configurations that can effectively take the entire system offline. Using GoAnywhere’s Promote features either via GUI or as an API call is required to maintain the maximum system stability and reliability. If you do not have a test system yet, consider deploying one, to minimize the risk of human errors.

API Options Can Also Boost GoAnywhere MFT Automation

GoAnywhere offers many powerful API options that can turn basic file transfer tasks into a gold standard of automation for IT teams and users. You can mix and match the seven techniques noted to create a next-generation automation framework that goes far beyond standard MFT functionality.  Most GoAnywhere customers use the solution in conjunction with an ICAP server. Combining GoAnywhere with a Digital Loss Prevention (DLP) and Threat Detection tool via an ICAP project task, can turn your plain usage of APIs into a more robust, modern cybersecurity solution.