Connecting to an FTP Server from EDC Tools & System Tools

Each vault in your domain has its own FTP server, which supports various features including Vault Loader, Data Export, and the Veeva Vault CTMS integration. The FTP server is a temporary storage area for files you’re uploading to or extracting from Vault. For example, when exporting data using a Data Export job, you can choose to export the resulting CSV to your FTP server. From Tools > EDC Tools > FTPS, you can create Connections between your vault’s FTP server and the FTP server of other vaults or external FTP destinations. Please note that your firewall must have TCP ports that are supported by Veeva in order to connect to the Veeva FTPS. We do not support TLS session resumption, so it is recommended that you not require it on your FTPs server if possible. To learn more about FTP access, see Veeva IP Addresses.

Note that if you refresh your vault, all files will be removed from the FTP server.

Uses for FTP Connections

• Exporting study data for extraction & analysis in an external tool
• Destination for study data exported in SAS format

Server URL

The URL for each staging server is the same as the corresponding vault, for example, veepharm.veevavault.com.

Accessing EDC Tools

To access the EDC Tools administration area, click the Tools tab in the primary navigation bar, and then click EDC Tools.

Creating an FTP Connection in EDC Tools

You can create a Connection between your vault’s FTP server and another vault’s FTP server or an external FTPS server in EDC Tools. You can also utilize vault-level connections that have been created in System Tools. Vault-level connections will appear as a group in EDC Tools to utilize for Study jobs.

To create a new Connection:

1. Navigate to Tools > EDC Tools > FTPs.

2. Click + New FTP.

3. Enter an FTP Name.

4. Choose the External FTPS, Veeva Vault, or CDB FTP Type to connect to an external FTPS server, the Vault FTPS server, or an FTP or FTPS server through CDB or EDC Clinical Reporting.
5. Fill the required fields. See field details below. Note that you can’t use the same name that you’ve already used for a vault-level connection.
6. Click Save.

Vault creates the FTP Connection. You can now reference this FTP Connection when scheduling jobs.

Creating an FTP Connection in System Tools

You can create an FTP Connection that applies to all studies in the vault in System Tools.

To create a new FTP Connection:

1. Navigate to Tools > System Tools > FTP Connections.

2. Click +New FTP.

3. Enter a Name, Connection Type, User Name, Password, Host, and optional Destination Path for the connection and click Save. Note that you can’t use the same name that you’ve already used for any connection across the vault.
4. You can test your connection with the Test FTP Connection button. See Testing Your Connection below for more details.

Vault creates the FTP Connection record upon saving.

To view all FTP Connections in the vault, both study and vault-level, you can utilize the FTP Configuration Report.

FTP Connection Types

External FTPS

External FTPS allows users to send files to an external FTPS server that supports Passive FTPS with Explicit SSL (FTPES). You must open TCP port 21 and the data port range of 56000-56100 in order for the connection to work. See Veeva IP Addresses for more information about Veeva security.

If you have an external FTPS server whose data ports are not configurable to the range of 56000-56100, you must submit a support ticket to request a custom outbound firewall rule to allow files to be sent to your FTPS server. Note that this request will require a review by the Veeva security team.

Vault will send a test file when testing the connection when the Send Test Data File option is checked.

Veeva Vault

The following screenshot shows the New FTP connection dialog for Veeva Vault FTPS server connections.

Vault will send a test file when testing the connection when the Send Test Data File option is checked.

CDB Workbench

To learn about how to configure a connection for CDB Workbench, see CDB Exports.

Connection Field Details

Field	Description
Username	Enter the Username associated with your account on that server. For Veeva Vault type connections, this is the username that you use to log in to Vault, including the domain, with the host in front. For example, “verteopharma.veevavault.com+cordelia.hunter@verteopharma.com”.
Password	Enter the Password associated with your account on that server. For Veeva Vault type connections, this is your login password, or the password of a configured, generic user account within your vault.
Host	Enter {DNS}.veevavault.com for Veeva Vault type connections, or the host name for FTPS type Connections. For example: “veepharm” is the DNS in veepharm.veevavault.com.
Port	For Veeva Vault type connections, this field is defaulted to 21. For External FTPS type connections, this field is defaulted to 21 using Explicit FTPS (FTPES). For CDB Workbench connections, this field is defaulted to 21 but supports ports between 1-65535.
Destination Path	Enter the destination path. Note that certain characters are not allowed in the path. The characters not allowed at the beginning or end are: blank space, dot (.). The characters not allowed in any place in the folder name are: asterisk (*), backslash (), colon (:), double quote (“), forward slash (/), greater than (>), less than (<), question mark (?), vertical bar or pipe. If you leave the destination path blank, the file will be sent to wherever your FTPS server places it, which is often in the /root directory.

How to Edit an FTP Connection

To edit an existing FTP Connection:

1. Navigate to the FTP Connection you want to edit in EDC Tools > FTPs.
2. Hover over the FTP Connection to display the Actions menu.

3. From the Actions menu, select Edit. Vault opens the Edit FTP dialog.

4. Note: If you have an existing scheduled job running that is using the FTP Connection that you’re editing, you’ll be prompted to confirm whether you want to make changes to that connection.

5. Make your changes.
6. Click Save.

Testing your Connection

You can test your FTP Connection from EDC Tools > FTPS and System Tools > FTP Connections.

EDC Tools:

1. From EDC Tools > FTPS, scroll to the FTP Connection that you want to test.
2. Hover over the FTP Connection to display the Actions menu.
3. From the Actions menu, select Test FTP or Test FTP with File. If testing with a file, Vault will send a test file with the following format, which includes a system generated uuid, the datetime of the file generation, and the contents of the file in the file name: CDMS_TEST__.txt. The file will attempt to delete itself after it is successfully sent and Vault will notify you of the connection status in the UI. When the file is sent, if the destination path does not already exist on your FTP server, the destination folder will be created.
4. Vault tests your connection. If unsuccessful, Vault displays an Error dialog. If successful, Vault displays a Success dialog. Click OK to close.

System Tools:

1. Navigate to System Tools > FTP Connections and click on the Name of the Connection you want to test.
2. Click Test FTP Connection in the upper right hand corner of the connection record.
3. Vault tests your connection. If unsuccessful, Vault displays an Error dialog. If successful, Vault displays a Success dialog.

Connection Statuses

The following are potential statuses you may encounter when testing your connection:

• Connection Successful: Your connection was successful.
• Connection Unsuccessful: Your connection was unsuccessful due to a failure.
• Request Timed Out: Your connection request timed out after 30 seconds of trying and failing to connect or to send a file.
• Cannot Authenticate: There is an error related to the authentication to the server.

How to Access FTP Servers

You can access your vault’s staging server using your favorite FTP client or through the command line.

Use the following settings with an FTP client:

• Protocol: FTPS (File Transfer Protocol over TLS)
• Mode: Passive FTPS
• Encryption: Require Explicit FTP over TLS (FTEPS). This is a security requirement. Your network infrastructure must support FTPES traffic. (Please submit a support ticket if you cannot meet this requirement)
• Port: This does not typically need to be added and will default to Port 21.
• Host: {DNS}.veevavault.com. For example: “veepharm” is the DNS in veepharm.veevavault.com. If using an external FTPS server, use the hostname of your server.
• User: {DNS}.veevavault.com+{USERNAME} for Veeva Vault connections. This setting uses the same User Name that you log in with. For example: veepharm.veevavault.com+tchung@veepharm.com. You can also use the User Name of a configured, generic user account within your vault.
• Password: Your login password for this vault (this is the same password used for your standard login), or the password of a configured, generic user account within your vault.
• Login Type: Normal
• Transfer File Type: Transfer files as binary

To learn more about how to access FTPS, see Accessing Your Vault’s File Staging Server.

How to Delete an FTP Connection

To delete an FTP Connection:

1. Navigate to the FTP Connection you want to delete in EDC Tools > FTPs.
2. Hover over the FTP Connection to display the Actions menu.

3. From the Actions menu, select Delete.

4. In the Delete FTP confirmation dialog, click Continue.
5. Vault deletes the FTP Connection.

We do not currently support deletion of Vault-level FTP connections.