Create a file connector

A file connector lets DCT Compliance access flat data files for discovery and masking. This page covers FTP, FTPS, SFTP, mount, and cloud-storage connectors. For IBM z/OS mainframe dataset connectors, see Mainframe connectors.

For other connector types, see:

• Cloud file connectors — Connect to cloud object stores (Amazon S3, S3-compatible, Azure Blob Storage).
• Mounts — Connect via NFS/CIFS mounts (VM-based engines) or external mounts (containerized engines in Kubernetes).

Prerequisites

• To use Public Key Authentication (SFTP only), register an SSH private key in DCT before creating the connector. See Register an SSH key. SSH key registration is available through the API only — there is no GUI for this step.

Steps

1. In the left navigation pane, click Compliance > Connectors.

2. Click + Connector.

3. In the Details step, enter the connector name and optionally add tags, then click Next.

4. In the Configuration step:

   1. Select the Job Orchestrator that will run operations for this connector.

   2. Select a Source Type: File - Delimited, File - Fixed Width, File - JSON, File - Parquet, File - XML, or Mainframe - Dataset.

   3. Select a Connection Method: FTP, FTPS, SFTP, Mount, AWS S3, Other S3 Compatible Storage, or Azure Blob Storage.

   4. Enter the Server Name (hostname or IP address) for an FTP, FTPS, or SFTP connection. For IBM z/OS mainframe MVS paths, see Mainframe connectors.

   5. Enter the Port.

   6. Enter the File Path or dataset path. For an MVS dataset path, follow z/OS naming rules and include a trailing period when the path ends with a high-level qualifier (HLQ). Without the trailing period, the path is interpreted as an exact dataset name.

   7. For an FTP or FTPS mainframe connection, select Is Multiple Virtual Storage (MVS) Path to identify the path as MVS storage. FTPS always enables this setting. For more information, see Configure FTPS for mainframe.

   8. (Optional) Select User Directory as root to resolve the file path relative to the user's home directory.

   9. Select an Authentication Method and enter the credentials:

      • Username/Password: Enter the Username and Password.

      • Public Key Authentication (SFTP only): Enter the Username. DCT automatically lists SSH keys that have been registered. Select the key to use for authentication.

      • Password Vault: Select the Credential Path dropdown to choose a pre-configured credential path from an external secret manager (HashiCorp Vault, CyberArk, Azure Key Vault, or GCP Secret Manager). See Password vaults for file connectors for details.

   10. For FTPS mainframe connections, upload the SSL certificate to the Compliance Engine TrustStore before testing the connection. See Configure FTPS for mainframe for the certificate setup steps.

   11. For an AWS S3 connection, enter the Bucket Name, Region, and optional Prefix and Delimiter. Select AWS Role or Access Key as the authentication method.

   12. For an S3-compatible connection, enter the Bucket Name, Region, Service Endpoint, optional Prefix and Delimiter, Access Key, and Secret Key.

   13. For an Azure Blob Storage connection, enter the Account Name, Container Name, and optional Prefix and Delimiter. Select Managed Identity or Access Key as the authentication method.

   14. For a mount connection, select the File System Mount Point and enter the Path Under Mount.

   15. Click Test Connection to validate connectivity to the file server. This step is recommended before creating the connector.

5. Click Next.

6. In the Summary step, review the connector details. Click Back to make changes, or click Submit to create the connector.