How File Notifications Work

File notifications allow MOVEit Automation to start a task based on the arrival of a file in a directory. The task runs only when the files that are associated with the task are available. This feature is also known as event driven transfer. It is available for MOVEit Transfer and filesystem sources.

For MOVEit Transfer Servers: MOVEit Automation software polls MOVEit Transfer servers for a list of recently-arrived files. One request is made per polling interval, regardless of the number of tasks affected. Because MOVEit Automation does not sign on and sign off for each request, this process is more efficient than having many tasks that each run and check for recently arrived files.

The MOVEit Automation notifier uses the username and password that are associated directly with the host. Tasks with sources that override this username might not be notified promptly.

If the username cannot sign on: MOVEit Automation waits for a period of 60 times the notification polling interval, up to a maximum of 3600 seconds, and then tries again. This extra delay prevents MOVEit Transfer from locking out the user or IP address

For filesystem notifications: The notifier uses Windows directory change notifications, using ReadDirectoryChangesW. When a file arrives, MOVEit Automation waits until the file is no longer locked by another process, and then runs the corresponding tasks.

To set the notification polling interval:

1. In the top menu bar, click SETTINGS > System Settings.
2. In the Tasks row, click Edit. The Edit Tasks dialog box opens.
3. Set the Notification Polling Interval. For more information, see System-wide Task Settings.