On my Windows 10 system, I have a BAT script that utilizes winscp.com to transfer a single file to an SFTP server on the internet. The script records the outcome of the transfer in an XML file.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<session xmlns="http://winscp.net/schema/session/1.0" name="[email protected]" start="2020-02-08T10:04:41.012Z">
<upload>
<filename value="c:\sftp\test.txt" />
<destination value="/Data/test.txt" />
<result success="true" />
</upload>
<touch>
<filename value="/Data/test.txt" />
<modification value="2020-02-08T03:52:28.000Z" />
<result success="true" />
</touch>
</session>
When the transfer of a single file is successful, the output in the log file shows two elements: “upload” and “touch,” both of which have a value of “success = true.”
To verify if the transfer was successful, I am unsure of the meaning of “upload” and “touch” and whether both elements need to have a value of “true” for the transfer to be considered successful. Although I could manually download the file to check its integrity, I would prefer not to. The first parameter of my winscp.com command is the script file, and the second is the XML log file, which is specified as /xmllog=”C:\SFTP\mylog.xml”.
As a beginner in this area, I apologize if my query is too basic.
3 Answers
Introduction
File transfer is an essential task in today’s digital world, and there are numerous tools available to accomplish this task. One such tool is WinSCP, which is a popular SFTP client for Windows operating systems. In this blog post, we will discuss how to interpret the success of an SFTP transfer using WinSCP’s XML log file.
Understanding the XML Log File
When using WinSCP to transfer a file via SFTP, the outcome of the transfer is recorded in an XML log file. The log file contains information about the transfer, including the source and destination file paths, start and end times, and the transfer outcome.
The XML log file has a predefined structure and contains several elements, including the session element, which is the root element of the XML file. The session element contains several child elements, including the upload and touch elements.
The upload element contains information about the file that was uploaded, including the source file path, destination file path, and the transfer outcome. The touch element contains information about the file’s modification time and the transfer outcome.
Interpreting the Transfer Outcome
To determine if the transfer was successful, we need to check the transfer outcome in the XML log file. The transfer outcome is recorded in the result attribute of the upload and touch elements.
If the transfer was successful, the result attribute of both the upload and touch elements will have a value of “success = true.” If the transfer failed, the result attribute will have a value of “success = false.”
Checking the Transfer Outcome Programmatically
If you are automating the file transfer process using a script, you can check the transfer outcome programmatically. In the script, you can parse the XML log file and check the result attribute of the upload and touch elements.
If both the upload and touch elements have a result attribute value of “success = true,” the transfer was successful. If either element has a result attribute value of “success = false,” the transfer failed.
Automating the Transfer Process and Log File Creation
To automate the file transfer process and log file creation using WinSCP, you can use a BAT script. The BAT script should contain the WinSCP command to transfer the file and specify the XML log file’s location using the /xmllog parameter.
The following is an example of a BAT script that transfers a file to an SFTP server and creates an XML log file:
@echo off
"C:Program Files (x86)WinSCPWinSCP.com" ^
/log="C:SFTPtransfer.log" /xmllog="C:SFTPtransfer.xml" /command ^
"open sftp://user:[email protected]/" ^
"put C:SFTPtest.txt /Data/test.txt" ^
"exit"
In the above example, the WinSCP command opens an SFTP session, transfers the file “C:SFTPtest.txt” to the remote directory “/Data/test.txt,” and exits the session. The /log parameter specifies the location of the log file, and the /xmllog parameter specifies the location of the XML log file.
Conclusion
Interpreting the success of an SFTP transfer using WinSCP’s XML log file is essential to ensure the integrity of the transferred file. By checking the result attribute of the upload and touch elements, we can determine if the transfer was successful or not.
Automating the file transfer process and log file creation using a BAT script can save time and effort, especially if you need to transfer multiple files regularly. By using the /xmllog parameter in the WinSCP command, we can create an XML log file that contains information about the transfer, including the transfer outcome.
In the XML log file you provided, the upload element indicates the result of an upload operation, and the touch element indicates the result of a touch operation.
An upload operation transfers a file from your local machine to the SFTP server, and a touch operation updates the modification time of a file on the SFTP server to the current time.
The result element within each of these elements has an attribute success that can be either true or false. If success is true, it means that the corresponding operation (upload or touch) was successful. If success is false, it means that the operation failed.
In the log file you provided, both the upload and touch operations have returned success="true", which means that both the upload and touch operations were successful. Therefore, it can be inferred that the file transfer was successful.
To summarize, in order for the file transfer to be considered successful, both the upload and touch operations must have returned success="true" in the XML log file. If either of these operations returns success="false", it means that the file transfer was not successful.
To confirm that a file transfer was successful using the XML log file generated by WinSCP, you can check the result element within the upload and touch elements. If the success attribute of both these elements is true, it means that the file transfer was successful. If either of these elements has a success attribute of false, it means that the file transfer was not successful.
It’s always a good idea to verify the file transfer by checking the file on the server after the transfer is complete, as there could be other factors that could cause the transfer to fail even if the upload and touch operations return success="true".
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
It’s not necessary to analyze the XML log to confirm the success of the transfer. You can just check the WinSCP exit code. If the transfer was successful, the exit code returned by WinSCP will be 0, otherwise it will be 1.
The WinSCP FAQ may provide additional information on this topic. How do I know that script completed successfully?