File

The FILE adapter in BizTalk is used for sending and receiving messages by reading from or writing to files in a specified directory. It is a commonly used adapter for integrating file-based systems with BizTalk Server. This section explains how to monitor file locations associated with the ports utilizing the "FILE" adapter transport type. 

Setting up File Monitoring

You can follow the below steps to configure File monitoring:

• Log in to the BizTalk360 application.
• Select the environment and navigate to Monitoring->Manage Mapping->File Locations.
• In file location section ,you can see three tabs each containing port details of their respective adapters, which are File, FTP, and SFTP.
• Click the 'File' tab to monitor File locations.
• Select the Alarm name (Manage Alarms) from the drop-down, which you would like to associate the file location for monitoring.
• The ports (receive locations and send ports) that use the "FILE" adapter are displayed in a grid.

Click on any port to configure the file for monitoring. The configuration includes the following :

1. Basic File configurations
2. Monitoring Rules
3. Restart Host Instance(Only applicable for Receive Locations ).

1. Basic File Configurations

• Respective Folder Location and the File Mask will be listed.
• File Mask : If the folder might receive multiple types of files, but you wants to monitor only a particular type of files, then you can overwrite the File Mask. All file extensions (e.g., CHPAPO*.txt, *.txt, * . *, *outbound322*, PPI*, Test*. *) and macros patterns are supported in File monitoring by making the file mask field editable.
• Authorization : By default, the Monitoring service account is used for authorizing and accessing the file. However, if you are monitoring sensitive files and folders that require separate authorization, you can enable the Authorization option and provide a Username and Password for authentication.

2. Monitoring Rules

• You can configure the Warning and Error threshold rules for different metrics (File Count, Directory Size and Age) to monitor.

For example, let's consider a BizTalk application called "Order Processing" that receives XML orders from suppliers. These orders are dropped into a folder named "IncomingOrders" on the BizTalk server. To ensure smooth order processing and prevent disruptions due to file overload or insufficient disk space, you can create threshold rules for monitoring the File count and Directory Size as mentioned in the below image.

In the above video ,the configured thresholds will trigger an alert if the file count in the location exceeds 100 or if the directory size increases beyond 1 GB.

Monitoring Absolute Path vs Network Shared Path

File configurations can have either Absolute path or Network shared path. Let's explore how each option works in BizTalk360

Absolute Path: 

An absolute path refers to the precise location of a file or directory starting from the root directory. In simpler terms, it represents the complete path starting from the root directory (E.g. "C:") of the filesystem. When an absolute path is used, BizTalk360 recognizes it as a fixed folder location on the server where the BizTalk360 Monitoring Service is installed.

For example, let's say the folder location is specified as "C:\BizTalk\IncomingOrders". This indicates that the BizTalk360 Monitoring Service is installed on "Server A", and the server contains files located at the configured path "C:\BizTalk\IncomingOrders".

If both BizTalk and BizTalk360 monitoring service are installed on the same server, then users can successfully monitor the file locations with an Absolute Path. However, if they are installed on separate servers, the configuration will be considered Orphaned and monitoring the metrics will not be carried out.

Network Shared Path:

A network shared path refers to a folder location that is accessible and usable by multiple users or computers over a network. It enables the sharing of files within that particular folder. In a network shared path setup, the specified folder location is accessible by both the BizTalk server and the server hosting BizTalk360 Monitoring Service. 

For example, let's say the folder location is specified as "\\ServerB\SharedFolder\IncomingOrders". In this scenario, BizTalk360 will monitor the folder located on the shared network path. It can access and monitor files within this folder from "Server B", even though it's installed on a different server.

Monitoring the network shared path is suitable for both Standalone and Multi Server setups. This configuration allows monitoring of folders located on remote servers without direct access to their local file systems, making it ideal for various server configurations.

Orphaned File Locations

File locations configured for monitoring can become orphaned in the following situations:

• When the monitoring service account or the configured user account doesn't have permission to access the file.
  
• When the configured file location is removed or renamed on the machine but not updated in BizTalk360 configuration.
• When the respective Port/Application/URI is modified in the BizTalk Admin Console but not updated in BizTalk360 configuration. 
• When the "Folder Location" value in the File Details blade is manually modified and differs from the value specified in the BizTalk Admin Console.
• In a multi-server setup, when an absolute path is specified for files located on a different server than where the monitoring service is installed.