Set Up SFTP Data Transfer

This feature is only available to administrators at institutions with a Connection subscription. Complete this form to get more information.

To expedite and maximize student communication, send an updated connections file from Intersect to a specified SFTP endpoint at a frequency of your choice.

The student information sent in your file may include:

Students decide what personal data they want to share with your institution. At least one contact method, such as email, phone, or mailing address, is required.

• name
• gender
• race/ethnicity
• DOB
• graduation year
• GPA
• school
• phone
• email

• mailing address

• majors

  

  Students can choose a major offered by your institution from a list.

  If you have purchased Advanced Awareness for Majors, you will receive up to three majors of interest per student. Otherwise, this data column is blank. If previously set, update import mappings to include student major interests so you can import them into your CRM.

Prepare to set up an SFTP Data Transfer

• Obtain the desired host, port, and path.
• Determine the authentication method you will use, either your SFTP server password or save and use a unique SSH Public Key generated in Intersect.
• Determine your desired transfer frequency.
• Obtain your SFTP server fingerprint if setting up server fingerprint verification in Intersect. You will be asked to confirm the fingerprint during the SFTP setup process in Intersect.
• Whitelist the Intersect Public IPs for the targeted SFTP server. To retrieve the Intersect Public IPs in Intersect:
  1. Navigate to the Account Settings tile on the homepage, then click Configure.
  2. From Settings, select SFTP Data Transfer, then click Set Up Connection.
  3. From the IP Whitelisting section, save the IP address to add to your IP Whitelist.

Setup Up an SFTP Data Transfer

1. Navigate to the Account Settings tile on the homepage, then click Configure.
2. From Settings, select SFTP Data Transfer, then click Set Up Connection.
3. Enter the Connection Address information for your SFTP server.
4. Set up Connection Credentials for access to your SFTP server.
   • If password is selected, enter your server password.
   • If SSH Public Key is selected, click Generate Key, copy, and save the generated key at your SFTP server.
5. Select a Transfer Frequency.
6. Copy the Intersect Public IPs if you need to add them to your IP Whitelist.
7. Set up Server Fingerprint Verification by selecting Check fingerprint to verify server, if desired.
8. Click Test and Save. Intersect confirms a connection can be established to the specified SFTP server.
   • If the test connection fails, you are notified.
   • If the test connection passes and you have server fingerprint verification enabled, you are prompted to verify the detected fingerprint. File transfers cannot begin until a successful test connection is established, and your server's fingerprint has been verified if enabled.​

After the initial configuration setup, the first SFTP data transfer attempts to send data starting from your Connection Since Last Export date. Subsequent file transfers are sent according to your last successful SFTP data transfer date.

You can manually download data without impacting your scheduled transfer.

Edit an SFTP Data Transfer

1. Navigate to the Account Settings tile on the homepage, then click Configure.
2. From Settings, select SFTP Data Transfer.
   
3. For the desired configuration, select Edit.

4. Update the information.

   

   If you use an SSH Public Key for authentication and have previously generated one, it will not display for security reasons after the initial generation. To generate a new SSH Public Key to use at your SFTP server, click Delete & Regenerate to delete the prior key and generate and save a new one.
5. Click Test and Save.
6. Intersect confirms a connection can be established to the specified SFTP server.
   • If the test connection fails, you are notified.
   • If the test connection passes and you have server fingerprint verification enabled, you are prompted to verify the detected fingerprint. File transfers cannot begin until a successful test connection is established and your server's fingerprint has been verified if enabled.​

Delete an SFTP Data Transfer

1. Navigate to the Account Settings tile on the homepage, then click Configure.
2. From Settings, select SFTP Data Transfer.
   
3. For the desired configuration, select Edit.
4. Click Delete this configuration.
5. Click Delete to immediately delete the configuration and stop any further transfer attempts.

If you then create a new SFTP Data Transfer connection for the same data type, such as Student Connections, the first scheduled transfer will occur according to your last successful SFTP data transfer date.

Weekly Intersect Connection Notifications

Enable weekly email notifications to alert people to new connections made in the previous week. After establishing an automated connection, you can turn off weekly email notifications, if desired.

SFTP Data Transfer Notifications

All active Intersect administrators at your institution receive email notifications when:

• An SFTP Data Transfer configuration is created, updated, or deleted. The email contains details regarding the activity, such as who performed the action and when.
• An error such as failed test connection, server fingerprint issue, or file transfer failure, occurred at a scheduled run. The email includes the day and time of the attempted transfer and a description of the failure.

Administrators do not receive email notifications for files successfully received by your server.

SFTP Data Transfer Failure Management

A failure may occur when testing and saving or during a scheduled run for three reasons:

1. The test connection failed.
2. If enabled, a server fingerprint issue occurred, either:
   • The server fingerprint was enabled but not yet verified.
   • A server fingerprint was enabled and verified, but a mismatch was detected.
3. A file transfer failed.

If saving or editing a configuration in Intersect, you receive an on-screen error message when clicking Test and Save.

If a failure occurs during a scheduled run, Intersect administrators for your institution receive an email notification.

You can also review failure messages in Intersect.

1. Go to the Account Settings tile on the homepage and click Configure.
2. Click Edit or Configurations Issues for the desired configuration.

After you take the appropriate actions to resolve the reported issues, file transfers resume at the next scheduled frequency. At that time, Intersect attempts to send data starting from the last successful SFTP data transfer date.

If you have not had a successful SFTP data transfer since the initial configuration setup, Intersect attempts to send data starting from your Connections Since Last Export date. However, you can still manually download your data directly.