ExaVault
Files.com acquired ExaVault, another Managed File Transfer service, in 2021. Since then, the ExaVault service has been integrated into the "mainline" Files.com service.
Platform Differences Between ExaVault and Files.com
There are some key differences between the legacy ExaVault platform and Files.com. These have wide-ranging impacts.
File Paths Are Not Case-Sensitive
Files.com is designed for case-insensitive storage of file and folder paths for compatibility with many enterprise software storage integrations. This means that filenames that differ only by uppercase versus lowercase are treated as identical by the platform.
Check Your SFTP and FTP Scripts
The FTP standard is ambiguous on whether the FTP LIST command should include place holders representing the current directory (represented as .) or the parent directory (represented as ..) in the contents of a folder. As a result, there isn't an accepted practice from every FTP service, and many clients will automatically suppress or add the entries themselves.
On ExaVault, the FTP command LIST result does include the placeholders for the current and parent folders, but the Files.com FTP service does not return them. If your FTP or SFTP batch scripts rely on the . or .. entries being present in the list, you may need to update those scripts to avoid unexpected failures.
Whether an FTP server LIST command returns the placeholders or not, commands such as cd .. will continue to work the same on both platforms, as the meaning of the command is still "Change my working directory to the parent folder"
User Permission Types Are Different
ExaVault's user permissions mostly correspond with the permissions that can be assigned to users in the Files.com platform, with some notable changes.
There is an Admin permission on the Files.com platform which provides admin-level access (such as changing folder settings) without providing site-wide administrator access.
Lower-level permissions, such as the ability to list the contents of a folder, are automatically granted if a user has higher-level permission, such as the ability to download from a file or folder.
The table below summarizes the equivalent permissions from each platform.
| ExaVault User Permission | Files.com User Privilege | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| See files and folders | List | |
| Upload files and folders | Write | Includes the ability to create new folders on Files.com. |
| Download files and folders | Read | |
| Delete files and folders | Full | On Files.com, the delete permission is part of Full permission, rather than separate. |
| Modify (new folder, rename, move copy) | Full | |
| Create notifications | N/A | Files.com does not have a separate right for creating email notifications for your own user account. Admin users can manage notifications for other users as well. |
| Share and send files | Share | |
| Change password | N/A | Files.com does not have a separate permission for the ability to change your own password; all users that are not Shared/Bot users can always reset their own passwords. Migrated user accounts that do not have the ability to change their passwords on ExaVault will be imported as Shared/Bot users. This does not mean those accounts need to be shared or used only for automated connections, but it may impact the use of Two-factor Authentication for those users. |
| View form data | Share | Form data is tracked within Files.com as share Registrations. Users who can create share links can access the associated registrations. |
| Delete form data | Share | Form data is tracked within Files.com as share Registrations. Users who can create share links can access the associated registrations. |
| N/A | Admin | Manage settings for a folder. |
Users Can Have Complex Permissions
ExaVault user management supported one set of permissions for all the files and folders a user could access. The Files.com platform is more robust, allowing for varied permissions applied across separate, unrelated folders for a single user.
Is It Time To Tweak Your User Setup?
Many ExaVault customers had to employ a variety of unsatisfying workarounds to the user security system, such as:
Assigning multiple user logins to the same person so they could access one folder with one set of rights and a different folder with a different set of rights.
Duplicating files and folders within the folder system so that items could be shared amongst departments.
Using Shared Folders to make items available outside of a user's permissions.
If your account needed to make use of any of these workarounds, it might be time to update your user permissions to take advantage of the flexibility provided by Files.com
User Home Folders Are Not The Root (mostly)
On ExaVault, a home folder for a user was always represented to that user as the entire contents of the account. Within Files.com, there is a setting to mimic this behavior for FTP connections, but not for the web interface. This means that users will be able to see the full path to any items they can access, even though they will not be able to interact with any files or folders that they do not have permissions to.
Many System Settings Can Be Configured Per-Folder
On the ExaVault platform, most settings take effect at the account level, except for sharing, notifications and direct links. The Files.com platform makes many more settings available on each folder. Site admins and users with admin access to a folder can:
Automatically rename files uploaded to a specific folder.
Limit which types of files can be uploaded to a folder.
Automatically delete files in a folder after a certain number of days.
Change the logo that is displayed when a user accesses a folder.
Automatically encrypt or decrypt files uploaded to a folder.
Manage other users' email notifications for activity in a folder.
System Emails Are Sent From no-reply@files.com
You may need to update rules for spam filters to ensure you can receive important messages, such as Password Resets, Notifications of Failed Automations, Share Link Invitation Emails and Site Administration Emails
On ExaVault, system messages came from email@exavault.com. Once your site is migrated to the new platform, those system emails will be sent from no-reply@files.com, and the Reply-To address will be the email address that was originally used to sign up for ExaVault.
Logging In Via FTP (or FTPS or SFTP)
To connect to your account using an FTP (or FTPS or SFTP) program, you'll use three things: the site address, your username, and either your password or SSH key.
Site Address: You can still use your old account address from ExaVault to connect on the web, or you can connect to files.com directly. For example, if your old domain was example.exavault.com, use either example.exavault.com or example.files.com to access your account. There are no plans to discontinue your old account address; the Files.com platform will support the exavault.com domains for the foreseeable future.
Username: You will use the same username for your Files.com site that you used with your ExaVault account. Nothing changes.
Password: Your password was imported automatically and is not changed by migrating to Files.com.
SSH Key: SSH public keys are automatically imported during the migration, so if you connect using an SSH key, that same key should continue to work in the same way as before.
Action Needed - If you are connected using an IP Address instead of a hostname.
If you were connecting to your account via the static IP address (67.208.93.232 or 67.208.93.242), you must update your setting to point at a Files.com address instead. We strongly recommend using your account's hostname (such as example.files.com). If your client requires an IP address to connect rather than a hostname, follow up with your site administrator to learn the new address. If you are the site administrator, we recommend enabling a custom domain for your site.
Uploading and Downloading With An FTP Client
Files.com supports the same standard FTP and SFTP commands that were available on ExaVault. Once you have connected to your account with your FTP program, uploading and downloading will follow the same steps you've been using.
Automatically Creating Folders Upon Upload
The legacy ExaVault platform supported automatically creating a folder that does not exist when uploading via FTP. This is not standard FTP behavior, and it is not supported on the Files.com platform. As a best practice, you should review any FTP-based automation scripts to verify that they are not relying upon this behavior.