Scheduled Exports

• Overview
• Creating a Scheduled Export
• Optional Settings
• Uploading to a Remote Server
• Troubleshooting

Overview

Scheduled Exports allow you to configure automatic data exports of any export type. You can also configure the scheduled export to upload to an external server. This allows you to send data to an external system automatically for processing or backup purposes.

Creating a Scheduled Export

To create a new scheduled export, navigate to Tools > Data Export > Scheduled Exports and click New, then: 

• Enter the Export Name: This will be used for the export filename. The filename will automatically have "Export" and a timestamp appended to it.
• Select the type of export in the Type dropdown
• Check Active
• Select how often the export should run using the Frequency dropdown
• Select the day the first export should occur using the First Run Date datepicker
• Save

Scheduled Exports will save to your Temp Folder, or you can choose the path where you would like them to upload (See Upload to Remote Server). Scheduled exports can be sent to an email address by checking `Send export via email` under Email Settings.

Note: Some characters are reserved, and can not be used in file names. For a good reference on file naming conventions, click here.

Optional Settings

The section above describes how to create a scheduled export with only the required settings. Here is a description of each of the optional settings: 

• Custom Filename: Optionally give the export a custom file name. This is useful for when upling to a remote server. This field accepts two merge codes: ##EXPORTNAME## and ##TIMESTAMP[]##. Without format option timestamp is yyyyMMddHHmmss.
  
• File Encoding: Select the System Default encoding or specify UTF-8
• Column Mapping: Select a pre-defined column mapping or create a new one.
• Base Run Time: The time that the export should run for the first time, not used if you run it manually. Server is in U.S. Central time. All future runs will be calculated based on this time.

Uploading to a Remote Server

AmeriCommerce supports uploading scheduled exports automatically to a remote server via FTP or SFTP. To do so, configure the Upload Settings: 

• Check Upload Export File
• Enter a Remote Server Address: This can be with domain name or an IP address, and must be prepended with the appropriate protocol (ftp:// or sftp://)*.
• Remote Server Path: This is the directory path on the server the file should be uploaded to. 
• Username: The FTP username credential
• Password: The FTP password credential
• Private Key Path: Optionally, use a private key instead of a password for SFTP account. If use private key, first upload your private key file to your store and put the file path here, like /shared/keys/mysftpkey.ppk. AmeriCommerce supports OpenSSH and SSH.COM format private key. For other formats, you can use PETTYGEN to convert it to OpenSSH format before uploading it to your server. Your private key should start with -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----

Troubleshooting

Errors are logged in two places:

• Latest Run Results (at the bottom of the first section, Export Details)
• Logs (the very bottom of Edit Scheduled Export)

Latest run results shows the last run time and any messages returned from the timed event. If the scheduled export or upload fail, a descriptive error message will be shown here. This error message can be used to troubleshoot and fix any configuration issues.

Logs is a historical record showing when an export began, ended, and when an upload was attempted and if it failed or was successful.