How to load data from SFTP to MongoDB

Learn how to use Airbyte to synchronize your SFTP data into MongoDB within minutes.

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Set up a SFTP connector in Airbyte

Connect to SFTP or one of 400+ pre-built or 10,000+ custom connectors through simple account authentication.

Set up MongoDB for your extracted SFTP data

Select MongoDB where you want to import data from your SFTP source to. You can also choose other cloud data warehouses, databases, data lakes, vector databases, or any other supported Airbyte destinations.

Configure the SFTP to MongoDB in Airbyte

This includes selecting the data you want to extract - streams and columns -, the sync frequency, where in the destination you want that data to be loaded.

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TL;DR

set up SFTP as a source connector (using Auth, or usually an API key)
set up MongoDB as a destination connector
define which data you want to transfer and how frequently

You can choose to self-host the pipeline using Airbyte Open Source or have it managed for you with Airbyte Cloud.

This tutorial’s purpose is to show you how.

What is SFTP

SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) is a secure way to transfer files between two computers over the internet. It uses encryption to protect the data being transferred, making it more secure than traditional FTP (File Transfer Protocol). SFTP is commonly used by businesses and organizations to transfer sensitive data such as financial information, medical records, and personal data. It requires authentication using a username and password or public key authentication, ensuring that only authorized users can access the files. SFTP is also platform-independent, meaning it can be used on any operating system, making it a versatile and reliable option for secure file transfers.

What is MongoDB

MongoDB is a database that powers crucial applications and systems for global businesses. Designed for developers and specializing in the areas of open source, software development, and databases, it offers functionality such as horizontal scaling, automatic failover, and the capability to assign data to a location.

Integrate SFTP with MongoDB in minutes

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Prerequisites

A SFTP account to transfer your customer data automatically from.
A MongoDB account.
An active Airbyte Cloud account, or you can also choose to use Airbyte Open Source locally. You can follow the instructions to set up Airbyte on your system using docker-compose.

Airbyte is an open-source data integration platform that consolidates and streamlines the process of extracting and loading data from multiple data sources to data warehouses. It offers pre-built connectors, including SFTP and MongoDB, for seamless data migration.

When using Airbyte to move data from SFTP to MongoDB, it extracts data from SFTP using the source connector, converts it into a format MongoDB can ingest using the provided schema, and then loads it into MongoDB via the destination connector. This allows businesses to leverage their SFTP data for advanced analytics and insights within MongoDB, simplifying the ETL process and saving significant time and resources.

Step 1: Set up SFTP as a source connector

1. Open the Airbyte platform and navigate to the "Sources" tab on the left-hand side of the screen.
2. Click on the "Create a new connection" button and select "SFTP" as the source connector.
3. Enter a name for the connection and click "Next".
4. In the "Connection Configuration" section, enter the hostname or IP address of the SFTP server, as well as the port number (usually 22).
5. Enter the username and password for the SFTP server in the "Authentication" section.
6. If your SFTP server requires a private key for authentication, select the "Private Key" option and enter the path to the key file.
7. In the "Advanced" section, you can specify additional options such as the path to the remote directory and the file pattern to use for selecting files.
8. Click "Test" to verify that the connection is working correctly.
9. If the test is successful, click "Create" to save the connection and start syncing data from the SFTP server.

Step 2: Set up MongoDB as a destination connector

Step 3: Set up a connection to sync your SFTP data to MongoDB

Once you've successfully connected SFTP as a data source and MongoDB as a destination in Airbyte, you can set up a data pipeline between them with the following steps:

Create a new connection: On the Airbyte dashboard, navigate to the 'Connections' tab and click the '+ New Connection' button.
Choose your source: Select SFTP from the dropdown list of your configured sources.
Select your destination: Choose MongoDB from the dropdown list of your configured destinations.
Configure your sync: Define the frequency of your data syncs based on your business needs. Airbyte allows both manual and automatic scheduling for your data refreshes.
Select the data to sync: Choose the specific SFTP objects you want to import data from towards MongoDB. You can sync all data or select specific tables and fields.
Select the sync mode for your streams: Choose between full refreshes or incremental syncs (with deduplication if you want), and this for all streams or at the stream level. Incremental is only available for streams that have a primary cursor.
Test your connection: Click the 'Test Connection' button to make sure that your setup works. If the connection test is successful, save your configuration.
Start the sync: If the test passes, click 'Set Up Connection'. Airbyte will start moving data from SFTP to MongoDB according to your settings.

Remember, Airbyte keeps your data in sync at the frequency you determine, ensuring your MongoDB data warehouse is always up-to-date with your SFTP data.

Use Cases to transfer your SFTP data to MongoDB

Integrating data from SFTP to MongoDB provides several benefits. Here are a few use cases:

Advanced Analytics: MongoDB’s powerful data processing capabilities enable you to perform complex queries and data analysis on your SFTP data, extracting insights that wouldn't be possible within SFTP alone.
Data Consolidation: If you're using multiple other sources along with SFTP, syncing to MongoDB allows you to centralize your data for a holistic view of your operations, and to set up a change data capture process so you never have any discrepancies in your data again.
Historical Data Analysis: SFTP has limits on historical data. Syncing data to MongoDB allows for long-term data retention and analysis of historical trends over time.
Data Security and Compliance: MongoDB provides robust data security features. Syncing SFTP data to MongoDB ensures your data is secured and allows for advanced data governance and compliance management.
Scalability: MongoDB can handle large volumes of data without affecting performance, providing an ideal solution for growing businesses with expanding SFTP data.
Data Science and Machine Learning: By having SFTP data in MongoDB, you can apply machine learning models to your data for predictive analytics, customer segmentation, and more.
Reporting and Visualization: While SFTP provides reporting tools, data visualization tools like Tableau, PowerBI, Looker (Google Data Studio) can connect to MongoDB, providing more advanced business intelligence options. If you have a SFTP table that needs to be converted to a MongoDB table, Airbyte can do that automatically.

Wrapping Up

To summarize, this tutorial has shown you how to:

Configure a SFTP account as an Airbyte data source connector.
Configure MongoDB as a data destination connector.
Create an Airbyte data pipeline that will automatically be moving data directly from SFTP to MongoDB after you set a schedule

With Airbyte, creating data pipelines take minutes, and the data integration possibilities are endless. Airbyte supports the largest catalog of API tools, databases, and files, among other sources. Airbyte's connectors are open-source, so you can add any custom objects to the connector, or even build a new connector from scratch without any local dev environment or any data engineer within 10 minutes with the no-code connector builder.

We look forward to seeing you make use of it! We invite you to join the conversation on our community Slack Channel, or sign up for our newsletter. You should also check out other Airbyte tutorials, and Airbyte’s content hub!

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How to Sync SFTP to MongoDB Manually

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FAQs

What is ETL?

ETL, an acronym for Extract, Transform, Load, is a vital data integration process. It involves extracting data from diverse sources, transforming it into a usable format, and loading it into a database, data warehouse or data lake. This process enables meaningful data analysis, enhancing business intelligence.

What is SFTP?

What data can you extract from SFTP?

SFTP provides access to various types of data that can be used for different purposes. Some of the categories of data that SFTP's API gives access to are:

1. File data: SFTP's API allows users to access and transfer files securely over the internet. This includes uploading, downloading, and managing files.
2. User data: SFTP's API provides access to user data such as usernames, passwords, and permissions. This allows users to manage and control access to their files and folders.
3. Server data: SFTP's API gives access to server data such as server logs, server configurations, and server status. This allows users to monitor and manage their server resources.
4. Security data: SFTP's API provides access to security data such as encryption keys, certificates, and security policies. This allows users to ensure that their data is secure and protected from unauthorized access.
5. Network data: SFTP's API gives access to network data such as IP addresses, network configurations, and network traffic. This allows users to monitor and manage their network resources.

How do I transfer data from SFTP?

This can be done by building a data pipeline manually, usually a Python script (you can leverage a tool as Apache Airflow for this). This process can take more than a full week of development. Or it can be done in minutes on Airbyte in three easy steps:
1. Set up SFTP to MongoDB as a source connector (using Auth, or usually an API key)
2. Choose a destination (more than 50 available destination databases, data warehouses or lakes) to sync data too and set it up as a destination connector
3. Define which data you want to transfer from SFTP to MongoDB and how frequently
You can choose to self-host the pipeline using Airbyte Open Source or have it managed for you with Airbyte Cloud.

What is ELT?

ELT, standing for Extract, Load, Transform, is a modern take on the traditional ETL data integration process. In ELT, data is first extracted from various sources, loaded directly into a data warehouse, and then transformed. This approach enhances data processing speed, analytical flexibility and autonomy.

Difference between ETL and ELT?

ETL and ELT are critical data integration strategies with key differences. ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) transforms data before loading, ideal for structured data. In contrast, ELT (Extract, Load, Transform) loads data before transformation, perfect for processing large, diverse data sets in modern data warehouses. ELT is becoming the new standard as it offers a lot more flexibility and autonomy to data analysts.

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How to load data from SFTP to MongoDB

Learn how to use Airbyte to synchronize your SFTP data into MongoDB within minutes.

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Deploy Airbyte Open Source

Step 2: Setup MongoDB

Step 3: Setup a connection Use Cases Wrapping Up

Example H2

Example H3

Sync data between SFTP and MongoDB

Get your data syncing in minutes

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TL;DR

set up SFTP as a source connector (using Auth, or usually an API key)
set up MongoDB as a destination connector
define which data you want to transfer and how frequently

You can choose to self-host the pipeline using Airbyte Open Source or have it managed for you with Airbyte Cloud.

This tutorial’s purpose is to show you how.

What is SFTP