How to connect Citrix ShareFile with SharePoint

This "how-to-connect" documentation will explain the initial configuration of an example connection from Citrix ShareFile to a SharePoint Online library in Office 365. We will be synchronizing data stored in Citrix ShareFile.

This guide presupposes that you have installed the Layer2 Cloud Connector and that you are familiar with its basic functionality. The Layer2 Cloud Connector User Documentation will provide you with all necessary information.

Contents

1. Configuring Citrix ShareFile

2. Configuring the Layer2 Cloud Connector

2.1 Creating a new connection

2.2 Configuring the Data Entity 1

2.3 Configuring the Data Entity 2

2.4 Running your connection

3. Hints and known issues

3.1 Connection direction

1. Configuring Citrix ShareFile

Go to your Citrix ShareFile / Settings / Personal Settings / Advanced Connections

Scroll down to WebDAV Settings and copy the values from the WebDAV Server Information section.

We are going to map a drive in Windows to get access to our files in Citrix through WebDAV. Create a new mapped drive in Windows Explorer.

Set the drive letter you want to use.

The folder address will be the WebDAV address we got from Citrix.

Click on Finish and check the mapped driver in your Windows Explorer window.

2. Configuring the Layer2 Cloud Connector

2.1. Creating a new connection

Create a new connection by using the Create New Connection option in the Actions pane (right-hand side). The new connection will appear at the bottom of the Connection Manager List (left-hand side). Click on your newly created connection to open the connection configuration settings.

Choose a meaningful name for your connection and replace the current "New Connection" Connection Title with it.

Connections to Citrix ShareFile can be bi-directional. An initial connection should always be uni-directional to assure that both data entities are identical before switching to bi-directional. Therefore, choose Left to Right as Direction. You can change this setting after your initial synchronisation finished successfully.

2.2. Configuring the Data Entity 1

We will now set up our Data Entities. Go to the data entity “Data Entity 1” to open the configuration settings.

Choose a Data Entity Title. It is recommended to give your entities meaningful names to maintain an overview when you decide to set up multiple connections.

Select the Data Provider for File System from the data provider list. You can search for File System by typing into the selection box.

For the Connection String, we need the in step 1 mentioned information and the added part @SSL(...) to your Server address. You can copy the below connection string and adjust it to match your gathered information. Use the Verify Connection String option to evaluate if the provided connection string is valid.

Directory=\\layer2leadingsolutions.sharefile-webdav.com@SSL\DavWWWRoot\My Files & Folders;Authentication=Windows;sales@layer2.pro;" this property should describe the user you wish to connect to SharePoint to. 
 
Enter the password that belongs to the user account used in the connection string into the Password field. Save your changes by using the right-hand pane option Save Changes.
 
 
In the next step, we will configure our mapping settings. Click on the Mappings option on the left-hand pane. If your fields from SharePoint are named identical to the fields from your source system, the Enable Auto Mapping option will match those columns. Disabling this option allows you to match your columns as needed. We enabled auto-mapping in our setup. Save your changes by using the right-hand pane option Save Changes. 
 
 
2.4. Running your connection
To run your connection switch back to the main connection configuration node and use the Run Now Button located on the bottom of the setup page. The Run Synchronization Toolbox will also display the synchronization process. 
 
 
Below is a data preview of the information we have accessed in our source entity:
 
 
This will be the result in our SharePoint Online library after our initial successful synchronization:
 
If you want to use a bi-directional syncronization, you can now switch your connection directon after our first initial synchronization run finished successfully. See section 3.1 for further information.

3. Hints and known issues
 
3.1. Connection direction
As far as tested, this connection supports uni-directional as well as bi-directional synchronizations. 
 
After adjusting the direction to bi-directional, you should check your Mappings settings again because some systems might include read-only columns that cannot be mapped directly.
 
We also recommend to choose a Conflict Resolution that matches your environments needs. You can find out more about the different conflict resolutions in our Layer2 Cloud Connector User Documentation.
 
 
 
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