How to Create a Pipe & Route Transfers
A Pipe is the central routing engine of Rilavek. It links your incoming protocols (such as FTP or SFTP) to your target Data Stores and defines which Senders are authorized to transfer files.
Dashboard Overview
Real-time status of storage connections and pipelines.
Connect your Senders to your Data Store with ingress protocols.
Step 1: Create Your Pipe
In your Rilavek dashboard, select Pipes from the sidebar and click the New Pipe button in the top right.
| Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Pipe Name | A clear label to identify the pipe and its routing purpose. | Production Ingress |
| Description | Optional context about the workflow, team, or systems using this pipe. | Daily Partner Feed |
Click Create Pipe. Rilavek provisions your pipeline workspace and redirects you directly to its dedicated management page.
Step 2: Enable Ingress Protocols (Inputs)
Under the Inputs card on your Pipe page, review your active protocols or click Add Input to enable protocols for your uploaders:
Essential for embedded hardware, network scanners, and legacy systems. Supports standard plaintext FTP and encrypted Explicit FTPS.
Modern SSH file transfer with firewall-friendly single-port architecture. Perfect for scripts, automated pipelines, and partner feeds.
Resumable web and API uploads using the open Tus standard. Reliable for browser upload widgets and mobile apps.
Step 3: Connect Primary Storage (Destinations)
Scroll down to the Destinations card. This is where you connect the target storage bucket you provisioned in Guide 01:
| Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Select Datastore | Choose your connected cloud bucket provisioned in Guide 01. | Production S3 |
| Destination Path | An optional base path prefix inside the bucket where uploaded files land (defaults to root /). | /incoming |
| Sender Subfolder Isolation | Toggle whether files are automatically sorted into dedicated subdirectories named after the uploading sender. | Enabled |
Step 4: Authorize Senders (Access Control)
Pipes lock down ingress by default. Until you explicitly authorize an identity in the Access Control section, any upload attempt gets rejected right at authentication. You can grant access either to individual identities or to entire sender groups:
Select an individual sender from the dropdown, such as the identity you created in Guide 02 (e.g. Client 01).
Access effect: Grants upload access exclusively to that single identity. They authenticate using username@pipeId. If you ever need to revoke their access, removing them cuts off only that client without touching anyone else.
Best for: Dedicated partner drops, external contractors, or one-off clients needing tight, isolated access.
Switch to the Groups tab and pick a sender group from the dropdown (such as Field Cameras or Branch Offices).
Access effect: Every sender in the group instantly inherits access to this pipe. When field technicians add new devices to the group later on, those devices start uploading immediately with zero pipe updates needed.
Best for: Fleets of IoT hardware, security cameras, branch offices, or whole departments where managing access device by device doesn't scale.
Step 5: Configure Alerts & Inactivity Monitoring
OptionalThis step is optional. Your pipe routes transfers immediately without it. If you want automatic notifications when files complete or when regular feeds unexpectedly stop, check the Alerts & Notifications card at the bottom of your Pipe settings:
Functions as a dead man's switch for regular data streams. If a previously active pipe goes quiet past your chosen threshold (configurable from 1 to 7 days, defaulting to 1 day / 24 hours), Rilavek sends an immediate notification directly to your email.
How it works: Requires baseline transfer history so unused test pipes never trigger false alarms. Subsequent reminders are muted until new traffic arrives and re-arms the monitor.
Best for: CCTV cameras, nightly database dumps, and unattended field hardware.
Dispatches signed JSON payloads directly to your endpoint as soon as a file transfer finishes.
How it works: Enter your HTTPS webhook URL and optional secret key. Every incoming file fires a status update containing transfer metrics and destination statuses.
Best for: Event-driven ETL, Zapier automations, and downstream serverless functions.
Step 6: Retrieve Your Pipe ID & Connection Details
Find the Pipe ID card near the top of your Pipe page. Rilavek assigns a unique short identifier (like p_9k2a4).
Rilavek uses this ID to direct incoming files to your storage bucket. How you provide it depends on which protocol you enabled:
Connect to ftp.rilavek.com (FTP, port 21) or sftp.rilavek.com (SFTP, port 2222). Add @PipeID to your username:
camera1@p_9k2a4Include your Pipe ID directly in the upload URL used by your web widgets, mobile apps, or Tus clients:
.../pipes/p_9k2a4/files/Guide 04: Send First File
Push a test file over your protocol endpoint and verify instant zero-disk streaming into your bucket.