Weik.io

Scheduling File Transfers

Schedule automated file transfers

Schedule file transfers using cron expressions to automate data movement at specific times.

Cron Expression Format

MFT schedules use cron expressions with 6 fields:

seconds minutes hours day-of-month month day-of-week

Example: 0 0 0 * * ? runs daily at midnight (0 seconds, 0 minutes, 0 hours).

Common Scheduling Patterns

Every Hour

schedule: 0 0 * * * ?

Runs at minute 0 of every hour (1:00, 2:00, 3:00, etc.).

Every 15 Minutes

schedule: 0 */15 * * * ?

Runs at 0 seconds of every 15th minute (0, 15, 30, 45).

Daily at Midnight

schedule: 0 0 0 * * ?

Runs once per day at 00:00:00.

Weekdays at 9 AM

schedule: 0 0 9 * * MON-FRI

Runs Monday through Friday at 9:00:00 AM.

Every 2 Hours

schedule: 0 0 */2 * * ?

Runs every 2 hours at minute 0 (0:00, 2:00, 4:00, etc.).

Weekly on Monday

schedule: 0 0 9 * * MON

Runs every Monday at 9:00:00 AM.

Daily at 2 AM

schedule: 0 0 2 * * ?

Runs once per day at 02:00:00.

Every 4 Hours

schedule: 0 */4 * * * ?

Runs every 4 hours at minute 0.

Special Characters

* - Any value Matches any value for the field.

? - No specific value Used in day-of-month or day-of-week when you don’t want to specify one.

- - Range Specifies a range of values.

schedule: 0 0 9 * * MON-FRI  # Monday through Friday

, - List Specifies multiple values.

schedule: 0 0 9 * * MON,WED,FRI  # Monday, Wednesday, Friday

/ - Increments Specifies incremental values.

schedule: 0 */15 * * * ?  # Every 15 minutes
schedule: 0 0 */2 * * ?   # Every 2 hours

Scheduling Examples

Hourly Transfer

Transfer files every hour:

apiVersion: weik.io/v1alpha1
kind: MFT
metadata:
  name: hourly_logs
spec:
  source:
    name: app_server_smb
    path: logs/
  destination:
    name: weikio_blob
    path: logs/
  command: copy
  filters: "*.log"
  schedule: 0 0 * * * ?

Daily Backup

Run backup at 2 AM daily:

apiVersion: weik.io/v1alpha1
kind: MFT
metadata:
  name: nightly_backup
spec:
  source:
    name: backup_server_smb
    path: backups/database/
  destination:
    name: backup_s3
    path: database/
  command: copy
  filters: "*.sql.gz"
  schedule: 0 0 2 * * ?

Business Hours Sync

Sync files every 4 hours during business hours on weekdays:

apiVersion: weik.io/v1alpha1
kind: MFT
metadata:
  name: business_hours_sync
spec:
  source:
    name: company_smb
    path: shared/documents/
  destination:
    name: weikio_blob
    path: documents/
  command: sync
  schedule: 0 0 */4 * * MON-FRI

Weekly Report Transfer

Transfer reports every Monday morning:

apiVersion: weik.io/v1alpha1
kind: MFT
metadata:
  name: weekly_reports
spec:
  source:
    name: company_smb
    path: reports/weekly/
  destination:
    name: partner_sftp
    path: incoming/
  command: move
  filters: "report_*.csv"
  schedule: 0 0 9 * * MON

Frequent Monitoring

Transfer monitoring data every 15 minutes:

apiVersion: weik.io/v1alpha1
kind: MFT
metadata:
  name: monitoring_data
spec:
  source:
    name: monitoring_smb
    path: metrics/
  destination:
    name: weikio_blob
    path: metrics/
  command: copy
  filters: "*.json"
  schedule: 0 */15 * * * ?

Agent Placement with Requirements

The requirements field controls which agent executes the scheduled transfer. Agents register with specific capabilities, and MFT definitions match agents with compatible requirements.

apiVersion: weik.io/v1alpha1
kind: MFT
metadata:
  name: onpremise_to_cloud
spec:
  source:
    name: company_smb
    path: data/
  destination:
    name: weikio_blob
    path: data/
  command: copy
  schedule: 0 0 0 * * ?
  requirements:
    Location: OnPremise
    Network: internal

Common requirement keys:

  • Location - Placement (OnPremise, Cloud, Edge)
  • Network - Network access (internal, external, vpn)
  • Environment - Target environment (production, staging, development)
  • Region - Geographic region
  • Datacenter - Specific datacenter

Agents with matching capabilities will execute the scheduled transfer.

What’s Next