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SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol)

Using SFTP for data exchange with Vital.

SFTP version 3 is our preferred method of data exchange and offers a highly reliable and scalable solution for secure file transfers, ideal for healthcare information.

Key Benefits

  1. High Availability: SFTP provides a resilient infrastructure, minimizing downtime and ensuring critical HL7 data transfers are always available.

  2. Scalability: Automatically scales to handle varying workloads, accommodating both small-scale and enterprise-level data transfers without manual intervention.

  3. Ease of Setup: Setting up SFTP is straightforward, significantly reducing the workload on IT teams compared to traditional VPN setups. This allows for quicker deployment and faster time to successful data exchange.

  4. Security: Operates over SSH-2, utilizing strong encryption and authentication mechanisms to safeguard data against unauthorized access and tampering.

  5. Compliance: Being HIPAA and FIPS 140-3 compliant, it meets stringent regulatory requirements and ensures healthcare data transfers adhere to industry standards.

Getting Connected

Hostname: sftp.vital.io

We will provide you with access to our Test and Production environments. Authentication can either be provided with an SSH key pair (preferred) or a user account.

Generating SSH Keys

Customers must generate a key pair, where they will retain ownership of the private key, while providing the public key to the Vital Integration team.

macOS/Linux

Open a terminal window. You can find the terminal in your Applications folder on macOS, or use the Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut on most Linux distributions.

  1. To generate a new SSH key pair, use the ssh-keygen command with the -t flag to specify the key type (usually rsa for RSA keys, or ed25519 for Ed25519 keys) and the -f flag to specify the file name for your key pair. For example:

    ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f ~/.ssh/my_key

    This command will generate an RSA key with a length of 4096 bits and save it to ~/.ssh/my_key (you can choose a different file name and location if you prefer).

  2. You will be prompted to enter a passphrase to secure your private key. This is optional, but it's recommended to add an extra layer of security. Make sure to remember this passphrase, as you'll need it when using the private key.

  3. Once the key pair is generated, you'll see a message indicating where the keys were saved, typically in the ~/.ssh/ directory. The private key will be my_key, and the public key will be my_key.pub.

Windows (via Windows Subsystem for Linux - WSL)

If you're using Windows, you can use the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to generate SSH keys. Ensure you have WSL installed and configured.

  1. Open a WSL terminal window. Follow the same steps as for macOS/Linux. Use the ssh-keygen command to generate your SSH keys. For example:

    ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f ~/.ssh/my_key

    Remember that the generated keys will be stored in your WSL home directory.

Windows (via Git Bash or OpenSSH)

If you have Git Bash or OpenSSH installed on your Windows machine, you can use similar commands as on macOS and Linux:

  1. Open Git Bash or an OpenSSH terminal.

  2. Use the ssh-keygen command to generate your SSH keys. For example:

    ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f ~/.ssh/my_key

    This will generate the keys in the ~/.ssh/ directory within the Git Bash or OpenSSH environment.

User Account

To get a user account to the SFTP server, please send your public key in a message to launch@vital.io.

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