Secure Build Artifact Storage with SFTP

Published {$created} by Carsten Blum

As a software engineer, my mornings often start with a build. We're a small team, moving quickly, so automated builds and deployments are crucial. Each successful build generates a hefty set of artifacts – libraries, binaries, documentation – all needing a reliable place to land before deployment. For years, we juggled shared network drives and convoluted scripts, but it was a constant headache. Then we switched to ftpGrid, and things got significantly smoother.

My first task is usually checking if the latest build artifacts have successfully uploaded. I log into the ftpGrid dashboard (it’s pretty straightforward - check out the Dashboard for details) and confirm everything's in place. The beauty of using SFTP is the inherent security; these builds contain sensitive code, and knowing they're protected by a secure tunnel gives me peace of mind. We utilize SSH-ED25519 keys for authentication – a strong and recommended practice detailed here. It’s a significant upgrade over password-based authentication, which we're actively phasing out. If there’s an issue – say a temporary network blip – I can quickly check the audit logs (another excellent feature!) to pinpoint the problem.

CI/CD Pipelines and Secure Storage

Our CI/CD pipeline now automatically uploads the build artifacts to ftpGrid after a successful build. The integration was surprisingly painless thanks to the SFTP API; we're using it with Python to move the build artifacts. Being able to programmatically manage our builds and storage is huge. We're avoiding the shared network drive woes completely; no more accidental deletions or permission conflicts. It’s especially useful for deploying updates to our staging environments—we can replicate the build artifacts quickly and securely. If we needed to share large build artifacts with external contractors for review, we could easily leverage the WeTransfer Alternative for Business functionality, which offers a secure and controlled sharing mechanism.

Monitoring and Long-Term Storage

Later in the day, I often glance at the storage usage graphs in the ftpGrid dashboard. It's reassuring to see how our build artifact storage is trending and whether we're approaching our quota. If we consistently exceed our current limit, a quick look at the pricing page helps us decide on an upgrade. While we primarily use ftpGrid for build artifacts, I'm also exploring its potential for long-term archival, leveraging the reliable and replicated storage as a more secure alternative to local backups.