> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.elimity.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.elimity.com/import-agents-windows-file-shares/step-by-step-deployment-guide.md).

# Step-by-step deployment guide

{% hint style="warning" %}
We no longer actively support the Windows File Shares import agent. New users should refer to [the NTFS gateway](https://docs.elimity.com/gateways-ntfs/) instead.
{% endhint %}

## 1. Creating a source in Elimity Insights

Firstly create a new Windows File Shares source in Elimity Insights, but do not enable automatic imports. Instead, generate API credentials for this source and note down the resulting identifier and token.

## 2. Configuring the agent

To configure your import agent, mount a JSON configuration file at `/app/config/config.json` with the properties listed below. Refer to the following attachment for a starting point:

{% file src="/files/OPt4r6Q92RcYTk2tYxXB" %}

Edit the following properties in this file to configure the import agent to your needs:

<table data-full-width="true"><thead><tr><th>Property</th><th>Type</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code>insights_certificate</code></td><td><code>object</code></td><td>Configuration to set up an mTLS connection with your Elimity Insights server</td></tr><tr><td><code>insights_certificate.certificate_file</code></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>File path where the agent can find your mTLS certificate; only required if <code>insights_certificate.type</code> is <code>"present"</code></td></tr><tr><td><code>insights_certificate.key_file</code></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>File path where the agent can find your mTLS key; only required if <code>insights_certificate.type</code> is <code>"present"</code></td></tr><tr><td><code>insights_certificate.type</code></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>Use <code>"absent"</code> if you don't need mTLS, otherwise set to <code>"present"</code></td></tr><tr><td><code>insights_source_id</code></td><td><code>number</code></td><td>Source identifier you noted down in step 1</td></tr><tr><td><code>insights_source_token</code></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>Source token you noted down in step 1</td></tr><tr><td><code>insights_url</code></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>URL of your Elimity Insights server</td></tr><tr><td><code>insights_verify_ssl</code></td><td><code>boolean</code></td><td>Set to <code>false</code> to disable TLS certificate verification; default is <code>true</code></td></tr><tr><td><code>log_sink</code></td><td><code>object</code></td><td>Logging configuration</td></tr><tr><td><code>log_sink.file</code></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>File path where the agent should write logs to; only required if <code>log_sink.type</code> is <code>"file"</code></td></tr><tr><td><code>log_sink.type</code></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>Use <code>"std_err"</code> if the agent should log to the standard error stream, or <code>"file"</code> to make a log file</td></tr><tr><td><code>max_depth</code></td><td><code>number</code></td><td>Global upper limit on the scanning depth; use <code>0</code> to indicate no upper limit</td></tr><tr><td><code>max_depth_overrides</code></td><td><code>record[number]</code></td><td>Record mapping file identifiers to depth limit overrides; if the agent encounters a directory which matches an entry in this record, then it resets the depth limit for scans starting from that point</td></tr><tr><td><code>only_dirs</code></td><td><code>boolean</code></td><td>Skip files that are not directories</td></tr><tr><td><code>schedule</code></td><td><code>object</code></td><td>Describes when the agent should run; omit to just trigger once immediately</td></tr><tr><td><code>schedule.day</code></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>Weekday when the agent should run (e.g. <code>"monday"</code>); omit to trigger every day of the week</td></tr><tr><td><code>schedule.time</code></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>Time-of-day when the agent should run (e.g. <code>"19:30"</code>)</td></tr><tr><td><code>smb_password</code></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>Password for authenticating with the SMB server</td></tr><tr><td><code>smb_username</code></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>Username for authenticating with the SMB server</td></tr><tr><td><code>targets</code></td><td><code>list[object]</code></td><td>Determines which SMB servers the agent should import from</td></tr><tr><td><code>targets[].connection_pool_size</code></td><td><code>number</code></td><td>Maximum number of parallel SMB connections to use for importing from this target; default is <code>1</code></td></tr><tr><td><code>targets[].filter</code></td><td><code>object</code></td><td>Determines which items in the targeted SMB server the agent should import</td></tr><tr><td><code>targets[].filter.selections</code></td><td><code>list[object]</code></td><td>Determines which items and shares the agent should import from; only required if <code>targets[].filter.type</code> is <code>"allow_list"</code></td></tr><tr><td><code>targets[].filter.selections.max_depth</code></td><td><code>number</code></td><td>Optional override for the global upper limit on scanning depth</td></tr><tr><td><code>targets[].filter.selections.path</code></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>File path within the targeted share to start scanning from</td></tr><tr><td><code>targets[].filter.selections.path_prefix</code></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>Extra path prefix to apply for file entities in Elimity Insights</td></tr><tr><td><code>targets[].filter.selections.share</code></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>Name of the SMB share to start scanning from</td></tr><tr><td><code>targets[].filter.type</code></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>Use <code>"all"</code> to import all items in all shares on the targeted SMB server; use <code>"allow_list"</code> to apply filtering</td></tr><tr><td><code>timeout</code></td><td><code>number</code></td><td>Maximum number of seconds to wait for SMB responses</td></tr></tbody></table>

## 3. Deploying the agent

Having configured the agent and having created a source in Elimity Insights, you can now deploy the agent to regularly import data from your SMB server and upload it to Elimity Insights. Since we distribute the agent as a Docker image, our recommendation for deployment is to use a CaaS solution like Google Cloud Run or Azure Container Apps. If that's not an option, you can also manually deploy the image on e.g. Windows Server. Refer to [our documentation about gateways and import agents](/technical-guides/gateways-and-import-agents.md) for additional details.

## 4. Following up on the import

The import agent outputs logs to indicate its progress, for a manual Windows Server deployment you can check these with `docker-compose logs`.


---

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