Quality assurance

Learn how SFTPPlus MFT releases are tested and how to validate your file transfer configuration before changing production.

Automated release tests ​

SFTPPlus MFT is tested before each release, but every production environment has its own authentication systems, firewall rules, remote partners, and downstream processes. This page explains our quality assurance process and how to build a representative test environment for your deployment.

Our release process covers the planning, design, implementation, execution, and automation of functional tests. The test suite contains more than 32,000 automated tests and is extended with the functionality and test scenarios introduced by each release. About 8,000 tests run on each supported operating system, including Windows Server, Linux, AIX, and macOS.

A release must pass every automated test before it can be published. A single failure blocks the release until the problem is resolved and the full test run passes.

Manual smoke tests confirm that the release can be installed, can upgrade an existing installation, and can perform basic file transfer operations. We also use soak tests where they add coverage beyond the automated suite.

Interoperability testing ​

Automated end-to-end tests exercise third-party client and server implementations across the supported protocols. The products used in these tests include:

This list is not an endorsement of any product. The versions used in our tests change over time, and successful testing does not guarantee interoperability with every older or future version of a third-party implementation.

Test your deployment ​

Our test suite cannot reproduce every customer environment or provide a benchmark for every combination of hardware, network, and workload. Before changing production, test the complete file transfer workflow with your own systems and requirements.

An SFTPPlus MFT production licence includes a development environment licence at no extra cost. You can install it on a separate virtual machine or on a system administrator's or developer's workstation or laptop. For user acceptance testing or a production-like staging environment, see the licensing options included with SFTPPlus MFT.

Use separate environments as a change progresses:

Local or development

Developers and system administrators can prepare configuration changes, test integrations, and rehearse upgrades on their own computers or shared development servers. Partial transfers and test credentials are appropriate at this stage.

Testing or integration

A shared environment can exercise end-to-end transfers against the systems involved in the workflow. It should focus on functional requirements and can use isolated test accounts, alternate service ports, and test data.

Staging or pre-production

This environment should resemble production closely enough to test firewall rules, security controls, monitoring, and performance. Access can follow the same restrictions as production, and the same hardware specification can be used when representative performance results are required.

Run two independent instances on one host ​

Testing does not always require another virtual machine. The self-contained SFTPPlus installers for Windows, Linux, and macOS support multiple instances on the same host.

For example, you can install the current production version and a proposed upgrade as two independent instances. Each instance can have its own version, configuration, installation directory, and logs. This allows you to compare behaviour or validate a configuration migration without replacing the existing installation.

The instances must use different port numbers. If one instance listens for SFTP connections on port 22 and HTTPS connections on port 443, the testing instance can use ports such as 10022 and 10443. Apply the same rule to every network service and management endpoint enabled on both instances.

Production-like instance

Runs the current version with its own configuration, service ports, and audit logs.

Testing instance

Runs independently with alternate ports, test accounts, and the version or configuration under evaluation.

Instances on the same host still share the operating system, CPU, memory, storage, and network. Use a separate virtual machine when testing host-level changes, resource limits, failure isolation, or production performance.

For questions about testing, trials, or non-production licensing, contact the SFTPPlus team.