Learn how copy the files stored in Gatekeeper to your own document storage solution
Estimated Read Time: 4 minutes
Sections in this article
How to use the File Export
Getting your connection details
File Export Introduction
This feature allows you to export all files currently stored in Gatekeeper to an external system of your choice
The below guide contains details of how to perform these backups to Windows, Mac or via another middleware solution to a location of your choice!
If you would like to discuss adding the File Export feature to your Gatekeeper subscription, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or contact our Success Team here
How to use File Export
Part 1 - Getting your export credentials
Step 1) Go to Settings > Configuration > File Export
Step 2) Take a note of the URL, Username & Password - these will be used in Part 2
If you do not have access to the Configuration menu in Gatekeeper but need access to these, ask your local Gatekeeper Administrator to hit the Download CSV button on this screen to share the credentials with you!
Part 2 - Exporting your files...
The below sections walk through how to use the above credentials to take a backup of the documents currently stored in Gatekeeper
Export to Mac 
Step 1) Open a Finder window
Step 2) In the top menu, hit Go
Step 3) Choose Connect to Server...
Step 4) Enter the connection details from Part 1, then hit Connect
Your connection will now be established and the folder will begin to show a snapshot of the files in your Gatekeeper system
Step 5) To store these on your Mac, you can copy & paste them to a location of your choice
Depending on the size & number of files, the time for your connection to load or complete a backup may vary!
Export to Windows 
Step 1) Open a File Explorer window
Step 2) Windows 10: Open the Computer tab then select Map network drive
Windows 11: Select the 
More menu, then Map network drive
Step 3) Select an available letter for this drive
Step 4) In the Folder text box, enter the URL from Part 1
Step 5) Check ☑️ Connect using different credentials
Step 6) Enter the rest of the credentials from Part 1 & hit Connect
You will now be able to access the files stored in Gatekeeper and browse like they are part of your local machine
Step 7) To take a backup, you can copy & paste all files to a local folder of your choice
See Microsoft's mapping network drives support page for more guidance
Export via an SFTP Client 
Step 1) Within your FTP client, initiate a new connection
Below we are using Forklift for Mac, but any SFTP clients such as WinSCP/Cyberduck will work fine
Step 2) For the connection type, choose WebDAV (HTTPS)
Step 3) Enter the connection details from Part 1, then save your connection
You will now be able to browse the files stored on Gatekeeper
Step 4) Using your SFTP client windows, you can take a backup by copying/downloading files from your WebDAV connection to another server (e.g. to your local machine)
Export to a Cloud Solution 
To export to a cloud-based storage solution, you will need to leverage a middleware tool...
Our recommendation for this is MultCloud, which you can see in the below steps
Preliminary Step: Connect your middleware to your cloud storage solution
Step 1) In your middleware solution, add a new cloud connection
Step 2) For this connection, choose the type WebDAV
Step 3) Name your connection (e.g. "Gatekeeper") then enter the credentials from Part 1
Step 4) You can now run a backup from the Gatekeeper WebDAV connection to your main storage solution
FAQ 💬
Q: What happens when a file has many versions?
A: Only the last version of a file is available to download via the WebDAV connection.
Q: Can I update and automatically download every X days?
A: Depending on the connection type you use, yes.
The Remote Backups feature in Gatekeeper cannot perform this export on a schedule. However, if using a middleware for the file transfer, these can be set up to export the documents on a schedule for you
Q: Can I change the default username in my credentials?
A: No, you cannot, but you can change the default password. Changing usernames will be possible in a future version
Q: Can I set up different snapshot/connection types (e.g. only Vendor files)?
A: No, the export connections will display all files.
Amending these for specific file sets will be possible in a future version!
Q: Is a connection just a single-use download?
A: There is no limit to how many downloads you can run while using the remote backups feature
Q: I cannot see all the Contract/Supplier/Entity folders - where are they?
A: The connection will only show folders where there exists a file
e.g. If some of your Vendors do not have any attachments, these will not display as folders in your WebDAV connection
Similarly, if you do not have any files at all attached to your Entities, you won't see the "Entities" parent folder via the connection
Q: Are edits in my WebDAV repo reflected in Gatekeeper?
A: You cannot edit files and folders in Gatekeeper via the WebDAV connection. It is purely a read-only connection to be used for exports/back-ups
Q: Is the sync always "Live"?
A: Yes.
However, once you create the connection, the files being viewed will be static for a period of 15 minutes to 1 hour
i.e. If a file is added to your Gatekeeper repository, it will not instantly be visible via the WebDAV connection. When the connection refreshes you will be able to view this new file.
This is for performance reasons and to provide a faster experience to tenants with thousands of files and folders which aren't constantly being checked & refreshed
Coming Soon 👀
Continuous document management: Integrate with Google Drive/OneDrive for seamless editing of files in your preferred Document Storage solution.