How to send VICIdial sales recordings to SFTP safely

01 / 07

What this guide builds

Fast answer: confirm VICIdial's built-in `AST_VDsales_export.pl` exporter and the stock OpenSSH `sftp` client, author one reviewed root-only script from this guide, enter exact campaign and sale-status values, pin the recipient's verified SSH host key, dry-run the script, complete a harmless external acceptance test, and only then enable it and add it to cron.

The script calls VICIdial's own `AST_VDsales_export.pl` only to select rows and stage recordings privately, then hands the staged files to OpenSSH `sftp` for encrypted transport. It never touches the original recordings or `recording_log.location`. The exporter ships its own FTP transport too, but plain FTP sends everything, including its login, unencrypted, so this guide replaces only that last leg.

New to VICIdial's vocabulary? `vicidial-terminology-for-complete-beginners` defines campaign, list, lead and disposition before you start this guide.

• Write down the exact campaign and sale-status values before you open a terminal.
• Give the script one lock, one staging directory and one log file, and never share them across profiles.
• Keep the SSH private key, any password file and staged recordings out of commands, logs and tickets.
• Leave `ENABLED=0` in the script until every acceptance check below has passed.

02 / 07

Step 1 — Confirm the exporter, stock tools and its real flags

Run this on the VICIdial server before writing anything else. It confirms the native exporter is present and executable, that `sftp` and `flock` exist, and shows the web-report path this build actually uses; this guide never touches the database, so only `PATHweb` is needed here.

The last command reads the exporter's own source for its long-option names instead of asking you to trust a list in this article. Flag names and defaults can differ between VICIdial releases, so treat the script in Step 2 as a starting point and confirm every flag it uses against this output before relying on it on your own build.

test -x /usr/share/astguiclient/AST_VDsales_export.pl && echo presentcommand -v sftp flockgrep -E '^PATHweb=' /etc/astguiclient.confgrep -oE -- '--[a-z][a-z-]*' /usr/share/astguiclient/AST_VDsales_export.pl | sort -u

03 / 07

Step 2 — Author the reviewed push script

Create the file with the right owner and mode before you put any content in it, so an editor never leaves a world-readable script behind: `sudo install -o root -g root -m 0700 /dev/null /usr/local/sbin/vicidial-sales-sftp-push`, then `sudoedit /usr/local/sbin/vicidial-sales-sftp-push` to open that empty, correctly-permissioned file.

Paste the script below, then edit only the CONFIG block at the top. `<PROFILE>` is a short local alias used only in path names and is never sent anywhere; `<CAMPAIGN_ID>` and `<SALE_STATUSES>` are the exact values you confirmed in VICIdial Admin; `<SFTP_HOST>` and `<SFTP_USER>` are the recipient's endpoint. Leave `ENABLED=0` until Step 4 and Step 5 both pass.

Every path the script touches is declared once near the top: a per-profile staging directory, a per-profile state directory that holds nothing but a completion marker, and one shared JSONL log line per phase. The script creates all three itself; none of them are shared with any other package.

#!/usr/bin/env bash# vicidial-sales-sftp-push -- reviewed, root-only. Edit the CONFIG block below,# save as /usr/local/sbin/vicidial-sales-sftp-push, mode 0700, owner root:root.set -euo pipefail # ---- CONFIG: edit every value before installing this file ----PROFILE='<PROFILE>'                    # short alias, no spaces; used only in local pathsCAMPAIGN_ID='<CAMPAIGN_ID>'            # exact outbound campaign ID, never left blankSALE_STATUSES='<SALE_STATUSES>'        # hyphen-delimited exact statuses, e.g. SALE-UPSELLSFTP_HOST='<SFTP_HOST>'SFTP_USER='<SFTP_USER>'REMOTE_BASE='incoming/vicidial'ENABLED=0                              # keep 0 until check-only and acceptance both pass# ---- end CONFIG ---- SFTP_KEY="/etc/vicidial-sales-sftp-push/${PROFILE}_ed25519"KNOWN_HOSTS="/etc/vicidial-sales-sftp-push/${PROFILE}_known_hosts"EXPORTER=/usr/share/astguiclient/AST_VDsales_export.plSTAGE="/root/tempaudioexport-${PROFILE}"STATE_DIR="/var/lib/vicidial-sales-sftp-push/${PROFILE}"LOG=/var/log/vicidial-sales-sftp/push.jsonlLOCK="/run/lock/vicidial-sales-sftp-push-${PROFILE}.lock" if [[ "${CAMPAIGN_ID}" == '<CAMPAIGN_ID>' || -z "${CAMPAIGN_ID}" ]]; then  echo "set CAMPAIGN_ID before running" >&2  exit 1fiif [[ "${SALE_STATUSES}" == '<SALE_STATUSES>' || -z "${SALE_STATUSES}" ]]; then  echo "set SALE_STATUSES before running" >&2  exit 1fi CHECK_ONLY=0if [[ "${1:-}" == "--check-only" ]]; then  CHECK_ONLY=1fi install -d -m 0750 "${STATE_DIR}"mkdir -p "$(dirname "${LOG}")" log_event() {  # $1=phase $2=result -- aggregate only, never a filename, credential or recording id  printf '{"ts":"%s","profile":"%s","phase":"%s","result":"%s"}\n' \    "$(date -Is)" "${PROFILE}" "$1" "$2" >>"${LOG}"} if [[ "${CHECK_ONLY}" -eq 1 ]]; then  test -x "${EXPORTER}"  command -v sftp flock >/dev/null  test -f "${KNOWN_HOSTS}"  test -f "${SFTP_KEY}"  echo "check-only: exporter, tools, host key and private key are all in place for ${PROFILE}"  log_event check-only pass  exit 0fi if [[ "${ENABLED}" -ne 1 ]]; then  echo "ENABLED=0 -- edit this file only after check-only and the external acceptance test both pass" >&2  exit 1fi exec 9>"${LOCK}"flock -n 9 || { echo "another run is already active for ${PROFILE}" >&2; exit 1; } PATHWEB=$(grep -E '^PATHweb=' /etc/astguiclient.conf | cut -d= -f2-)REPORT_DIR="${PATHWEB}/vicidial/server_reports"DAY=$(date -d yesterday +%Y%m%d)REPORT="${REPORT_DIR}/${PROFILE}_${DAY}_sales.csv" find "${STAGE}" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type f -delete 2>/dev/null || trueinstall -d -m 0700 "${STAGE}" "${EXPORTER}" \  --date=yesterday \  --campaign="${CAMPAIGN_ID}" \  --sale-statuses="${SALE_STATUSES}" \  --output-format=csv-standard \  --filename="${PROFILE}_YYYYMMDD_sales.csv" \  --ftp-audio-transfer --ftp-norun \  --temp-dir="-${PROFILE}" --quietlog_event export done FILES=$(find "${STAGE}" -maxdepth 1 -type f | wc -l)NONZERO=$(find "${STAGE}" -maxdepth 1 -type f -size +0c | wc -l)if [[ "${FILES}" -ne "${NONZERO}" ]]; then  echo "a staged file is zero bytes -- stopping before transfer" >&2  log_event validate fail  exit 1filog_event validate pass sftp -oBatchMode=yes -oIdentitiesOnly=yes -oStrictHostKeyChecking=yes \  -o UserKnownHostsFile="${KNOWN_HOSTS}" \  -i "${SFTP_KEY}" -b - "${SFTP_USER}@${SFTP_HOST}" <<SFTP_REPORT-mkdir ${REMOTE_BASE}cd ${REMOTE_BASE}put ${REPORT}SFTP_REPORTlog_event upload-report done if [[ "${FILES}" -gt 0 ]]; then  sftp -oBatchMode=yes -oIdentitiesOnly=yes -oStrictHostKeyChecking=yes \    -o UserKnownHostsFile="${KNOWN_HOSTS}" \    -i "${SFTP_KEY}" -b - "${SFTP_USER}@${SFTP_HOST}" <<SFTP_AUDIOcd ${REMOTE_BASE}-mkdir ${DAY}cd ${DAY}put ${STAGE}/*SFTP_AUDIOfilog_event upload-audio done date -Is >"${STATE_DIR}/${DAY}.complete"find "${STAGE}" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type f -deletelog_event complete pass

04 / 07

Step 3 — Verify the host key, then generate the client key

`ssh-keyscan` retrieves a public key but does not prove who owns it. Compare the displayed fingerprint with the value the recipient supplied through a separate trusted channel; only an exact match is eligible for installation.

Install the approved key into this profile's dedicated known-hosts file, at the path the script already expects. Never use `StrictHostKeyChecking=no`, and do not reuse a general operator known-hosts file whose contents can change independently.

This step also generates the key pair the script authenticates with, at the exact path `SFTP_KEY` already points to. `ssh-keygen` writes a matching `.pub` file alongside it; send only that public half to the recipient, and never the private key itself.

ssh-keyscan -p 22 '<SFTP_HOST>' > '<PROFILE>-known-hosts.candidate'ssh-keygen -lf '<PROFILE>-known-hosts.candidate' # Continue only after the recipient confirms the exact fingerprint:sudo install -d -m 0750 /etc/vicidial-sales-sftp-pushsudo install -o root -g root -m 0600 \  '<PROFILE>-known-hosts.candidate' \  "/etc/vicidial-sales-sftp-push/<PROFILE>_known_hosts" # Generate the key pair the script authenticates with, then send only the .pub half:sudo ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -N '' -C 'vicidial-sales-sftp-push' \  -f "/etc/vicidial-sales-sftp-push/<PROFILE>_ed25519"

05 / 07

Step 4 — Dry-run the script before it can do anything

The script's own `--check-only` flag confirms the exporter, `sftp`, `flock`, the pinned host-key file and the private key all exist, without selecting a row, staging a file or opening a network connection. Run it again after every edit to the CONFIG block.

A clean check-only pass does not prove the recipient will accept a connection. It only means this server's half of the setup is internally consistent. Keep `ENABLED=0` until the separate external acceptance test in Step 5 has also passed.

sudo /usr/local/sbin/vicidial-sales-sftp-push --check-only

06 / 07

Step 5 — Complete external acceptance, then enable and schedule

Before setting `ENABLED=1`, prove the recipient side works: non-interactive key authentication, strict host-key verification, directory creation and a harmless upload the recipient can see and delete. Only after that passes should a real synthetic sale be allowed to reach the destination.

Edit the script once more to set `ENABLED=1`, keeping every filter exactly as tested, then add a plain `cron.d` file and run the script by hand for the first accepted delivery. The script's own lock and its per-day completion marker make a second same-day run a safe no-op rather than a duplicate transfer.

sudoedit /usr/local/sbin/vicidial-sales-sftp-push# set ENABLED=1 only after the checks above have passed sudo tee /etc/cron.d/vicidial-sales-sftp-push >/dev/null <<'CRON'15 3 * * * root /usr/local/sbin/vicidial-sales-sftp-pushCRON sudo /usr/local/sbin/vicidial-sales-sftp-push

07 / 07

Step 6 — Verify operation and know the rollback

Independently confirm what the log claims: ask the recipient to list what arrived, and compare the count against the completion marker for that date. Test a day with no qualifying sale and confirm the script exits cleanly with no upload rather than sending an empty or malformed file.

Treat any zero-byte staged file as a failed run, not an empty one; a download can fail while the export step still exits successfully. Give the script's own staging directory time to clear between runs rather than assuming a directory shared with another profile is always safe to reuse.

To stop future delivery, set `ENABLED=0` in the script and remove `/etc/cron.d/vicidial-sales-sftp-push`. That never touches VICIdial, the original recordings or `recording_log.location`; it only stops this one script from running again.

find /var/lib/vicidial-sales-sftp-push -type f -name '*.complete' -printf '%f\n' 2>/dev/null || echo 'no completed runs yet'wc -l /var/log/vicidial-sales-sftp/push.jsonl 2>/dev/null || echo 'no log yet'