The Free Connector is built on top of the same certified /n software EDI engine powering ...

" Two thumbs up for your support team in my book. I would like to once again give many thanks to your support team for their speedy responses to my emails and for their vast technical skills. "

  -- Pablo G.

Support Options

We offer multiple levels of technical support including free email-based standard support:

  • Standard Support - 9-5 EST Free Email support.
  • Premium Support - Priority Email & Phone support 
  • Custom Development - custom software development services.

More information about our standard and premium support packages can be found on our technical support page, where you may also submit a new support request.

If you are interested in learning more about additional support options please contact us for details.

Frequently Asked Question

Before you submit a new support issue, we strongly encourage you to have a quick look at the following list of frequently asked questions.


Capabilities and Technical Info

Q:  Can the AS2 Connector be run as a service, or hosted in IIS? The server will stop running if I log off of my machine.

The AS2 Connector is a web application, and must be hosted on a web server in order to run.

The Free version of the AS2 Connector is provided with a standalone webserver on which the application is hosted. This lightweight Windows desktop application is designed to provide basic HTTP server side capabilities to small businesses and users who are new to AS2. Since the standalone server is a Windows desktop application, it has the same limitations as any Windows desktop application - it can only be run while a user is logged into the machine.

With any of the paid licenses of the AS2 Connector (5 partners or more), the application may be hosted in Microsoft's Internet Information Services (IIS). IIS is a Windows service, and will allow you to run the AS2 Connector even while a user is not logged in. In addition, IIS offers several features that are not available in the standalone web server (SSL support, multiple virtual directories, and more robust support for multiple simultaneous transactions).

To host the application in IIS after purchasing you will need to create a new virtual application and point it to the as2app directory of the installation. The AS2 Connector is a .NET 2.0 application, so make sure that the application pool uses .NET Framework Version 2.0 or higher. You will then need to grant write and modify permissions to the as2data directory for the account under which the web application will be running. In Windows XP this is the ASPNET machine account. In Windows Server this is the identity of the application pool of which the virtual directory is a member (typically the Network Service account).

Q:  What Encryption Algorithm and Signing Algorithm are supported?

The AS2 Connector supports the industry standard 168 bit 3DES encryption algorithm, and the SHA1 signing algorithms. The application will also support MD5 signatures if received from trading partners (however, this is uncommon).

Q:  How do I specify the file type/content type?

Many trading partners process files based on the Content-Type header that is used. The AS2 Connector determines the Content-Type header based on the file extension.

  • *.X12 and *.EDI are sent as application/edi-x12
  • *.EDIFACT is sent as application/edifact
  • *.XML is sent as application/xml
  • All else is sent as application/octet-stream

Errors and Troubleshooting

Q:  I get the error "The receipt signature could not be verified."

This will occur if your trading partner signed an MDN with a different certificate than you have specified in the trading partner tab. Check with your trading partner to make sure you have the correct certificate from them.

Q:  I get the error "Unable to decrypt message: RSA Error: cipher text may not have been created using the public key corresponding to the specified private key data."

This will occur if decryption of an incoming message is attempted with a different certificate, than what your trading partner encrypted with. You should re-send your public certificate (.cer file) to your trading partner, or check to make sure they have configured the correct certificate.

Getting Started

Q:  What do I need to do to configure this?

We provide a screencast here which will give you an overview of the different parts of the Administration Console and show you where certain items should be specified. It is recommended you view this screencast first.

Q:  How can I create certificates?

The AS2 Connector gives you the ability to generate your own self-signed certificates. These can be created from the Setup tab by clicking the "Create Self Signed" certificate link in blue. This will generate both a private key (.pfx file) for signing outgoing message and decrypting incoming messages, and a public key (.cer file) that you will need to send to your trading partner.

Q:  Where should I put the certificate my trading partner gave me?

In the Trading Partner tab you will see a section titled Trading Partner Certificate - Encryption and Trading Partner Certificate - Signature. You can specify either the full path to the certificate, or paste the base64 encoded contents of the certificate in the corresponding text box. If your trading partner uses the same certificate for both encryption and signing (very common) you can specify the certificate just once, in the Trading Partner Certificate - Encryption section.

Sales

Q:  Are any other features available in the paid versions?

The paid version of the AS2 Connector includes a number of features that are not available in the free version:

  • Support for IIS
  • Email notifications
  • Logging to the Application Event Log
  • Customized Headers
  • Proxy\Firewall support
  • HTTP and SSL Client Authentication
  • Automated batch file processing

Q:  Can I use another copy of the free version for testing?

Yes. You can setup multiple instances of the free version of the AS2 Connector on separate machines for testing.