How to use the Cloud Connector in MediaValet ?

Cloud Connector lets you copy folders and assets from external cloud storage services directly into your MediaValet library, without downloading and re-uploading files. Folder structures are preserved, transfers are trackable in real time, and any failed files can be retried.

This article covers how to connect a cloud service, create and run a migration job, monitor progress, review your transfer history, and troubleshoot common issues.

In this article

1.  Before you begin
2.  Supported cloud services
3.  Step 1 — Connect your cloud service
4.  Step 2 — Create a Cloud Connector job
5.  Step 3 — Monitor job progress
6.  Step 4 — Review job history and retry failures
7.  How folder structure is handled
8.  File requirements
9.  Connector-specific notes
10. Known limitations
11. Troubleshooting tips

Before you begin

Access requirements

Cloud Connector is accessible to the following user roles:

• System Administrators
• Library Administrators
• Custom user groups with the 'Administer System' permission enabled
   
  📝  Note: All qualifying administrators can see all jobs and all job history — not only their own.
  📝  Note: Cloud Connector is not visible to standard users or groups without the Administer System permission. 

What Cloud Connector is and isn't:

• It is a migration and import tool. Cloud Connector copies assets at the time a job is run.
• It is not a sync tool. It does not automatically reflect changes made to source files after a job has run. MediaValet is intended to become the primary home for your assets.
• Jobs run one at a time. Multiple jobs can be queued by different users, but only one processes at a time, in the order they were created.
   

Supported cloud services

Cloud Connector supports the following source types. Authentication method depends on the service.

Step 1 — Connect your cloud service

Before you can create a migration job, you need to connect at least one cloud service. You can connect multiple services simultaneously.

OAuth connectors (Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, SharePoint, OneDrive)

1. Navigate to Cloud Connector within your MediaValet library. It appears in the left navigation panel.
2. Click Add Connection (or Add Cloud Drive if no connections exist yet).

1. Select your cloud service from the list.
2. You will be redirected to your cloud provider's login screen. Sign in with your account credentials and authorize access.
3. Once authenticated, you will be returned to Cloud Connector and your service will appear as Connected.

📝  Note: Each user's connection is stored individually. Credentials are not shared between users. A single cloud account cannot be linked to more than one MediaValet user. If you see an 'unverified app' warning during Google Drive authentication, you may click ‘Continue.’ If you have further questions, please contact our Support team.

Credential-based connectors (Amazon S3, SFTP, FTP)

1. Navigate to Cloud Connector and click Add Connection.
2. Select the service type (S3, SFTP, or FTP).
3. S3: enter your AWS Access Key ID, Secret Access Key, and Region. Cloud Connector will test the connection by creating and deleting a small test object — you will see an error immediately if any credential or permission is missing.
4. SFTP: enter the server hostname, port (default: 22), and your authentication details (username + password, or upload a key file in .ppk or .pem format without a passphrase).
5. FTP: enter the server hostname, port (default: 21), and your authentication details (anonymous, username + password, or key file). TLS is negotiated automatically where your server supports it.
6. Click Add to save the connection.

⚠️  Important: For S3, SFTP, and FTP, work with your IT team to obtain credentials before starting setup.
- For S3, your IAM user needs the following permissions: s3:GetBucketLocation, s3:ListBucket, s3:GetObject, s3:PutObject, s3:DeleteObject.
- For SFTP and FTP, ensure port access is open from the Cloud Connector environment to your server.

Step 2 — Create a migration job

Once a cloud service is connected, you can create a migration job to copy a folder into MediaValet.

1. Go to the Job Queue tab and click Create Migration Job. Alternatively, click the three-dot menu next to a connected service and select Create Migration Job.

1. Select the connected cloud service you want to copy from.
2. Browse the folder tree and select the source folder. All subfolders and files within it will be included. Click Next.
3. Select the destination category in MediaValet. You can only select categories you have upload permission to. Click Next.

1. Review the summary — it shows the source folder and the destination it will be copied to. Click Create to add the job to the queue.

📝  Note: Jobs are folder-based. Individual file selection within a job is not supported.
A source folder can only be used in one queued job at a time. Once the job completes or is cancelled, the folder can be used again.
The destination category must already exist in MediaValet. Subfolders from the source are automatically created as new categories beneath it.
You do not need to wait for the first job to finish before adding more jobs to the queue. 
 

Step 3 — Monitor job progress

Jobs process in the order they were created. You can monitor progress from the Job Queue tab.

• Status labels: Pending → In Progress → Completed (or Completed with Issues if any files failed).
• Progress indicators: while a job is running, you can see the percentage of categories complete and the percentage of files complete.
• Pause / Resume: click the pause icon to pause a running job, and resume it later from the same point.
• Cancel: click the cancel icon to stop a job. Assets and categories already copied before cancellation remain in MediaValet. The job can be resumed later.
• Add more jobs: you can queue additional jobs while the current one is running.

📝  Note: When a job completes, it moves from the Job Queue to the History tab. 
All administrators can see all queued jobs and all job history — not only their own.
 

Step 4 — Review job history and retry failures

Once a job completes, it is recorded in the History tab. From there you can review what transferred and address any failures.

1. Click the History tab to see all completed jobs.
2. Click on a job to open its details. The details panel shows: job name, source and destination, total files and categories, completion status, and a full log of what was copied.
3. If any files failed, the job will show the status Completed with Issues. The details panel includes an error log showing exactly which files were not transferred.
   
4. To retry failed files, click Retry Job. Only the failed files are retried — already-transferred files are not duplicated.
   
5. To download a full transfer report, click Download Report. The report is in CSV format and shows file-level detail including success and failure status.

✅  Tip: If only a small number of files failed, you can also download them from the source and upload them to MediaValet manually via the standard upload process.
If a large number of files are failing consistently, contact MediaValet Support at support@mediavalet.com so the team can investigate.

How folder structure is handled

Cloud Connector replicates your source folder hierarchy as categories in MediaValet. Here is what to expect:

⚠️  Important 
Folder name matching is case-insensitive but otherwise exact — even a single character difference will create a new category instead of merging with an existing one.
There is no duplicate detection. Running the same job twice will result in duplicate assets. Plan carefully before re-running jobs on folders that have already been transferred.

File requirements

Review these requirements before running a job to avoid processing issues:

• File extensions are required. All files must have a valid extension (e.g. .jpg, .png, .pdf, .mp4, .doc). Files without a valid extension will get stuck in processing and will need to be addressed manually.
• Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides must be under 10 MB. Google-native files larger than 10 MB will not copy.
• Embedded metadata is transferred. Any metadata embedded in your files is carried over to MediaValet along with the assets.
• Watermarks and auto-tags are not applied. Assets arrive in MediaValet exactly as they exist in the source. You can apply watermarking and tagging after import using standard MediaValet tools.

📝  Note: File size limits for non-Google file types have not been confirmed. If you are transferring very large individual files and encounter issues, contact MediaValet Support.

Connector-specific notes

Google Drive

• You can access your personal Google Drive, Shared with Me folders, and Shared Drives.
• Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides must be under 10 MB.
• Restricted-access folders cannot be selected as a source. If a restricted folder exists within a selected folder, its contents will not be copied.
• First-time connection: you may see an 'unverified app' warning from Google when connecting. This is expected — Cloud Connector is currently in the process of completing Google's app verification. Click Continue to proceed with the connection. If you are unable to connect, contact your MediaValet Implementation Manager or Support team.
• Folder shortcuts: if a shortcut is a child of your selected source folder, assets within that shortcut may be duplicated across multiple categories in MediaValet. Review the folder structure for shortcuts before running a large job.

Dropbox

• Personal Dropbox folders only. Dropbox Teams folders cannot be accessed via Cloud Connector.
• Shared folders must be joined by you in Dropbox first — they will not appear in Cloud Connector until joined.

Box

• Restricted-access folders cannot be selected as the source.
• If restricted folders are nested within a selected source folder, their contents will not be copied.

SharePoint

• Cloud Connector connects to SharePoint sites you follow or have been granted access to.

OneDrive

• Cloud Connector connects to folders that have been shared with your OneDrive account.

Amazon S3

• You will need your AWS Access Key ID, Secret Access Key, and Region to connect.
• Required IAM permissions: s3:GetBucketLocation, s3:ListBucket, s3:GetObject, s3:PutObject, s3:DeleteObject. Ask your IT team to grant these before setup.
• Write permission is validated at setup — Cloud Connector creates and deletes a small test object. Any missing permissions or invalid credentials will surface as an error at this stage.

SFTP

• Supported authentication: username + password, or key file (.ppk / .pem, no passphrase). Anonymous access is supported where your server allows it.
• Port 22 must be open from the Cloud Connector environment to your SFTP host. Your IT team should confirm firewall rules before setup.
• Very large SFTP jobs (extremely deep folder trees or very large individual files) may show slow or stalled progress in the UI. The transfer is still running in the background — see the Troubleshooting section if progress appears stuck.

FTP

• Supported authentication: anonymous, username + password, or key file.
• TLS is negotiated automatically where supported by your server (FTP/FTPS).
• Default port is 21, but this is configurable. Your IT team should confirm that inbound connections from the Cloud Connector environment are permitted.

Known limitations

Troubleshooting tips

• I can't see Cloud Connector in MediaValet:
  Cloud Connector is only visible to administrators. Check that your user group includes the 'Administer System' permission. If the feature is still not visible, contact your MediaValet administrator or Support.
• I see an 'unverified app' warning when connecting Google Drive:
  This is expected. Cloud Connector is currently completing Google's app verification process. Click Continue to proceed. If your organisation's Google admin has restricted third-party app connections, contact your IT team or MediaValet Support.
• My cloud service doesn't appear in the connector list:
  Only the supported services listed in this article can be connected. If you need a source type that is not listed, contact your Customer Success Manager.
• A shared Dropbox folder is not visible in Cloud Connector:
  Shared folders must be joined in Dropbox first. Open Dropbox, accept or join the shared folder, then return to Cloud Connector.
• My job shows 'Completed with Issues':
  Some files failed to transfer. Open the job details to view the error log, and click Retry Job to attempt the failed files again. Download the report for a full file-level breakdown.
• My Files are stuck in processing:
  Files without a valid file extension cannot be processed. Download the transfer report to identify affected files, add the correct extension to each file in the source, and retry the job.
• SFTP job progress appears stalled:
  Very large SFTP jobs may show slow or paused progress in the UI. The transfer is running in the background. Wait several minutes before taking action. If the job has not progressed after an extended period, contact MediaValet Support — the team can verify job status via logs.
• S3 connection fails at setup
  Check that the IAM user has all required permissions (s3:GetBucketLocation, s3:ListBucket, s3:GetObject, s3:PutObject, s3:DeleteObject) and that the access key, secret key, and region are entered correctly.
• A lot of files are failing consistently
  Contact MediaValet Support at support@mediavalet.com with the job name and a description of the issue. The support team can investigate via server logs.