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Admin Panel

The MFTPlus admin panel provides centralized management for customers, subscriptions, agents, and system health.

Accessing the Admin Panel

Navigate to /admin on your MFTPlus dashboard domain:

https://dashboard.yourcompany.com/admin

Production Access

Admin panel access requires authentication. See Admin Login below.

Admin Login

The admin panel uses separate authentication from the main dashboard:

Authentication Methods

  1. Admin API Key: Use your organization's admin API key
  2. SSO Integration: Single sign-on through your identity provider (if configured)

Session Management

  • Sessions expire after 8 hours of inactivity
  • Manual logout available via the user menu
  • Concurrent sessions limited to 3 per admin account

First-Time Setup

On initial deployment, the system prompts you to:

  1. Create the primary admin account
  2. Configure authentication method (API key or SSO)
  3. Set up additional admin users

Secure Your Admin Keys

Admin API keys provide full access to customer data and system settings. Store them securely and rotate regularly.

Customer Management

Manage customer accounts, configurations, and access from the Customers section.

Viewing Customers

The customers list displays:

  • Customer name and ID
  • Associated agents
  • Active subscription tier
  • Account status (active, suspended, pending)
  • Last activity timestamp

Customer Actions

ActionDescription
View DetailsOpen customer profile with full configuration
SuspendTemporarily disable customer access
DeleteRemove customer and associated data (requires confirmation)
ImpersonateView dashboard as the customer (audit logged)

Adding Customers

  1. Navigate to CustomersAdd Customer
  2. Enter customer details:
    • Company name
    • Contact email
    • Initial subscription tier
  3. Customer receives onboarding email with setup instructions

Customer Configuration

Per-customer settings include:

  • Agent registration limits
  • Storage quotas
  • Transfer throughput limits
  • Allowed protocols
  • IP whitelist (optional)

Subscription Oversight

Monitor and manage customer subscriptions from the Subscriptions section.

Subscription Tiers

TierFeaturesAgentsStorage
FreeBasic transfers, community support110 GB
ProPriority transfers, email support10500 GB
BusinessSSO, API access, phone support505 TB
EnterpriseCustom limits, dedicated supportUnlimitedUnlimited

Subscription Actions

  • Upgrade: Increase tier limits immediately
  • Downgrade: Takes effect at next billing cycle
  • Cancel: Disable access at period end
  • Renew: Extend active subscription

Billing Events

Track subscription events including:

  • New subscriptions
  • Plan changes
  • Payment failures
  • Auto-renewals
  • Cancellations

Agent Monitoring

Real-time visibility into all registered agents across your deployment.

Agent Overview

The agents dashboard shows:

MetricDescription
Total AgentsAll registered agents
OnlineAgents with active connections
OfflineAgents not connected (with last seen time)
TransfersActive transfer count per agent

Agent Details

Click any agent to view:

  • Hostname and system information
  • OS version and architecture
  • Agent version
  • Connected since timestamp
  • Active and historical transfers
  • Certificate status

Agent Actions

ActionDescription
View TransfersFilter transfers by this agent
Update ConfigPush configuration changes
Revoke CertificateRemove agent access (requires re-registration)
Force DisconnectTerminate agent connection

Certificate Revocation

Revoking an agent's certificate immediately terminates all active transfers and prevents reconnection until the agent re-registers.

Agent Health Monitoring

Configure alerts for:

  • Agent offline duration
  • Transfer failure rates
  • Certificate expiration
  • Version drift (outdated agents)

System Health Dashboard

Monitor overall system performance and resource utilization.

Health Metrics

The system dashboard displays:

  • Transfer Queue: Pending, active, and completed transfers
  • Error Rates: Transfer and system errors by type
  • Resource Usage: CPU, memory, and storage across components
  • Response Times: API endpoint latencies (p50, p95, p99)
  • Throughput: Data transfer rates by protocol

Component Status

ComponentStatus Indicators
API ServerUptime, request rate, error rate
DatabaseConnections, query performance
Message QueueQueue depth, processing rate
StorageCapacity, I/O performance

Alerting

Configure alerts for:

  • Component downtime
  • Performance degradation
  • Resource exhaustion
  • Anomalous error rates

Alerts delivered via:

  • Email (default)
  • Webhook (custom integrations)
  • Slack/Teams (configured integration)

Audit Log Access

Comprehensive audit logging for compliance and security review.

Log Categories

CategoryEvents Logged
AuthenticationLogins, logouts, failed attempts, password changes
CustomerAccount creation, modifications, deletions
SubscriptionTier changes, billing events, cancellations
AgentRegistration, configuration changes, revocations
TransferJob creation, transfers, failures
AdminAll admin panel actions with user attribution

Querying Audit Logs

Filter logs by:

  • Date/time range
  • Category
  • User/admin
  • Resource ID (customer, agent, transfer)
  • Action type

Export logs in:

  • CSV (spreadsheet compatible)
  • JSON (programmatic analysis)
  • Syslog format (SIEM integration)

Log Retention

  • Standard: 90 days
  • Enterprise: Configurable retention up to 7 years

Compliance

Audit logs support compliance requirements for:

  • SOC 2
  • ISO 27001
  • HIPAA
  • PCI DSS

All log entries are immutable and tamper-evident.

Admin API

The admin panel exposes a REST API for automation.

Authentication

Include your admin API key in requests:

bash
curl -H "X-Admin-API-Key: your-key" \
  https://dashboard.mftplus.co.za/api/admin/agents

Common Endpoints

EndpointDescription
GET /api/admin/agentsList all agents
GET /api/admin/customersList customers
POST /api/admin/customersCreate customer
GET /api/admin/subscriptionsList subscriptions
GET /api/admin/auditQuery audit logs

See API Reference for complete endpoint documentation.

Best Practices

Security

  • Use separate admin accounts for each administrator
  • Enable SSO for centralized access control
  • Rotate admin API keys monthly
  • Review audit logs weekly for suspicious activity
  • Limit admin impersonation to troubleshooting only

Customer Management

  • Document customer configurations before changes
  • Test configuration changes on non-production customers first
  • Notify customers before planned maintenance
  • Keep customer contact information updated

Monitoring

  • Set up alerts for critical thresholds
  • Review system health dashboard daily
  • Track agent certificate expiration dates
  • Monitor transfer failure rates by protocol

Troubleshooting

Admin Panel Not Loading

  1. Verify you're using the correct URL (/admin path)
  2. Check browser console for JavaScript errors
  3. Clear browser cache and cookies
  4. Try incognito/private browsing mode
  5. Verify admin API key validity

Unable to Impersonate Customer

  1. Verify customer account is active
  2. Check your admin permissions
  3. Ensure audit logging service is running
  4. Contact system administrator if issue persists

Missing Audit Logs

  1. Verify date range filter includes expected events
  2. Check log retention policy (90-day default)
  3. Ensure audit logging service is healthy
  4. Check system health dashboard for errors

Agent Status Stale

  1. Agent may be offline (check last seen timestamp)
  2. Network connectivity issue between agent and dashboard
  3. Agent process may have crashed (check agent logs)
  4. Certificate may have expired (revoke and re-register)