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Access Information Using Inbox

Business Case

It may the case that the research team needs outside information from an individual or organization who is not part of the team and does not have an account with tiCrypt. It is imperative that only people who are part of research under your instituion are granted an account. The solution for this problem is tiCrypt inboxes.

What is an inbox?

An inbox in tiCrypt is essentially a "mailbox" that is used by outside individuals to import data into the system. As you know, any individual who has an account can easily drag and drop files or directories from their local into the vault. Users who do not have an account use an inbox created by a tiCrypt user. Follow the steps below to see how an inbox is created and used.

Create an inbox

  1. Locate a directory in your vault. You can use an existing directory or you can create a new one as seen in the video below. Right click on the directory that you would like to turn into an inbox and select "Make inbox". Set the expiration date and size of your inbox, and then copy the URL.
Only users who have inbox permissions can accomplish this task. If the "Make Inbox" is not an option, it means you do not have the permissions.
Creating an Inbox
As you can see, there are various methods for outside users to access this inbox. The most common is via URL, however we provide methods for linux and Windows as well.
  1. Send the URL to the individual who is importing data into tiCrypt. When they navigate to that URL, it will bring them to a tiCrypt page. After agreeing to the terms, that user can select or drag and drop files that they need to import into the system as seen below.
We highly encourage an expiration date on this inbox. Individuals who obtain this URL cannot ever gain access into tiCrypt yet it is still recommended.
Send the URL
  1. The owner of the inbox can review the files that were imported by clicking on the inbox and viewing the new files or directories inside of it.
  1. If you have received all necessary information or the inbox has expired, it is now time to delete the inbox. Right click on the inbox and select manage inbox. Then select Remove Inbox. Watch the video below to see how to accomplish this.
Delete Inbox
You must delete the inbox and turn it back into a directory in order to transfer it into the virtual machine. Inboxes CANNOT be put into a virtual machine.
Notice how the inbox icon prior to deleting the inbox was a mailbox. After deleting it, it turns back into a directory.
  1. It is now time to get that outside data into a virtual machine. Navigate to the virtual machines panel and select the virtual machine in which you would like to import that data. Click on the tranfer icon as seen below.
Transfer files to VM.
  1. When you click in the transfer icon, a panel will expand where the left side is your vault and the right side is the file tree of the virtual machine. You can drag and drop files and directories from your vault into the virtual machine as seen above.

This concludes how to not only securely import outside data into the system, but to also transfer it into your virtual machine.