Files Compare activity

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 1 minute to read

    • The Files Compare activity compares two files on a Linux or UNIX computer.

    This activity replaces an SSH activity by the same name available in releases prior to Geneva. If you have a workflow created in a previous version that uses the deprecated activity, your workflow will continue to work normally after upgrading to Geneva. However, all new workflows must use the custom version of this activity. This activity was built with the SSH activity designer template, which gives workflow administrators the ability to store input and output variables in the databus.

    To access this activity in the Workflow Editor, select the Custom tab, and then navigate to Custom Activities > Global > Orchestration - SSH.

    Input variables

    Table 1. Files Compare input variables
    Input variable Description
    Hostname Hostname or IP address of the destination server for SSH activity.
    Directory Name of the working directory.
    OldFile Name of the first file to compare.
    NewFile Name of the second file to compare.

    Output variables

    Table 2. Files Compare output variables
    Output variable Description
    contents File comparison result. This is the difference of the two compared files.
    result Either success or failure.
    return-code Either 0, if the two files are the same, or 1, if the two files are different.
    errorMessage The executionResult.errorMessages from the Activity designer parsing sources.

    Conditions

    Table 3. Files Compare conditions
    Condition Description
    Success Activity successfully compared the specified files.
    Failure Activity could not complare the specified files.