Box

Technical Guidance

Learn about the technical aspects of Box, and the different ways to connect.

WAYS TO CONNECT TO BOX

• Web – Simply go to MITRE Box
• FTPS – Please see detailed instructions below
• Box Custom App – Instructions available or go to the Box Developer’s Console
• Box CLI (a tool for making requests to Box APIs from command prompt) – Go to Box CLI instructions

If your host/computer is:

• • On Zscaler – All above tools should work without any issues
  • On Global Protect – Please open a ticket by sending an email to mpnsupport@mitre.org. We need to add you SUI to an AD group.
  • Is hard-wired in MITRE office – Please open a ticket by sending an email to mpnsupport@mitre.org. We need to add you SUI to an AD group.
  • In Data Center or Lab (behind MITRE firewall) – Please send an email to mpnsupport@mitre.org, with your servername and the IP address. We need to work with Infosec to add your server to a whitelist.

Uploading large files

For file sizes over 50MB Box recommends using the Chunk Upload APIs.

• https://developer.box.com/reference/post-files-content/
• https://developer.box.com/guides/uploads/chunked/

Connect to Box using FTPS (File Transfer Protocol Secure) via:

1. 1. FileZilla
   2. WinSCP
   3. LFTP (mostly for Linux and MacOS)
   4. CURL

To access Box’s FTP server:

• • Server: ftp.box.com
  • Username: username@mitre.org or service-account@mitre.org (SSO log-in not supported)
  • Password: your Box account password. To set/retrieve this password, click on the profile icon (top right corner), and select Account Settings. Scroll down to Authentication, and set/reset password there.

• • Port: for implicit encrypted connection (FTPS): 990

NOTE: FTPS access is only available for full (“managed”) Box accounts.

Connect using FileZilla

• • Host: ftps://ftp.box.com
  • Username: username@mitre.org
  • Password: your account password (can be set/reset on your Box login via opening “Account Settings”)
  • Port: 990
  • Click on “Quickconnnect”

Connect using WinSCP

• • Host name: ftp.box.com
  • Port number: 990 (WinSCP will set encryption to “TLS/SSL Implicit encryption”)
  • Username: username@mitre.org
  • Password: explained above
  • Hit “Login”

Connect using lftp

• • $ lftp
  • lftp :~> open ftps://ftp.box.com
  • lftp [ftp://ftp.box.com:~]ftp.box.com:~> user username@mitre.org
  • Password: explained above

* It appears that connecting using LFTP from Linux servers residing in the data center doesn’t work without setting  environment variables. The workaround is to create a file called .lftprc or /etc/lftp.conf, and set the following options:

set ftps:initial-prot “”
set ftp:ssl-protect-data true
set ftp:use-feat no
set ftp:passive-mode on
set ftp:ssl-force yes
set ftp:ssl-force true

* At present, there is known issue where uploading file(s) smaller than 1MB would showup in Box with 0 byte in size. Working with technical support to fix it.

Examples: lftp -u username@mitre.org, ‘your-password’ ftps://ftp.box.com

Connect using curl

• curl -1 -v –disable-epsv –ftp-skip-pasv-ip -u sui@mitre.org –ftp-ssl -T ftps://ftp.box.com:990//
• curl -1 -v –disable-epsv –ftp-skip-pasv-ip -u sui@mitre.org –ftp-ssl –output ftps://ftp.box.com:990//

Connect using Box custom App

• A Custom App is best used when the application:
  • Wants to use OAuth 2.0, JWT or Client Credentials Grant for authentication.
  • Wants to upload and download files
  • Wants the freedom to access both their own files, as well as files owned by managed or external users.
  • Wants to provide integration into the Box Web App
• To Create a new Box app:
  • Go to the Developer Console – https://mitre.app.box.com/developers/console
  • Select Create New App.
  • Select Custom App as the type of application to create, and click Next.
  • Select OAuth 2.0 with JWT as the authentication method, and click Next.
  • Give your Box app a unique name and click Create App.
  • Select your application scope in “Configration” tab
  • Submit for an approval by clicking on “Review and Submit” on the “Enablement” tab
  • Find more documentation on custom app here at https://developer.box.com/get-started/

Connect using Box CLI

The Box CLI is a user-friendly command line tool which allows both technical and non-technical users to leverage the Box API to perform routine or bulk actions. There is no need to write any code, as these actions are executed through a set of commands.

• Quick Start Guide – https://developer.box.com/guides/cli/quick-start/
• Detailed Box CLI documentation – https://developer.box.com/guides/cli/