Methods and apparatus for managing file distribution between publishing and subscribing devices are provided. At a transporter system, a publish request for publishing a version of the dataset is received from a publisher device, wherein the publish request has a predefined format that includes an identity of the dataset, an identity of the version of the dataset, and an identity of a location for the version of the dataset. The transporter system updates a registry to associate the dataset with the identity of the dataset, version, and location, and the transporter system automatically publishes the dataset to any subscribers devices that have previously sent subscribe requests for such dataset to the transporter system.