RESOURCES AND INSTRUMENTATION > Computational Biology > Computational Resources > Linux Cluster

Cluster File Transfer Procedures

The following are instructions for how to perform file transfers between your local computer and the Bauer computer cluster. Copying or ftp file transfers will be allowed only over an encrypted connection which uses the ssh or "secure shell" protocol.

Here are several programs that allow you to perform file transfers via an encrypted connection:

• winscp
• pscp
• psftp

Note that with any of the programs, the first time you connect to portal, you may receive a message warning you that the server's host key is unknown. This is happening because you've never logged in to portal before; don't worry about it.

winscp

winscp is a graphical program that allows you to transfer files securely (among other things). It can be downloaded from winscp.net. Once you run it, you connect to portal.cgr.harvard.edu, then simply browse to the desired directory on each computer and drag files from one computer to the other. Here is a screenshot copied from their website:

pscp

pscp will allow you to perform file copies between your local computer and the Bauer cluster directly. The results of the command execute below will copy a file (express.exe) from your local computer to your user home directory on the cluster. It’s best to use ssh version 2, thus the -2 option is provided on the pscp command line. The password you provide is the same as you use to log into the portal host via ssh.

Here is an example of a file transfer from a user's Bauer cluster home directory to the local computer:

There are various options for pscp which can be shown by simply typing "pscp". You can download the pscp program here.

psftp

psftp allows you to perform ftp-like file transfers, but in a secure manner. Here is an example of a file transfer using psftp to transfer a file from a user's Bauer cluster home directory to the local computer. The command "get" is used to get a file from the cluster and place it on the local computer's hard drive. The password you provide is the same as you use to log into the portal host via ssh.

Here is an example of a file transfer from the local computer to a user's Bauer cluster home directory. They key command here is "put", which puts a file from the local computer to the user's cluster home directory:

There are various options for psftp which can be shown by simply typing "psftp". You can download the psftp program here.

Bauer Cluster Support: cluster_admin@cgr.harvard.edu

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