Transferring Files to/from Clipper

As with general Clipper access, to transfer files to/from Clipper you must be on certain campus networks or connected to VPN.

File Transfer Node

Network bandwidth is a shared resource among all users of the Clipper cluster. It is possible to transfer files to/from the cluster by using the login node Port - port.clipper.gvsu.edu or clipper.gvsu.edu. For small, quick transfers, this is a perfectly fine and acceptable practice.

For large, bandwidth-intensive transfers, please use Barge, a node dedicated to this purpose. Barge is accessible at barge.clipper.gvsu.edu. Barge is connected to all cluster storage, meaning all of your files are accessible through it, but it is not possible to run other applications or submit jobs to the cluster from the system.

File Transfer Options

SCP

SCP (Secure Copy) is a simple command-line tool for transferring files between systems using a secure SSH connection.

Examples:

Copy a local file to a remote directory through Barge:

scp file.txt username@barge.clipper.gvsu.edu:/remote/folder

Synchronize a remote file to a local directory through Port:

scp username@barge.clipper.gvsu.edu:/remote/folder/file.txt /local/folder

SFTP

SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) offers more functionality than SCP, including browsing the remote file system.

Common SFTP clients include:

• WinSCP: A free and widely used SFTP client for Windows.
• FileZilla: A free and open-source option available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
• Cyberduck: A libre server and cloud storage browser for Mac and Windows.

Rsync

Rsync is a file synchronization program used to copy files between a source and destination, transferring only the differences. It is often used for backups and keeping files in sync across machines.

Rsync can be used to connect to both port.clipper.gvsu.edu and barge.clipper.gvsu.edu.

The basic syntax is:

rsync [options] source destination

Common Options:

• -v: verbose mode, shows details about the transfer process.
• -z: compress data during transfer.
• -r: recursively copy entire directories, including subdirectories and files within.
• -a: archive mode, equivalent to -rlptgoD (preserves permissions, ownership, timestamps, etc.).

Examples:

Synchronize a local directory with a remote directory through Barge:

rsync -avz /local/folder username@barge.clipper.gvsu.edu:/remote/folder

Synchronize a remote directory with a local directory through Port:

rsync -avz username@port.clipper.gvsu.edu:/remote/folder /local/folder

Globus

Globus provides high-performance data transfers via the Globus Connect client.

Globus support is currently in beta. Please contact arcit@gvsu.edu if you are interested in using Globus to transfer files to/from Clipper.