Overview

There are numerous applications that support Secure Copy (scp) or Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) on each operating system. Select your operating system below for tailored instructions.

Select your operating system

Windows

On Microsoft Windows, an SFTP client must be downloaded to transfer files to the Shared Computing Cluster. This guide gives examples for using both “FileZilla” and the “MobaXterm” application, which was also used in the connecting (ssh) and X-forwarding guides. Common Windows SFTP applications are listed below; all of these will work fine with the SCC.

SFTP Clients

Note: Windows-based editors generally put an extra “carriage return” (also referred to as control-M/^M) character at the end of each line of text. This will cause problems for most Linux-based applications. To correct this problem you will first need to open a terminal connected to the SCC. Using the terminal, navigate to the directory that contains the ASCII files you uploaded. For each uploaded ASCII file, execute the built-in utility dos2unix:

    scc1$ dos2unix filename

File Transfer using FileZilla 🔗

There are issues with Duo two-factor authentication when using the ‘Quickconnect’ method of connecting to the SCC using FileZilla from the opening screen. You should instead create a ‘Site’ by doing the following steps:

  1. Open Site Manager with File > Site Manager.
    Click on "File" at the top left of the toolbar and choose "Site Manager" from the dropdown options.
  2. Single-click the name of your SCC site on the left or select “New Site” (you can then “Rename” your site). Change the Logon Type to “Interactive.” Also, enter your BU login name in the “User:” box.
    For the Interactive Logon, select SCC Interface & input BU login.
  3. Click Connect. A box will appear to ask for your password. Enter your BU Kerberos password and click OK.
  4. A new box will let you choose a way to respond with Duo. This should be familiar to you from other applications. Respond to the challenge and FileZilla will connect. Note that the box says ‘Password’ but it is really asking you to choose a number for which method you want to use to connect to Duo.

    In the gray password box, select a number from the white box to indicate your preferred method of Duo connection.
  5. When you connect to the SCC from the same computer in the next 30 days, it will prompt for a password with the same type of box but it should not present a Duo challenge. This only applies if you are connecting from the same machine to the same SCC node and you are using the same IP address.
  6. Once you have a site, you can access it again quickly by clicking on the arrow next to the icon on the far left side of the list of toolbar icons, just below the “File” menu. This will bring up a list of sites, click on yours to connect to it again.

File Transfer using MobaXterm 🔗

When you log in to a remote SCC session using SSH, a graphical SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) browser appears in the left sidebar allowing you to drag and drop files directly to or from the SCC using the SFTP connection.
Access the SCC remote session via SSH. Use its graphical SFTP browser on the left sidebar to drag and drop files securely to/from the SCC.

Apple OS X

On Apple OS X, sftp is a built in utility on the command line. Still, most users prefer to use an SFTP application with a graphical user interface to facilitate data transfer. There are numerous applications available, this guide goes over using the “FileZilla” and “Fetch” applications.

Other FTP/SFTP Clients 🔗

  1. FileZilla
  2. Fetch (BU Site License)
  3. Cyberduck

File Transfer using FileZilla 🔗

There are issues with Duo two-factor authentication when using the ‘Quickconnect’ method of connecting to the SCC using FileZilla from the opening screen. You should instead create a ‘Site’ by doing the following steps:

  1. Open Site Manager by clicking the indicated icon in the upper left of the window.
    Enter host, username, password, and port information in the four white labeled rectangles found from left to right in the site manager interface.
  2. As indicated by the green circles, do the following things. Select “New Site” (you can then “Rename” your site if you want). Change the Logon Type to “Interactive.” Also, enter your BU login name in the “User:” box.
    In the gray box, fill in the three labeled boxes on the right with "scc1.bu.edu" as host, "Interactive" as Logon Type, and your BU login name. Click "New Site" on the left.
  3. Click Connect. A box will appear to ask for your password. Enter your BU Kerberos password and click OK.
    A login prompt in the form of a gray pop-up box with a white rectangle for entering your password.
  4. A new box will let you choose a way to respond with Duo. This should be familiar to you from other applications. Respond to the challenge and FileZilla will connect. Note that the box says ‘Password’ but it is really asking you to choose a number for which method you want to use to connect to Duo.
    In the outlined rectangle, select your preferred Duo connection method by choosing a number.
  5. When you connect to the SCC from the same computer in the next 30 days, it will prompt for a password with the same type of box but it should not present a Duo challenge. This only applies if you are connecting from the same machine to the same SCC node and you are using the same IP address.

Using Fetch for File Transfer 🔗

  1. Hold the <command> key down with your left hand and the space bar with your right hand; type Fetch followed by the <return> key. If nothing comes up, you must first install the Fetch application.
  2. Hold down the <command> key with your left hand and press the “N” key with your right. This action will open a new connection window. Enter these values, and then press the “Connect” button: 
    Hostname: scc1.bu.edu
Username: yourBULoginName
Connect using: SFTP
Password: yourBUKerberosPassword (click the “Add to keychain”
          checkbox if you want to store it)

    Gray connectivity window with empty fields for Hostname, Username, and Connect. Fill the fields and press "Connect" at bottom right.

  3. In addition to your password entered above, you will also be asked to use Duo two-factor authentication

    Use the white box to complete Duo two-factor authentication. Enter a passcode or select from 1-7 contact options.

    Confirm your phone number by selecting from 1-7 options in the white field box.

  4. To copy a local file to the SCC, click on the “Put” button on the icon bar and then pick the file you want in the file selection dialog that opens. To copy a file from the SCC, highlight it with a mouse click in the main Fetch window, and then click on the “Get” button on the icon bar.On the SCC window, move files by clicking the "Put" button on the top center icon bar and choosing your desired file in the left column file selection dialog.

Linux

One way to transfer a file is to use the scp command, executed on your local machine:

localMachine% scp LocalFile username@scc1.bu.edu:/path/to/destination

Below is a specific example

localMachine% scp hello_world.py yannpaul@scc1.bu.edu:/project/your_project_name/

scp works like cp but uses ssh to connect, so you will be asked for your password again and may need to complete a DUO authentication.