Skip to content

Argonne Leadership Computing Facility

Data Transfer Using scp

Use scp and SFTP to transfer data to/from Aurora.

Transferring files from Aurora (Flare) to Sunspot (Gila)

From an Aurora login node, you can transfer files to Sunspot's gila file system using the scp command.

First, you need to create an SSH key pair on Aurora and copy the public key (*.pub) to the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file on Sunspot.

  1. Create SSH keys on the laptop/desktop/remote machine.
    See Creating SSH Keys.

  2. Copy the public key (*.pub) from the ~/.ssh folder on Aurora to the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file on Sunspot (sunspot.alcf.anl.gov).

  3. Run the scp command on Aurora to transfer files to Sunspot.

  4. Copy the contents of the public key file (*.pub) located in the ~/.ssh/ folder on Aurora, and append it to the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file on Sunspot (sunspot.alcf.anl.gov).

  5. Run the scp command on Aurora to transfer files to Sunspot:

    src="test_file"
dst="/lus/gila/projects/Aurora_deployment/username"
scp test_file username@sunspot.alcf.anl.gov:$dst

    # then, from Sunspot:
$ cat test_file
this is a test file

Transferring files to Aurora (Flare)

With the bastion pass-through nodes currently used to access both Sunspot and Aurora, users will find it helpful to modify their .ssh/config files on Aurora appropriately to facilitate transfers to Aurora from other ALCF systems.

These changes are similar to what Sunspot users may have already implemented.

From an Aurora login node, this readily enables one to transfer files from Sunspot's gila filesystem or one of the production filesystems at ALCF (home and eagle) mounted on an ALCF system's login node.

With the use of ProxyJump below, entering the MobilePass+ or Cryptocard passcode twice will be needed (once for bastion and once for the other resource).

username@aurora-uan-0009:~> cat .ssh/config
Host bastion.alcf.anl.gov
    User username

Host polaris.alcf.anl.gov
    ProxyJump bastion.alcf.anl.gov
    DynamicForward 3142
    User username

username@aurora-uan-0009:~> scp username@polaris.alcf.anl.gov:/eagle/catalyst/proj-shared/username/test.txt ./
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Notice to Users
...
[Password:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Notice to Users
... 
[Password:
username@aurora-uan-0009:~> cat test.txt 
from_polaris eagle

scp: Examples1

  • Copy a local file to a remote host:

    scp path/to/local_file remote_host:path/to/remote_file

  • Use a specific port when connecting to the remote host:

    scp -P port path/to/local_file remote_host:path/to/remote_file

  • Copy a file from a remote host to a local directory:

    scp remote_host:path/to/remote_file path/to/local_directory

  • Recursively copy the contents of a directory from a remote host to a local directory:

    scp -r remote_host:path/to/remote_directory path/to/local_directory

  • Copy a file between two remote hosts transferring through the local host:

    scp -3 host1:path/to/remote_file host2:path/to/remote_directory

  • Use a specific username when connecting to the remote host:

    scp path/to/local_file remote_username@remote_host:path/to/remote_directory

  • Use a specific SSH private key for authentication with the remote host:

    scp -i ~/.ssh/private_key path/to/local_file remote_host:path/to/remote_file

  • Use a specific proxy when connecting to the remote host:

    scp -J proxy_username@proxy_host path/to/local_file remote_host:path/to/remote_file

  1. Examples copied from: scp ↩