How to Transfer Files with your Account

FTP is Not Allowed

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is used to transfer files from one computer to another. FTP does not encrypt the data that it sends, making it easy for hackers to obtain your username and password. For this reason, we block the FTP protocol to ensure the safety of our computer network.

SCP

SCP (Secure Copy) is an alternative to FTP that uses secure shell encryption to transfer files from one computer to the other. This protects your username and password along with the files you are transferring from outside interception. SCP is very simple, however, it provides only file transfer capabilities.

SFTP

SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) is a more comprehensive alternative, providing a simple command interface that can list remote and local files, change directories, upload and download files, remove remote files, and resume interrupted transfers. To use SCP or SFTP on Windows, you need to download an SCP or SFTP client.

Windows Clients

There are several SCP/SFTP clients that are freely available on the Internet. The following is a list of some of the more popular clients.

• WinSCP
• PuTTY
• Cygwin
• FileZilla

Instruction for WinSCP

WinSCP is fairly straight-forward and easy to use. It provides either SCP of SFTP functionality (using addition means in SCP mode to provide additional functionality over pure SCP). You can either get an installation package or a standalone application. The standalone application is a small executable that you can put anywhere on your computer or onto a removable device like a USB flashdrive. The following provides step by step instructions:

1. Once you have installed/downloaded WinSCP, launch it by clicking on the shortcut or the executable itself.
2. In the window that appears type in the name of a CS&E machine in the Host name (e.g. cello.cs.umn.edu ).
3. Type in your CS&E username and UNIX password in the appropriate fields.
4. Make sure to select "SCP" from the Protocol menu and then click on "Login".
5. A "Warning" window will come up and ask if you want to "Continue connecting and add host key to the cache?" Click Yes.
6. WinSCP will now display a window that is split in two with your local computer on the left and your CS&E UNIX home directory on the right. You can navigate through the directories by clicking on them or using the pulldown menus. You are able to move directories to and from each location either by using the "Copy" button at the bottom or by merely dragging and dropping them into the desired location.
   Note: If you are looking for your "Y:\" drive files they are in the "windows" directory of your account.
7. Make sure to close WinSCP when you are done transferring the files.

Copying Files in Windows

You cannot access the files that are located in your Windows profile using SCP. When you use SCP you are connecting to UNIX machines, which do not have access to your Windows profile. Since the Windows profile is very volatile, we recommend that you store your files on your Y:\ drive. The Y:\ drive is accessible through your UNIX account in the /windows directory, making it possible to access the files using SCP.

For more information on your Y:\ drive, see: Mounting a Windows home directory and other Samba shares.

Linux/Unix/Solaris/etc.

SCP and SFTP are usually part of the base UNIX installation. The scp command has the following syntax:

scp <source_file> <destination_file>

Either file name can have a hostname with a user alias in front of it. The following example shows how to copy a file (example.c) from your current directory at home to your CS&E account:

scp example.c [username@]cello.cs.umn.edu:~

(Note: ~ is your home directory, so ~/example/ would be the example directory inside your home directory. For more information please see the man pages: "man scp".

The sftp command has the following syntax:

sftp [username@]hostname

The "username@" part is optional (indicated by the square brackets). It will usually default to your username on your local machine if you do not provide one in the command. For more information please see the man pages: "man sftp" or look at the online man pages. Typical usage would be something like:

sftp [username@]one.cselabs.umn.edu