# Data transfer onto the HPC At some point, you will inevitably need to get data from the HPC back onto your local machine, or vice versa. There are a number of different tools that can handle this, but for most use cases either [rsync](https://linux.die.net/man/1/rsync) or [scp](https://www.cyberark.com/what-is/scp-protocol/#:~:text=SCP%2C%20or%20Secure%20Copy%20Protocol,or%20between%20two%20remote%20hosts.) should suffice. #### Transfer using GUI application If you would like to use a graphical user interface application, [CyberDuck](https://cyberduck.io/) is one such option. After you have [downloaded](https://cyberduck.io/download/) and opened the application, you will be met with a screen like this: [![](https://res-wiki.appstate.edu/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/scaled-1680-/image-1745416019341.png)](https://res-wiki.appstate.edu/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/image-1745416019341.png) To connect to your home directory on the HPC, click on 'Open Connection', then select SFTP from the dropdown. Enter in the address of the HPC in the `Server` section, **your** username and password, as well as the SSH private key used to connect to the HPC if you have one (not shown in this example). [![](https://res-wiki.appstate.edu/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/scaled-1680-/image-1745416299418.png)](https://res-wiki.appstate.edu/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/image-1745416299418.png) After hitting connect (click 'Allow' on the Unkown fingerprint popup), you will see the directory structure of the folders on the HPC in your home directory. [![](https://res-wiki.appstate.edu/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/scaled-1680-/image-1745416343690.png)](https://res-wiki.appstate.edu/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/image-1745416343690.png) To download a file or directory simply right click it and hit download [![](https://res-wiki.appstate.edu/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/scaled-1680-/image-1745416383020.png)](https://res-wiki.appstate.edu/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/image-1745416383020.png) And to upload a file you click the 'Upload' button in the top right and browse your local files to upload [![](https://res-wiki.appstate.edu/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/scaled-1680-/image-1745416463260.png)](https://res-wiki.appstate.edu/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/image-1745416463260.png) #### Transfer using command line **Rsync** is the most recommended: * Efficient for large or incremental transfers. * Automatically skips files that haven't changed. * Can resume interrupted transfers. To copy files **to** the HPC: eg. A text file called `error.txt` ``` (base) azeezoe@BBMP814:~$ rsync -avhP error.txt azeezoe@hpc1.its.appstate.edu:/hpc/faculty/azeezoe/error.txt azeezoe@hpc1.its.appstate.edu's password: sending incremental file list error.txt 786 100% 0.00kB/s 0:00:00 (xfr#1, to-chk=0/1) sent 900 bytes received 35 bytes 143.85 bytes/sec total size is 786 speedup is 0.84 ``` `-a` = archive (preserves permissions, etc.) `-v` = verbose `-h` = human-readable `-P` = progress + resume eg. To copy a *folder* (called `test_transfer`) **from** the HPC to your local computer ``` [azeezoe@hpc1 ~]$ ls test_transfer/ test_data.txt ``` Transfer it across from your local computer ``` (base) azeezoe@BBMP814:~$ rsync -avhP azeezoe@hpc1.its.appstate.edu:/hpc/faculty/azeezoe/test_transfer . azeezoe@hpc1.its.appstate.edu's password: receiving incremental file list test_transfer/ test_transfer/test_data.txt 0 100% 0.00kB/s 0:00:00 (xfr#1, to-chk=0/2) sent 47 bytes received 156 bytes 45.11 bytes/sec total size is 0 speedup is 0.00 ``` We can see that both the folder and data are transferred across ``` (base) azeezoe@BBMP814:~$ ls test_transfer/ test_data.txt ``` **Scp** can still be appropriate, for quick, secure, one-time transfers. It's use is similar to rsync. Transfer **to** HPC: ```scp -r /path/to/local_data user@hpc.example.edu:/path/to/remote_folder/``` Transfer **from** HPC: ```scp -r user@hpc.example.edu:/path/to/remote_data /path/to/local_folder/``` `-r` = recursive (needed for copying directories)