Help Putting Data on Loader

Files can be transferred into the incoming directory of your loader account using SFTP only.

GUI clients include:
• Fugu [MacOS]
• WinSCP [Windows]

Note: If your files are older than 2-3 weeks, disable the 'preserve timestamp' option of the sftp client (you can do this on Fugu or WinSCP). Otherwise the files will be deleted the at night by the automated process that cleans up old files.

• Fugu example
• WinSCP example
• Command line example

Using SFTP with Fugu on a Mac

In order to transfer files via Fugu SFTP you must first download and install it.. To connect to the database's data loading server, first launch Fugu then execute the following steps:

1. In the Connect to field, enter the host sftp server name loader.princeton.edu. Enter your user name on the data loading server (which is the same as your database username) in the Username field. The Port field and Directory field are optional. Then click the Connect button.

   

   Optionally, You may save the host sftp server name and your username on that server in your list of server names, by click the Add to Favorites button. After you've added a server to your server names list, you can select it from the pull-down selectable list of server names in the Connect to field. When you're ready to connect, click the Connect button

2. Enter your password in the field provided. Then click the Authenticate button.

   

3. Drag the files you want to upload from the Local computer (left-hand) pane and drop them in your incoming directory in your loader account on the Remote sftp server (right-hand) pane.

   

4. To check if the uploaded files have transferred into your incoming directory, by click the incoming directory on the Remote sftp server (right-hand) pane.

   

   To disconnect from the remote sftp server (data loading server), select the Disconnect option on the top menu bar.

Using SFTP with WinSCP on a PC

In order to transfer files via WinSCP SFTP you must first download program WinSCP at http://winscp.sourceforge.net/eng/download.php. To connect to the data loading server, first launch WinSCP then execute the following steps:

1. Enter the host sftp server name loader.princeton.edu in the Host name field. In the User name field, enter your user name on the data loading server (which is the same as you database username). Enter your password in the Password field. The Private key file field is optional. Click the Login button.

   

   Optionally, you may save the host sftp server name and your username on that server in your list of Stored sessions, by select the Stored sessions then click the Save button in the next window. After you've added a server to your list of Stored sessions, you can select it, by click on it from the Stored sessions list. When you're ready to connect, click the Load button.

2. Drag the files you want to upload from your local computer (left-hand) pane and drop them in your incoming directory (right-hand) pane in your loader account on the remote sftp server (data loading server). Click the Copy button in the second pop-up window.

   

3. To check if the uploaded files have transferred into your incoming directory, by click the incoming directory (right-hand) pane.

   

4. To disconnect from the remote sftp server (data loading server), select the Disconnect option on the bottom menu bar. Then Click the OK button in the second pop-up window.

   

Using SFTP on a Command Line

You can use sftp to transfer files via the command line by executing the following steps:

1. From the local computer directory where you have your data files you want to transfer to the remote sftp server, connect to remote host sftp server loader.princeton.edu (data loading sftp server) by typing:

   >sftp loader.princeton.edu

2. After typing in your password, list the contents of your loader account on the data loading sftp server by typing ls:

   sftp> ls

3. Change directory to incoming directory, where you will deposit your data files by typing cd:

   sftp> cd incoming

4. You can always check where you are on the remote sftp server (data loading sftp server) by typing pwd:

   sftp> pwd

   At this point you should be at:

   /Volumes/FTP/Users/username/incoming

   
   You can see an illustration of the preceding steps below.

   

5. Now you are ready to transfer your data files from your local computer directory to your incoming directory in your loader account on the remote sftp server (data loading server) by typing mput:

   sftp> mput file_name#1 file_name#2 ...

   Optionally, you can also use * to indicate multiple files:

   sftp> mput file_name*

   In this case both file_name#1 and file_name#2 will be transferred. You might need to confirm that you want the transmission of each file by answering "y" for yes or "n" for no to the question:

   sftp> mput file_name#y?

   If you only have one file to transfer, then use put instead of mput.

You can create a subdirectory for your files if it makes it easier to organize.

sftp> mkdir subdirectory_name

Be sure to change directory before moving your files.

sftp> cd subdirectory_name

6. When you are done with the file transfers, you can disconnect from the remote sftp server (data loading server) by typing quit:

   sftp> quit

If you have problems during transfer, you can check files in your local computer directory (where you transfer files from) by typing lls, which tells you the files available in your local directory. If you want to change directories in your local environment, type lcd: "lcd name_of_directory". If you are unsure where you are in your local directory, type lpwd. You can find more detailed description of sftp commands by typing man sftp in UNIX. When in sftp, you can get a brief description of commands by typing help:

sftp> help

Below is an illustration of the output of the sftp help command.