Accessing Beamtime Data using SFTP¶

An SFTP server provides interactive access for users to beamtime directories using the SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). It allows you to browse and download beamtime data using any suitable SFTP client. Access is granted according to the working group definitions in the Gamma Portal. In order to use the SFTP server, your site needs to allow outgoing traffic on TCP port 22.

To access your data, use a suitable SFTP client to connect to psftp.desy.de. We have tested the service with FileZilla, Cyberduck and WinSCP, see below for Configuration Examples for Tested SFTP Clients.

In general:

1. Setup one of the tested SFTP clients for psftp.desy.de
2. Use your DESY account to authenticate to the SFTP server
3. After login, you can see your accessible beamtimes.

Even if you do not have access to any beamtimes, you can verify your client setup. You can always access the README.txt or download one of the public beamtimes.

Getting a DESY Account¶

In order to get a DESY account to connect to psftp.desy.de, please get in touch with local contact at DESY.

Once you have your DESY account, you can connect to the SFTP server. A DOOR account is not sufficient to connect to psftp.desy.de!

SSH Fingerprints of psftp.desy.de¶

If you connect for the first time to psftp.desy.de, the fingerprint of the server will be shown. Please compare this fingerprint to the documented values shown below. If the fingerprints match, you can trust it and the decision is saved for future connections.

If the fingerprint changes afterwards, you'll get a warning. In this case, compare the displayed fingerprints with the documented fingerprints on this page again. In case of doubt, do not enter your DESY user password and contact it-asap3@desy.de

Configuration Examples for Tested SFTP Clients¶

We have tested the following SFTP clients, other clients will most likely work as well, but have not been explicitly tested. The recommended SFTP client is FileZilla, due to it's cross-platform availability and ease of use.

1: Windows installer might contain advertisements/bundled offers, you can opt-out from it 2: On application exit, prompts for a donation, can be skipped.

General Remarks for all SFTP Clients¶

• You'll always see the complete filesystem with all beamtime directories
• You can only access the beamtime directories to which you have been granted access
• The paths have the following structure
  • Academic data: /asap3/FACILITY/gpfs/BEAMLINE/YEAR/data/BEAMTIME_ID
  • Industrial data: /data/asap3/commercial/BEAMLINE/YEAR/data/BEAMTIME_ID
• BEAMTIME_ID is an 8 digit number, also called application ID. This is NOT the proposal ID from DOOR!

FileZilla (Linux, macOS, Windows) [Recommended Client]¶

Free and Open Source SFTP Client available for all major platforms: Linux, macOS & Windows

• Download: https://filezilla-project.org [external link]
• Official Documentation: https://wiki.filezilla-project.org/Documentation [external link]
• The Windows installer might try to install advertisements/bundled offers.
• You can opt-out of this during installation or download an installer without bundled offers from the FileZilla project homepage:
  • Download -> Show additional download options -> Windows (64bit x86)
• For Linux: FileZilla is available in the standard repositories on various popular distributions, like Debian, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE Tumbleweed or Fedora.

Configuration & Usage Example¶

1. Add a new Site by clicking on the Site Manager Icon in the upper left corner
2. Select SFTP - SSH File Transfer Protocol and enter psftp.desy.de with port 22. Enter your DESY account name in the User field and set Logon Type to Interactive. Switch to Transfer Settings, enable Limit number of simultaneous connections and set the value to 1. You can now connect to the SFTP server by clicking on Connect.
3. If this is your first time connecting to the SFTP server, you will receive a warning about an unknown host key. Compare the Fingerprint with the documented fingerprints on this page. If the fingerprints match, click on OK.
4. In the new window, enter your DESY account password.
5. After entering your password, enter your one time password (OTP).
6. You have now established the connection to the SFTP server. On the right hand, you can see all beamtimes for browsing.
7. To download a beamtime, traverse the directory structure to your desired beamtime, see General Remarks
8. To download a complete beamtime, perform a right click on the folder and select Download. FileZilla will start to download the data.

Cyberduck (macOS, Windows)¶

Free and Open Source cloud storage provider with support for SFTP connections, available for macOS & Windows

• Download: https://cyberduck.io [external link]
• Official Documentation: https://docs.cyberduck.io/cyberduck/ [external link]
• On closing Cyberduck, it asks for a donation, this can be skipped

Configuration & Usage Example¶

1. Add a new Connection by clicking on Open Connection +
2. Select SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) from the drop-down list. For the Server, enter psftp.desy.de with Port 22. Enter your DESY account name in the Username field and click on Connect.
3. If this is your first time connecting to the SFTP server, you will receive a warning about an unknown host key. Compare the Fingerprint with the documented fingerprints on this page. If the fingerprints match, click on Allow.
4. After entering your password, enter your one time password (OTP).
5. You have now established the connection to the SFTP server. You can see all beamtimes for browsing.
6. To download a beamtime, traverse the directory structure to your desired beamtime, see General Remarks
7. To download a complete beamtime, perform a right click on the folder and select Download. Cyberduck will start to download the data.

WinSCP (Windows)¶

Free and Open Source SFTP & FTP client for Windows with good integration

• Download: https://winscp.net [external link]
• Official Documentation: https://winscp.net/eng/docs/start [external link]

Configuration & Usage Example¶

1. After starting WinSCP, the connection editor should start. Add a new connection with psftp.desy.de as the server and port 22
   1. To enhance transfer stability, click on Advanced, select Connection and set Server response timeout to 100 seconds.
2. After clicking on Login, the connection will be established. If you connect for the first time, compare the displayed SSH fingerprint with the documented fingerprints on this page.
3. Enter the password for your DESY account
4. After entering your password, enter your one time password (OTP)
5. You are now connected to psftp.desy.de. On the left, your local folder is displayed and on the right you can browse through the beamtimes.
6. You can now browse to your desired beamtime by traversing the directory structure, see General Remarks
7. To download a full beamtime, perform a right click on a beamtime and click on Download. A new window will appear and ask for the download location.
8. If you use background downloading, limit the concurrent transfers to 1. Each conccurent transfer requires to enter password + OTP again. Click on the yellow/gold wheel, Transfer, Background and decrease the value to 1