SFTP

If you want to work directly on your own computer (not by connecting to the math/cs department computers with ssh, but by doing everything on your own computer), you could use an easy way of transferring files between your own computer and the math/cs file server.

SFTP is one way to transfer files between two computers over a network. To use it, you need a program that supports SFTP. If you can use ssh on your computer, you should also be able to use sftp on the command line. It should work in a Terminal on Linux or MacOS, or in a cmd or PowerShell window in recent updates of Windows 10. A command-line sftp session can be started with a command such as

      sftp username@math.hws.edu

You might be asked to confirm that you want to connect; answer by typing the complete word yes and pressing return. After giving your Linux password, you will be able to use the commands put <filenam> and get <filenam> to transfer individual files between the local computer and the remote computer. Use put -r <dirnam> and get -r <dirnam> to transfer entire directories. The ls command will list files in the current directory on the remote computer, and the cd command can be used to change directories on the remote computer. To list files and change directories on the local computer, use the commands lls and lcd. Use exit to end the sftp session. The pwd command prints the name of the current directory on the remote computer, and lpwd does the same for the local computer. (On Linux or Mac OS, see the man page for sftp for more information.)

Note that if you are connected to the HWS network, you can connect to one of the computers csfac0@hws.edu, csfac1@hws.edu, ..., csfac7@hws.edu instead of to math.hws.edu. You should be able to connect to math.hws.edu from anywhere.

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Really, command-line sftp is fairly fast and easy to use! However, you might prefer a GUI interface for SFTP. Various GUI programs are available for file transfer using SFTP. In some versions of Linux, including Linux Mint, you can simply type an sftp URL of the form sftp://username@math.hws.edu into the location box of a file browser window. You will be asked for the password, and then will see the remote directory in the file browser. You can then use the remote files just as if they were local. To disconnect from the sftp server in Linux Mint, right-click the browser window and click "Unmount".

For MacOs or Windows, you will need to install some extra software to get a GUI SFTP client. For example, FireZilla (https://filezilla-project.org/) is a file-transfer program with versions for Windows, MacOS, and Linux.

For Windows. WinSCP is a common solution for Windows. Alternatively for windows, you can use the sftp facilities that are incluced with MobaXterm, which is discussed on the ssh page.

Fugu has been a popular SFTP program for Mac, but it is now quite old, and to use it, you will have to allow unsigned applications to run on your Mac. At this point, it is recommended to try a different SFTP program, such as FireZilla. Or try searching the Mac App store for SFTP clients. (But seriously, it's better to learn how to use the sftp command in a Terminal window!) If you want to use Fugu, get the pre-release version 1.2.1, which can be downloaded from the Fugu page on Sourceforge, http://sourceforge.net/projects/fugussh/. You should download the ZIP file Fugu-1.2.1pre1.zip.