Uploading and file size

Depending of the data size and amount of files, we advise different possibilities for files transfer in/out of the RDMS.

Single files under 32 MB can be directly up-/ and downloaded via the RDMS web interface.

To download a file via the web interface, just right-click on the file in question, then select Download file from the context menu.

Note: If the Download file button is not visible from the context menu, the file size exceeds the limit of 32 MB. In this case, use one of the other options that we advise for data transfer (see below).

To upload a file directly inside the web interface, you first navigate to the destination folder. Afterwards, select the and select Upload File from the menu.

For larger files you must use a client other than the RDMS WebApp. Multiple options exist including WebDAV and command-line tools. With these, any size file can be transferred, but it is recommended to transfer the largest files at the command line in Linux.

WebDav is a file transfer protocol. For Windows, MacOS and Linux there are multiple WebDav clients you can use.

• For Windows: WinSCP and Cyberduck
• For MacOS: Finder
• For Linux: WebDAV via GNOME

For largest files, the iRODS native iCommands are the best option. Here are three different ways to use them:

• via SCP/SFTP to Peregrine. The peregrine network is faster than the regular network, so chances for errors are smaller. Of course you do need an account for Peregrine, but then you can upload to peregrine:/scratch/<pnummer> and later on upload it to the RDMS.
• Linux: via the command line and iCommands.
• Under Windows: WSL2. This is a virtualization of the Linux kernel in the Windows Operating System. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/wsl2-install. After installing WSL2 you need to install iCommands.

With iCommands you can unpack a zip or tar file with these small files. Uploading the files while in a zip or tar archive will tremendously reduce the operation time.