.. _uberftp:


****************
*uberftp* client
****************

This page includes the basic commands to use ``uberftp``. For an overview of storage clients, see :ref:`storage-clients`.

.. contents::
    :depth: 4


=======
Uberftp
=======

.. warning:: We have observed that ``uberftp`` deletes a file after it has unsuccessfully tried to overwrite it. If you write data with ``uberftp``, please make sure you never try to overwrite existing files! ::ref:`globus-url-copy <globus>` does not have this bug.

Creating/listing
================

.. note:: To run the examples below you need to have a valid proxy, see :ref:`startgridsession`.

* Listing directories on dCache:

  .. code-block:: console

     $uberftp -ls gsiftp://gridftp.grid.sara.nl:2811/pnfs/grid.sara.nl/data/lsgrid/

* Create a new directory on dCache:

  .. code-block:: console

     $uberftp -mkdir gsiftp://gridftp.grid.sara.nl:2811/pnfs/grid.sara.nl/data/lsgrid/homer/newdir

Transferring data
=================

* Copy file from dCache to local machine:

  .. code-block:: console

    $uberftp gsiftp://gridftp.grid.sara.nl:2811/pnfs/grid.sara.nl/data/lsgrid/homer/zap.tar file:///home/homer/zap.tar

* Copy file from local machine to dCache:

  .. code-block:: console

     $uberftp file:///home/homer/zap.tar gsiftp://gridftp.grid.sara.nl:2811/pnfs/grid.sara.nl/data/lsgrid/homer/zap.tar

.. note::  The asterisk “*” wildcard (match all characters) works with uberftp. Please use this option with caution, especially when deleting files.

Parallel streams
----------------

The GridFTP protocol allows for parallel streaming of data transfers. This makes a transfer more efficient and less susceptible to network errors, especially over long distances. If you have a lot of simultaneous transfers running anyway, increasing the number of streams per transfer will not make a big difference, because the network bandwidth may limit the results.

.. code-block:: console

   $uberftp -parallel 4 \
   $     gsiftp://gridftp.grid.sara.nl:2811/pnfs/grid.sara.nl/data/lsgrid/homer/zap.tar \
   $     file:zap.tar

Results may vary based on circumstances. We suggest a number of 4 streams as a start.


Removing data
=============

* Remove a file from dCache:

  .. code-block:: console

     $uberftp -rm gsiftp://gridftp.grid.sara.nl:2811/pnfs/grid.sara.nl/data/lsgrid/homer/zap.tar

* Remove whole (non-empty) directory with all content from dCache:

  .. code-block:: console

     $uberftp -rm -r gsiftp://gridftp.grid.sara.nl:2811/pnfs/grid.sara.nl/data/lsgrid/homer/testdir/