Get Started as a Transfer Client

Aspera transfer clients connect to a remote Aspera transfer server and request a transfer with that server. Your Aspera application can be used as a client to initiate transfers with Aspera servers, as described in the following steps.

Configure transfer preferences.
You can configure your bandwidth usage, email notification, and proxy settings to apply to all transfers. For more information, see Global Bandwidth Settings and Enabling a Transfer Proxy or HTTP Proxy.
Test a locally-initiated transfer to the Aspera demonstration server to confirm your installation and firewall configuration are operational.
For instructions, see Testing a Locally Initiated Transfer. This provides a simple walk through of how to set up a connection with a server and transfer.
Configure your email notification preferences.
You can receive emails when transfer sessions start and finish to keep up-to-date on your transfer progress. For more information, see Configuring Transfer Notifications.
If you need to authenticate to the remote server with an SSH key, create an SSH key and send the public key to the server admin.
For instructions on creating an SSH key, see Creating SSH Keys in the GUI or Creating SSH Keys (Command Line).
To run transfers in the GUI, create and configure a connection to the server.
For instructions, see Managing Connections. If required, configure a proxy (Enabling a Transfer Proxy or HTTP Proxy). You can also configure transfer notifications (Scheduling and Customizing Transfers in Advanced Mode).
Once your connection is configured, you can initiate transfers with the server. For instructions, see Transferring Content and Managing Transfers.
To run transfers from the command line, review the instructions for the Aspera command line clients.
Your Aspera product comes with two command line clients: ascp and A4. They are similar but have different capabilities. For a comparison, see Comparison of Ascp and Ascp4 Options.
- For more information about ascp, see Ascp Command Reference and Ascp General Examples.
- For more information about A4, see A4 Command Reference and Ascp4 Examples.

Once you confirm that you can transfer with your server, your basic set up is complete.

If you want to automatically distribute files and folders to clients when they are added to a specific folder on the server, see Aspera Watch Service and Aspera Watchfolders.
If you want to synchronize files with your server, with the ability to synchronize bidirectionally, see Aspera Sync. The async tool requires an additional license on each to run.

For a comparison of automatic transfer tools, see Comparison of Aspera File Delivery and Synchronization Tools.