Testing a User-Initiated Remote Transfer

Follow the steps below to test an incoming connection from a remote client machine to the Connect Server.

Prerequisites:

  • The client machine must have an Aspera transfer product, such as IBM Aspera Desktop Client or IBM Aspera CLI, installed on it. Aspera CLI, the command line client, is freely available for download from the following site:

    https://downloads.asperasoft.com/en/downloads/62

  • The server must have at least one Aspera transfer user (a system user account that is configured to authenticate Aspera transfers) configured on it. For instructions on adding a transfer user, see Setting Up Users.
  1. On the client machine, verify your connection to Connect Server.
    Run a ping command from the Terminal window to verify connectivity to the host. In this example, the address of Connect Server is 10.0.0.2 and the output shows successful responses from the host.
    $ ping 10.0.0.2
PING 10.0.0.2 (10.0.0.2): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 10.0.0.2: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=8.432 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.0.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=7.121 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.0.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=5.116 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.0.2: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=4.421 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.0.2: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=3.050 ms
...

    If the output returns "Destination host unreachable," check the firewall configuration of the server. For more information, see Clients Can't Establish Connection.

  2. On your client machine, initiate a transfer to Connect Server.
    Run the following command on your client machine (where aspera_user_1 is the example transfer user):
    $ ascp -P 33001 -T --policy=fair -l 10000 -m 1000 /client-dir/files aspera_user_1@10.0.0.2:/dir

    This command specifies the following values for the transfer:

    Item Value
    Host Address 10.0.0.2
    Transfer User aspera_user_1
    Files to upload /client-dir/files
    Destination Folder {user's docroot}/dir
    Transfer Options
    • Maximum transfer rate = 10 Mbps (-l 10000)
    • Minimum transfer rate = 1 Mbps (-m 1000)
    • TCP port that is used to initiate the FASP session = 33001 (-P 33001). This command does not alter ascp or the configuration of your SSH server.
    • Disable encryption (-T)
    • Fair transfer policy (--policy=fair)
  3. Test the Web UI with the client machine
    The client machine must be running a supported operating system and browser, as described in Requirements, and cookies must be enabled in the client's browser.

    Go to the following address in the browser:

    HTTP http://server_ip_or_name/aspera/user
    HTTPS https://server_ip_or_name/aspera/user

    The IBM Aspera Connect banner appears with a link to download and install the latest version of Connect:



    Click Download latest version.

    Once the installation is complete, refresh the page and the Web UI for Connect Server appears:



    In the Web UI, click Upload and select one or more files to upload to Connect Server. When the transfer is finished, select the uploaded files in the Web UI, and click Download.

    Note: When you add files to the Web UI, do not use the following characters in the filenames: 
    / \ " : ' ? > < & * |

    For more information about Connect, see the IBM Aspera Connect User Guide.

If you cannot establish a connection to Connect Server, see Clients Can't Establish Connection.