Testing the Web UI

Follow the steps below to test your Aspera Connect client transfers through the Web UI.

Note: The instructions require steps to be taken on both the Connect Server machine and a client computer. Make sure that you are performing the steps on the correct machine.
  1. Configure an Aspera transfer user on the Connect Server machine.
    1. Create a system user (asp1).
    2. Launch the application. Click Macintosh HD > Applications > Aspera Enterprise Server.
    3. Click Configuration.
      Click the Configuration button.
    4. In Server Configuration, click the Users tab and click Add user to add a user. Enter the system user's name (asp1).
      Click the Configuration.
    5. Click the user's Docroot tab and in the Effective Value field for Absolute Path, enter or select an existing path as the user's docroot (for example, /sandbox/asp1). Set all other options to true. Click OK.
      Set up the docroot.
    Note: The system user requires read and write permissions to the assigned docroot.
  2. Configure Apache authentication for the system user on the Connect Server.
    In addition to SSH authentication, Connect Server uses Apache's authentication to authorize Web UI access. To set up a system user (asp1 in this example) for Apache authentication, run the htpasswd command below.
    Note: On the first run of htpasswd, you must use the -c option to create the file for credential storage, webpasswd. Do not use the -c option otherwise. 
    $ htpasswd [-c ]/Library/Aspera/etc/webpasswd asp1
  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 initiate FASP transfers by using the Web UI, see Clients Can't Establish Connection.