Copying or editing files on the math department file server from a local computer

macOS and Linux

The scp command can be used to securely copy files between computers. For example, to copy over a file located at ~/Documents/myfile on the math department file server to your local Documents folder, you can run the following command from your local computer's terminal:

Similarly, to push a copy of ~/Documents/myfile from your local computer back to your Documents folder on the math department file server:

Another option for Mac users is to use an SCP client to "click and drag" files back and forth. One such client is the free version of FileZIlla, available here. To use FileZilla, do the following:

1. Open the FileZilla program. Towards the top of the program window, there is a place to enter the following information:

   Host	ssh.math.umass.edu
   Username/Password	Your math department username and password
   Port	22

   The first time you use the program, you will need to enter in all this information. However for future logins, you can simply click the small triangle to the right of the "Quick Connect" button and select a previous connection to save time.
2. Click “Quick Connect” to open the connection to the math file server. The first time you connect, you will get a warning about connecting to an unknown server – you can add this connection to your cache to dismiss the message in the future, or just click OK to proceed
3. You should then see two panels. On the left is your local computer, on the right is the file system on the math department server. Copying files from one computer to the other is then as simple as clicking and dragging the file from one panel to the other. Alternatively, if you double click on a file, it will automatically transfer over to the open folder in the other panel.
4. You can also edit files directly in FileZilla. To do this, right-click on a file, and select "View/Edit" from the drop-down menu. This will download the file to a temporary location on your local computer, where you can edit it. When you are done, save and close the file normally - FileZilla will detect the change and ask you if you'd like to upload the updated version back to the math department file server (click Yes!)

Windows

You will need an SCP client to securely copy files between a local computer and the remote math department file server. One such client is the free program WinSCP, available here. To use WinSCP, do the following:

1. The first time you open the program, you will have to configure the client. Choose the following options:

   File protocol	SCP
   Host name	ssh.math.umass.edu
   Port number	22
   Username/Password	Your math department username and password

   To avoid having to do this every time, you can select “Save” and create a Desktop shortcut for this specific connection
2. You may see a warning about connecting to an unknown server – you can add this connection to your cache to dismiss the message in the future, or just click Yes to proceed
3. You should then see two panels. On the left is your local computer, on the right is the file system on the math department server. Copying files from one computer to the other is then as simple as clicking and dragging the file from one panel to the other.
4. Alternatively, you can edit files directly in WinSCP. Unfortunately you cannot double-click to open files in WinSCP. Instead, you must single-click on the file in the right-side panel that you wish to open, then from the menu toolbar click "Files", and then select "Open" from the drop-down menu. You will be prompted to choose the program you'd like to use to open the file. This will download a temporary copy of the file on your local machine -if you edit and save your changes, the updated file will be automatically copied back over to the math department file server.