Transferring Files to other ERIS Cluster Users using /pub/dropbox

The folder "/pub/dropbox" is a temporary storage location for transferring data to other users of the ERIS cluster. 

Important Notes

•   "/pub/dropbox" is currently accessible from the login nodes eris2n4, eris2n5 and (planned) eris2n6. 
•   Please promptly copy data placed here for you and delete the dropbox copy
•   Do not store the only copy of any data here
•   Please do not run any computational work on data located here
•   Data remaining for more than 30 days will be automatically deleted!!

Data Privacy

• Comply with all HIPAA guidelines. 
• The owner of data in this folder takes responsibility for data privacy
• Do not make data "world readable" using the 'chmod' command unless it contains no Protected Health Information (PHI) or Intellectual  Property (IP)

Use of the Dropbox Folder

In this example, text in black font is typed into the terminal, text in grey font is output from the terminal and not typed

The Sender

• open an "ssh" session to the eristwo login node eris2n5 (replacing you123 with your Mass General Brigham ID)

ssh you123@eris2n5.research.partners.org

• make a folder indicating the creation date ("2013-07-30" in this example) and intended recipient (eg. "abc01")

mkdir /pub/dropbox/2013-07-30_for_abc01

• copy all files to be transferred into the folder (replacing the example path with your newly created folder)

cp sharedfile1.zip sharedfile2.zip /pub/dropbox/2013-07-30_for_abc01

• give read, write and directory permission to the recipient, for example:

setfacl -R -m u:abc01:rwX /pub/dropbox/2013-07-30_for_abc01

• finally provide the recipient with the path to the shared files and a link to this FAQ document

The Recipient

• open an "ssh" session on the cluster login node
• copy the contents of the shared folder to your data or home folder, using the folder path provided by the sender, for example:

cp -v /pub/dropbox/2013-07-30_for_abc01/* /data/my_lab_folder

• Once satisfied with the transfer, remove the sent files from dropbox, for example:

rm /pub/dropbox/2013-07-30_for_abc01/* 

• The "2013-07-30_for_abc01" folder itself can only be removed by the sender

Notes on Access Control Lists (ACLs)

• We are using "Access Control List" (ACL) permissions to share the data with the intended recipient(s) or recipient group. These supplement the standard Linux permissions for "Owner", "Group" and "Other".  For example, to share the file "sharedfile.zip" with user "abc01", execute the command

setfacl -m u:abc01:rw sharedfile.zip

• or with group "lab02"

setfacl -m g:lab02:rw sharedfile.zip

• And to view the current permissions on the file use

getfacl sharedfile.zip

• Or remove all "ACL" permissions

setfacl -b sharedfile.zip

• for more information use the command 'man setfacl' or google "Linux ACL"