File Transfers

VMS to Unix

Unix to Unix

VMS to UNIX

Regular Files

Precursor activity:

Since VMS systems append a version number to files, you will want to first remove all versions of your files except the most recent. Use the VMS purge command for this.

On VMS, there is a program called tar available. If you have to transfer files,

  1. Login to VMS
  2. Change directories to the directory which contains the files you want to move (use the SET DEF or DOWN command).
  3. issue the command:    tar cvf vms.tar [...]*.*.*
  4. When the tar command is completed, you will have archived all of your files into a single file called vms.tar.  You now need to move this file to the unix system using the ftp command
  5. At the VMS command prompt, type:    ftp "unix system name"
  6. Login using your user ID and password for the Unix system (this should NOT be your first login to Unix, you need to login using telnet at least once in order to change your password).
  7. When you are logged in with ftp, make a directory on the Unix system with the command: mkdir "name", where name is some name you choose. Then change directories into the new directory with the command: cd "name".
  8. Issue the command:    bin     to ftp to enable binary file transfers.
  9. Type:    put vms.tar    to transfer the archive file from vms to the Unix System.
  10. Exit from ftp with the quit command, and log off vms
  11. Telnet to the Unix system and login.
  12. Change directories to the one you named in step 7 above.
  13. Unarchive the files by typing:    tar xvf vms.tar        You are now finished. All vms files have been transfered, and they are present in the directory including subdirectories from vms.

Mail Files

The only hangup is that although the VMS mail files will transfer, they will not be readable by any of the mail programs on the Unix system.  What you need to do is to resend the messages to yourself from vms to Unix using the VMS mailer called "mail" or using Pine. You should delete any VMS-formatted mail files from your Unix account, as they are not usable.

Unix to Unix

Sequence and other Files

On all Unix computers there is a program called tar available. To transfer files to another Unix computer:

  1. Login to the source computer (e.g.: mutant)
  2. Change directories to the directory which contains the files you want to move (use the cd command)
  3. Before using the next command, make sure you have enough disk quota available using the quota -v command. You must have free space equivalent to at least the size of the files you want to move.
  4. Issue the command:    tar cvf mutant.tar *
  5. When the tar command is completed, you will have archived all of your files into a single file called mutant.tar.  You now need to move this file to biocomp using the ftp command
  6. At the command prompt, type:    ftp biocomp or ftp biocomp.unl.edu
  7. Login using your user ID and password for biocomp (this should NOT be your first login to biocomp, you need to login using telnet at least once in order to change your password).
  8. When you are logged in with ftp, make a directory on biocomp with the command: mkdir "name", where name is some name you choose. Then change directories into the new directory with the command: cd "name".
  9. Issue the command:    bin     to ftp to enable binary file transfers.
  10. Type:    put mutant.tar    to transfer the archive file from mutant to the other unix system.
  11. Exit from ftp with the quit command, and log off mutant
  12. Telnet to the other unix system, and login.
  13. Change directories to the one you named in step 7 above.
  14. Unarchive the files by typing:    tar xvf mutant.tar        You are now finished. All files have been transferred, and they are present in the directory including subdirectories from mutant.

Mail Files

You can use the same procedure for mail files as you do for all other files. Email reader programs between Unix computers are compatible.