How to upload files to Illumina Kiteworks using command line tools

Illumina uses the Kiteworks file transfer service to transfer files that cannot be sent by email. Illumina support may request that files via Kiteworks, which defaults to a web-based interface. For larger uploads, using command line tools may be more convenient than using the web interface,a nd for this, the SFTP protocol can be used. This article describes the steps to connect to the Illumina Kiteworks system to transfer files via sftp.

To start, Illumina support will create a folder for upload in Kiteworks and will send an invitation to the folder. After receiving the invitation, follow the steps below.

If you do not already have a Kiteworks account:

• With a web browser connect to: https://fts.illumina.com/

• Select Create account; creating a Kiteworks account is free.

• Follow the steps provided to create and register a Kiteworks account.

After creating a Kiteworks account:

Note: Linux and Mac users can perform these steps from the terminal. Windows users can perform these steps from Powershell or a separate client that supports the SFTP protocol.

• Before connecting by SFTP from the command line environment, navigate to the folder containing the files to be uploaded (eg, cd /path/to/folder/).

  • If connecting to and uploading from a remote server, enter the screen command to create a session that will stay active even if you lose connection to the server.

• Connect to Kiteworks using the following command format: sftp [[e-mail]]@fts.illumina.com

  • Here [[e-mail]] is an example and should be replaced with the email used to register for Kiteworks. The @fts.illumina.com after that is required.

• There may be a prompt to accept the key fingerprint to continue; type yes in the command line.

• Enter the password used when creating the Kiteworks account.

• After successfully providing the password there will be the message "Connected to fts.illumina.com" and an sftp> prompt:

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• From this prompt, use standard SFTP commands to interact with Kiteworks.

• Use dir or ls to see the folders to which you have been invited.

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• Use cd and the folder name to change to the appropriate directory.

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• Use the put command to upload the file or files, followed by the path to the file or files.

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  • Upload tips: - If uploading a folder that contains spaces in the path, put the full path in quotation marks. - To upload multiple files at once, use the * operator. For example, to upload all files in a directory, use: put *.*

• Once the files are uploaded use the exit command to log out of the connection to Kiteworks.

• Confirm that the files are uploaded by following the link in the share email sent from Kiteworks to view the folder in the web interface:

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Note: it is possible to use the same steps to download files from Kiteworks provided by Illumina support using the sftp get command instead of put.

For any feedback or questions regarding this article (Illumina Knowledge Article #9128), contact Illumina Technical Support [e-mail].