Copy data from a Synology NAS device

Copy data from a Synology NAS device#

CU Research Computing (CURC) PetaLibrary allocations can be accessed via the data transfer node (DTN) hosts using rsync over ssh. This document shows how to copy data from a Synology network attached storage (NAS) device running DiskStation Manager (DSM) version 4.2 with hostname “mylabstorage.colorado.edu” to a PetaLibrary allocation named “peta_test” with RC account “RC_identikey.” A typical use case is where a university laboratory stores data on a local Synology server in the lab, and wants to back up the data to PetaLibrary.

Step 1: Connect to Synology via ssh#

The following accounts are available for SSH remote login:

  • DSM 6.0 and later: anyone in the administrators group

  • DSM 5.2 and earlier/SRM: admin or root

$ ssh mylabstorage.colorado.edu -l admin
admin@mylabstorage.colorado.edu's password:


BusyBox v1.16.1 (2013-04-16 20:13:10 CST) built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

mylabstorage>

Note

You may need to use the sudo command to gain administrative access.

Step 2: Run ash to break out of restricted shell#

mylabstorage> ash


BusyBox v1.16.1 (2013-04-16 20:13:10 CST) built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

/volume1/homes/admin $

Step 3: Use telnet to verify that we can talk to the CURC DTN ssh port#

/volume1/homes/admin $ telnet dtn.rc.colorado.edu 22

Important

  • If the above command does not yield an SSH banner (such as ‘SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_7.4’), ssh connectivity from the Synology to the DTN hosts is not working.

  • These instructions assume you are on a CU System campus network.

Step 4: Generate keypair for connecting to PetaLibrary#

In order to allow for passwordless access to the system, which will enable you to seamlessly back up data, you need to generate a keypair for our system. This is a straightforward process and it is outlined in our Uploading an SSH Key to CILogon Registry documentation. Please follow this documentation first before proceeding with the remaining steps. Note that generating a keypair yourself and placing it in ~/.ssh on our resources will not work, you must follow the documentation linked above. When following this documentation you should be generating the ssh key on the Synology server. For example, you could do the following:

/volume1/homes/admin $ ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C 'mylab synology'

Note

  • Press return when prompted for a passphrase to select “empty”).

  • Passwordless data transfers are presently only available to CU System users.

Step 5: test connectivity from Synology to DTN#

/volume1/homes/admin $ sftp RC_identikey@dtn.rc.colorado.edu

Note

If the above command does not yield an sftp> prompt, ssh authentication from the Synology to the DTN hosts is not working.

Step 6: Transfer the data with rsync#

From synology:

$ rsync --protocol=29 -Havx "/volume1/mylabstorage/mylabfiles/." RC_identikey@dtn.rc.colorado.edu:/pl/active/peta_test/.

Note

If rsync does not produce any errors, log in to login.rc.colorado.edu and check that /pl/active/peta_test contains the files you wanted to copy.

Adjust the source and destination directories as appropriate. In the above example, any files in /volume1/mylabstorage/mylabfiles on the Synology will be copied to /pl/active/peta_test on the DTNs. You can add the --delete argument to the rsync command, which will remove any files from /pl/active/peta_test that are not present in /volume1/mylabstorage/mylabfiles.

Step 7 (optional): Schedule regular backups#

If you want your backups to occur at a specified time each day or week, please refer to the Synology Task Scheduler documentation.

Contents