# How to transfer files between two ubuntu OS computers?



## CannonFodder (Feb 23, 2011)

I can't use a SSH, because only one computer can be connected to the internet at a time(Don't have a router or such).  And the only thing that could connect the two computers is a ethernet cord.


----------



## H.nightroad (Feb 23, 2011)

well, depending upon the situation I would either suggest a direct link (ad-hoc) setup which would require a "crossover" cable or you could just use a USB or external HDD, or if worst comes to worst you can rip the HDD out of one of them and put it in the other and copy the files across, or just get a router and plug both of them in.

Edit: you can score a cheap router for like $20 from your local comptuer store, its the most effective fix


----------



## DragonTrew (Feb 23, 2011)

I agree with H.nightroad buying a router is the easiest way... And you will be able to access the internet on both computer from that point on...

If you pick the router, just go the folder you want to copy, choose the option "sharing options"  and enable sharing... On the other computer, you go to the "network" icon under the "places" menu and there will be your machine and your share... Alternatively you can type smb://adrressOfTheComputer in the location bar of a window.


----------



## ArielMT (Feb 23, 2011)

Two el-cheapo ways around the router are:

A crossover ethernet cable, but you'd have to set both PCs with slightly different static IP addresses (192.168.0.123 and 192.168.0.234 for example), run sshd on one of the two, and scp on the other either from or to.

An $8 USB flash drive, and just sneakernet the files over.

The cost is about the same, but the sneakernet option is far and away the easier and quicker to manage.


----------



## CannonFodder (Feb 23, 2011)

ArielMT said:


> Two el-cheapo ways around the router are:
> 
> A crossover ethernet cable, but you'd have to set both PCs with slightly different static IP addresses (192.168.0.123 and 192.168.0.234 for example), run sshd on one of the two, and scp on the other either from or to.
> 
> ...


 :O  I don't have any money right now and the only thumb drive I have is 8gb and I have 60gb of stuff to move.


----------



## Leafblower29 (Feb 23, 2011)

Compress it in spilt archives, and use your flash drive.


----------



## ArielMT (Feb 23, 2011)

The tar command with the -M (multi-volume) switch should let you tar up all 60 GB into files ("tapes") of arbitrary length, say 7.5 GB each, so you can tar to a file on your flash drive.  You'll need two terminal windows (or tabs).

After each "tape" (file) is full:

* Unmount the flash drive,
* Mount it on the target PC,
* Move the tarball piece (not copy, because you'll need the space again) off the flash drive, and rename it to a numbered sequence,
* Unmount the flash drive from the target PC,
* Remount it in the same place on the source PC (Ubuntu should do this for you),
* Resume tarring.

For extracting the multi-volume tarball, you'll probably have to play a naming trick.  For each tarball file in sequence, using the same tar command (with x [extract] replacing c [create]), copy the file to a unique name to be untarred (same one in the tar command) to start and after each "tape" is read and untarred.

On Ubuntu, the tar command has a really informative manpage and --help switch.

Also, the 'Net may have an easier way to do this with tar -M.


----------



## DragonTrew (Feb 23, 2011)

Or you could use 7zip to split... It is powerful and has a nice UI to help you...

Just use 'store' for the compression level, that way, you don't waste time compacting all your files it just creates the split volumes... Set the split size to about 7 GB since those flash drives don't really have 8GB.

After that you just copy all of them individually to the other machine, 7zip should be able to reunite all of them into the original folder.


----------



## CannonFodder (Feb 23, 2011)

ArielMT said:


> The tar command with the -M (multi-volume) switch should let you tar up all 60 GB into files ("tapes") of arbitrary length, say 7.5 GB each, so you can tar to a file on your flash drive.  You'll need two terminal windows (or tabs).
> 
> After each "tape" (file) is full:
> 
> ...


 QQ  I'm doing it, but it's going to take for ever.


----------



## DragonTrew (Feb 23, 2011)

CannonFodder said:


> QQ  I'm doing it, but it's going to take for ever.


 
You could remove the target HDD and put on the source machine... Then the copy process would be much faster...


----------



## ToeClaws (Mar 2, 2011)

Cheapest, least technical thing is what Ariel suggested already - Crossover cable.  If you use a program (available via the repositories) called FileZilla, you can do multiple SSH transfers at a time.  I think it's set to 5 by default, but you could up to it to 10 for more efficiency with a direct transfer.


----------



## Runefox (Mar 2, 2011)

Honestly, in the absence of a crossover cable or a router, I'd have popped the drive out of the source machine and mounted it in the destination, as DragonTrew said (I actually glazed over that post, go me).


----------



## BRN (Mar 2, 2011)

Week old thread.

OP left forums.


----------

