AWS Documentation » AWS Snowball » User Guide » Using an AWS Snowball Device » Transferring Data with the Snowball Client » Commands for the Snowball Client

This guide is for the Snowball (50 TB or 80 TB of storage space). If you are looking for documentation for the Snowball Edge, see the AWS Snowball Edge Developer Guide.

Commands for the Snowball Client

Following, you can find information on Snowball client commands that help you manage your data transfer into Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). You can have multiple instances of the Snowball client in different terminal windows connected to a single Snowball.

During data transfer, at least one folder appears at the root level of the Snowball. This folder and any others at this level have the same names as the Amazon S3 buckets that you chose when this job was created. You can't write data to the root level of the Snowball. All data must be written into one of the bucket folders or into their subfolders.

You can work with files or folders with spaces in their names, like my photo.jpg or My Documents. However, make sure that you handle the spaces properly in the client commands. For more information, see the following examples:

• Linux and Mac version of the client – snowball ls s3://mybucket/My\ Folder/my\ photo.jpg

• Windows version of the client – snowball ls "s3://mybucket/My Documents/my photo.jpg"

Note

Before transferring data into Amazon S3 using Snowball, you should make sure that the files and folders that you're going to transfer are named according to the Object Key Naming Guidelines for Amazon S3.

If you're having trouble using the Snowball client, see Troubleshooting for a Standard Snowball.

Copy Command for the Snowball Client

The snowball cp command copies files and folders between the Snowball and your data source. For details on options for the Snowball copy command (snowball cp), see Options for the snowball cp Command. In addition to supporting command options, transferring data with the Snowball client supports schemas to define what type of data is being transferred. For more information on schemas, see Schemas for Snowball Client.

Usage

snowball cp [OPTION...] SRC... s3://DEST

Import examples

snowball cp --recursive /Logs/April s3://MyBucket/Logs

snowball cp -r /Logs/April s3://MyBucket/Logs

Export examples

snowball cp --recursive s3://MyBucket/Logs/ /Logs/April

snowball cp -r s3://MyBucket/Logs/ /Logs/April

For details on options for the Snowball copy command (snowball cp), see Options for the snowball cp Command.

List Command for the Snowball Client

The snowball ls command lists the Snowball contents in the specified path. You can't use this command to list the contents on your workstation, your data source, or other network locations outside of the Snowball.

Usage

snowball ls [OPTION...] s3://DEST

Example

snowball ls s3://MyBucket/Logs/April

Make Directory Command for the Snowball Client

The snowball mkdir command creates a new subfolder on the Snowball. You can't create a new folder at the root level. The root level is reserved for bucket folders.

Usage

snowball mkdir [OPTION...] s3://DEST

Example

snowball mkdir s3://MyBucket/Logs/April/ExpenseReports

Retry Command for the Snowball Client

The snowball retry command retries the snowball cp command for all the files that didn't copy the last time snowball cp was executed. The list of files that weren't copied is saved in a plaintext log in your workstation's temporary directory. The exact path to that log is printed to the terminal if the snowball cp command fails to copy a file.

Example Usage

snowball retry

Remove Command for the Snowball Client

The snowball rm command deletes files and folders on the Snowball. This operation can take some time to complete if it removes a large number of files or directories, such as with snowball rm -r, which deletes everything on the device. If you run the snowball ls command afterwards, it shows you the state of the device when the deletion is completed.

However, the amount of storage reported by the snowball status command may show you the amount of storage remaining before the snowball rm command was issued. If this happens, try the snowball status command in an hour or so to see the new remaining storage value.

Usage

snowball rm [OPTION...] s3://DEST

Examples

snowball rm --recursive s3://MyBucket/Logs/April

snowball rm -r s3://MyBucket/Logs/April

Start Command for the Snowball Client

The snowball start command authenticates your access to the Snowball with the Snowball's IP address and your credentials. After you run a snowball start command, you can execute any number of snowball cp commands.

Usage

snowball start -i IP Address -m Path/to/manifest/file -u 29 character unlock code

Example

snowball start -i 192.0.2.0 -m /user/tmp/manifest -u 01234-abcde-01234-ABCDE-01234

Status Command for the Snowball Client

The snowball status command returns the status of the Snowball.

Example Usage

snowball status

Example Output

Snowball Status: SUCCESS
S3 Endpoint running at: http://192.0.2.0:8080
Total Size: 72 TB
Free Space: 64 TB

Stop Command for the Snowball Client

The snowball stop command stops communication from the current instance of the Snowball client to the Snowball.

You can use this command to make sure that all other commands are stopped between the data source server and the Snowball. If you have multiple instances of the client connected to a single Snowball, you use this command for each instance when you’re ready to stop transferring data. You can run this command to stop one instance of the client while still copying data with another instance.

Example Usage

snowball stop

Test Command for the Snowball Client

The snowball test command tests your data transfer before it begins. For more information, see Testing Your Data Transfer with the Snowball Client.

Example Usage

snowball test

Validate Command for the Snowball Client

Unless you specify a path, the snowball validate command validates all the metadata and transfer statuses for the objects on the Snowball. If you specify a path, then this command validates the content pointed to by that path and its subdirectories. This command lists files that are currently in the process of being transferred as incomplete for their transfer status.

Doing this for import jobs helps ensure that your content can be imported into AWS without issue.

This command might take some time to complete, and might appear to be stuck from time to time. This effect is common when there are lots of files, and even more so when files are nested within many subfolders. We recommend that you run this command with the verbose option.

Example Usage

snowball -v validate

Version Command for the Snowball Client

The snowball version command displays the Snowball client version on the terminal.

Example Usage

snowball version

Using the Verbose Option

Whenever you execute a Snowball client command, you can use the verbose option for additional information. This additional information is printed to the terminal while the command is running.

Using the verbose option helps you to better understand what each command is doing. It also helps you troubleshoot issues you might encounter with the Snowball client.

The verbose option is off by default. You can turn it on by specifying the option while running a command, as in the following examples.

snowball -v cp /Logs/April/logs1.csv s3://MyBucket/Logs/April/logs1.csv

snowball --verbose ls s3://MyBucket/Logs/April/