rcp large files

[Pascal Rouchon]

Hi,

When i try to copy a large file from a system to another i get the folowing message:
rcp: lost connection

and if i try with scp (ssh2 secure copy) i get:

Value too large to be stored in data type

I think that ssh and rcp are 32bits application that cannot handle larges file. i want to known if this is true and if a patch exist to use rcp with large file.

thanks

[Craig Rants]

Have your tried ftp with a hash? Enter:
ftp> hash
before your transfer, I have found that to work on large, slow downloads.

Just an idea,
C

[Michael Tully]

Hi,

Is the destination filesystem set up to handle largefiles? Check the contents of /etc/fstab
Also do you have a problem with attempting this task through ftp?

-Michael

[Pascal Rouchon]

Yes the two systems are identical two new N4000. same installation in the same time.
So the two accepts large files.

[Alan Riggs]

I would use ftp raher than rcp. Among other benefits, you can restart an ftp session to pick up at the whatever point you wish should the transfer die in the middle.

[harry d brown jr]

Rouchon,

How large are the files being copied? You stated that the servers are NEW, did you load the OS or are you using the preloaded OS? As noted by Michael, you might want to check both servers. Also, do both servers have Sept 2001 patches installed?

live free or die
harry

[Michael Tully]

Hi,

Only patch I can find for this is PHKL_22677 and it's dependencies.

PHKL_22097 PHKL_22022 PHKL_21885 PHKL_21349
PHKL_19991 PHKL_19311PHKL_18797 PHKL_17543
PHKL_16983

-Michael

[Pascal Rouchon]

the servers have June patches.

The files are 2.7 Gb and 6.2 Gb

i have load the system and i have create the filesystems with the large file enables switch. But the two servers already have large files on their filesystems. I have read the large file white paper. And i think that rcp cannot handle file greater than 2Gb (32b application)

[Uday_S_Ankolekar]

Hi,

I'd suggest you to do nfs mount then do a plain cp...

Just a thought..

-USA..

[Marco Paganini]

Hello Rouchon,

Two things may be happening here:

1) 32-bit unices use 32 bit pointers for file locking and access. This gives you a 2^32-1 = 2GB of max filesize.

2) Your SSH application (openssh or plain ssh?) uses 32 bits pointers internally, thus giving you this limitation.

You could break the file in multiple parts and join it in the destination (use DD to break and CAT to join). However, make sure your destination filesystem accepts files larger than 2GB.

Regards,
Paga

[Michael Tully]

Hi,

Correction on the dependencies.... Should have had my goggles on.... Only dependency is PHKL_18543
(the patch from HELL!!)

-Michael

[Sanjay_6]

Hi,

check your netowrk and rcp patches. Do a search for your version of hp ux and use the keyword as rcp. Download and install them. It might help.

Hope this helps.

Regds

[Bill Hassell]

Largefile capability is not the default so there is no reason to expect both systems to be identical. Look in /etc/fstab for the largefiles option on the destination system.

If the destination is correct then use ftp, not rcp and definitely not NFS. NFS default is version 2 and cannot handle largefiles. If you setup NFS version 3, then you have to live with the reliability issues of NFS...it jst is not a good choice for reliable transfers.

rcp is a bit better but not great. ftp is the best (and fastest) choice, especially for big files. It adapts to the link speed and sends overlapping packates and acknowledgements to further improve the speed of the transfer.

[Steven Sim Kok Leong]

Hi,

In addition, if you want to secure your transfer, instead of using SCP2 (secured equivalent of RCP), you can use SFTP2 (secured equivalent of FTP) which also comes with SSH v2.

If your SCP2 transfer also did not manage through, it points very likely to the lack of largefiles support for your destination filesystem. Because SCP2 does not make use of RCP.

Hope this helps. Regards.

Steven Sim Kok Leong
Brainbench MVP for Unix Admin
http://www.brainbench.com

[Pascal Rouchon]

Ftp could not be enable on this server and rcp was enable just for the test. i need strong security on this two server. so my solution would be, as Marco said, to make a scritp to splip my big files in multiple part and then scp them on the other server.

Thanks all for your help