--- title: "Sync downloads to CyVerse" description: "Mirror a neon-mcp download folder to the CyVerse Data Store with a GoCommands sync script that launchd (macOS) or cron (Linux) runs every hour." type: Guide tags: - getting-started - downloads - cyverse - gocommands - sync generated: by: "claude/opus-5" at: "2026-09-11T00:00:00Z" sources: - id: gocommands resource: "https://github.com/cyverse/gocommands" title: "GoCommands — iRODS command-line client" author: "team:cyverse" - id: cyverse-install resource: "https://learning.cyverse.org/ds/gocommands/installation/" title: "GoCommands Installation and Upgrade" author: "team:cyverse" - id: cyverse-config resource: "https://learning.cyverse.org/ds/gocommands/configuration/" title: "GoCommands Configuration" author: "team:cyverse" - id: apple-launchd resource: "https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/MacOSX/Conceptual/BPSystemStartup/Chapters/CreatingLaunchdJobs.html" title: "Creating Launch Daemons and Agents" author: "team:apple" - id: idss-mesa resource: "https://idss-mesa.github.io/docs/" title: "IDSS MESA documentation" author: "team:idss-mesa" status: stable stale_after: "2027-03-11T00:00:00Z" --- # Sync downloads to CyVerse [`neon_download_files`](../tools/reference.md#neon_download_files) writes NEON files into `downloads.directory` (`~/neon-downloads` by default) on the machine running the server ([Downloading](../tools/availability-and-data.md#downloading-stdio)). To keep that folder mirrored in the CyVerse Data Store, for the Discovery Environment, for sharing or as the home of a MESA project, pair it with GoCommands[^gocommands], CyVerse's command-line client, and a short script that runs `gocmd sync` every hour. The steps below were tested with GoCommands v0.12.4 on macOS (Apple Silicon). The Linux variants (the `md5sum` check, the cron line and the Linux log path) use the same script but have not been run on Linux. ## What the sync does * **One way, local → Data Store.** Your machine is the source. New and changed files upload; unchanged files are skipped by checksum, so a run with nothing new moves no data. `-k` verifies each upload's checksum. * **It never deletes anything in the Data Store.** The script leaves out `--delete`, so files that exist only in the Data Store survive, such as the `.mesa/ducklake/` history of a MESA project. The flip side: deleting or renaming a file locally leaves the old copy in the Data Store until you remove it with `gocmd rm`. * **Tags (AVUs) on a file survive when sync overwrites its content.** New files arrive with only the tags CyVerse adds itself (`ipc_UUID`, `ipc-filetype`). `gocmd sync` moves bytes, not metadata, and does not go through MESA, so it records no DuckLake history. * **Hidden files upload too.** gocmd has no exclude option, so the script deletes macOS `.DS_Store` files before each run. ## 1. Install GoCommands CyVerse publishes one-line installers per platform[^cyverse-install]. The steps below do the same for the latest release, check the download against its published MD5 and put `gocmd` in `~/.local/bin` (there is no Homebrew tap). Set `PLATFORM` to `darwin-arm64`, `darwin-amd64`, `linux-amd64` or `linux-arm64`: ```bash GOCMD_VER=$(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cyverse/gocommands/main/VERSION.txt) PLATFORM=darwin-arm64 URL=https://github.com/cyverse/gocommands/releases/download/${GOCMD_VER}/gocmd-${GOCMD_VER}-${PLATFORM}.tar.gz curl -sSL -o gocmd.tar.gz "$URL" && curl -sSL -o gocmd.tar.gz.md5 "$URL.md5" case "$(uname -s)" in Darwin) SUM=$(md5 -q gocmd.tar.gz) ;; *) SUM=$(md5sum gocmd.tar.gz | cut -d' ' -f1) ;; esac [ "$SUM" = "$(cat gocmd.tar.gz.md5)" ] && echo "checksum OK" mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && tar -xzf gocmd.tar.gz -C ~/.local/bin gocmd ~/.local/bin/gocmd --version ``` ## 2. Log in once Run `gocmd init` yourself, in your own terminal, and answer the prompts with your CyVerse account[^cyverse-config]: | Prompt | Value | |---|---| | `irods_host` | `data.cyverse.org` | | `irods_port` | `1247` | | `irods_zone_name` | `iplant` | | `irods_user_name` | your CyVerse username | | `irods_user_password` | your CyVerse password | `init` writes its configuration under `~/.irods`, and every later `gocmd` call, scheduled ones included, reuses it. Keep the password out of scripts, shell history and command lines. Check the login with `gocmd ls`, then create the destination collection: ```bash ~/.local/bin/gocmd mkdir -p /iplant/home/YOUR_USERNAME/neon-downloads ``` ## 3. Save the sync script Save this as `~/.local/bin/neon-sync`, set `SRC` and `DEST`, and make it executable with `chmod 755 ~/.local/bin/neon-sync`. Point `SRC` at one folder inside the download directory (for example a dated session folder) to sync just those files, or at the download directory itself to mirror everything neon-mcp downloads: products, prototype datasets and documents. Point `DEST` at the matching Data Store collection. ```bash #!/bin/bash # neon-sync: one-way upload of a local neon-mcp download folder to the CyVerse # Data Store with GoCommands. launchd (macOS) or cron (Linux) runs it every # hour; run it by hand any time. # # Never add --delete: the iRODS copy holds files that exist only there # (.mesa/ducklake history), and those must survive every run. set -uo pipefail SRC="$HOME/neon-downloads" DEST="/iplant/home/YOUR_USERNAME/neon-downloads" GOCMD="$HOME/.local/bin/gocmd" STATE="$HOME/.local/state/neon-sync" case "$(uname -s)" in Darwin) LOG="$HOME/Library/Logs/neon-sync.log" ;; *) LOG="$STATE/neon-sync.log" ;; esac MAX_LOG_BYTES=1048576 mkdir -p "$STATE" "$(dirname "$LOG")" if [ -f "$LOG" ] && [ "$(wc -c <"$LOG")" -gt "$MAX_LOG_BYTES" ]; then mv -f "$LOG" "$LOG.1" fi exec >>"$LOG" 2>&1 log() { printf '%s %s\n' "$(date '+%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z')" "$*"; } # One run at a time: a slow upload must not overlap the next hourly start. LOCK="$STATE/lock" if ! mkdir "$LOCK" 2>/dev/null; then if kill -0 "$(cat "$LOCK/pid" 2>/dev/null)" 2>/dev/null; then log "skip: previous run (pid $(cat "$LOCK/pid")) still active" exit 0 fi log "removing stale lock" rm -rf "$LOCK" mkdir "$LOCK" fi echo $$ >"$LOCK/pid" trap 'rm -rf "$LOCK"' EXIT if [ ! -d "$SRC" ]; then log "error: $SRC does not exist" exit 1 fi # gocmd has no exclude option, so remove Finder metadata before it can upload. find "$SRC" -name .DS_Store -type f -print -delete | sed 's/^/deleted local /' log "sync start $SRC -> i:$DEST" # --no_root: sync the folder's contents into DEST, not into DEST/. # Unchanged files are skipped by checksum; drop those per-file notices. "$GOCMD" sync -k --no_root "$SRC" "i:$DEST" 2>&1 | grep -v 'with the same hash already exists' status=${PIPESTATUS[0]} log "sync end status=$status" exit "$status" ``` What the pieces do: * `--no_root` puts the *contents* of `SRC` into `DEST`. Without it, gocmd creates a collection named after `SRC` inside `DEST`. * The lock stops a slow upload from overlapping the next hourly start, and clears itself if a run was killed. * The log keeps one line at the start and end of each run plus anything gocmd reports; it rolls over to `neon-sync.log.1` past 1 MB. Run it once by hand before scheduling it: ```bash ~/.local/bin/neon-sync; echo "exit=$?" tail -3 ~/Library/Logs/neon-sync.log # Linux: ~/.local/state/neon-sync/neon-sync.log ``` ## 4. Run it every hour ### macOS: launchd Save this as `~/Library/LaunchAgents/local.neon-sync.plist`[^apple-launchd], replacing `YOUR_MAC_USER`: launchd does not expand `~` or `$HOME`, so the paths must be absolute. ```xml Label local.neon-sync ProgramArguments /bin/bash /Users/YOUR_MAC_USER/.local/bin/neon-sync StartInterval 3600 RunAtLoad ProcessType Background LowPriorityIO StandardOutPath /Users/YOUR_MAC_USER/Library/Logs/neon-sync.launchd.log StandardErrorPath /Users/YOUR_MAC_USER/Library/Logs/neon-sync.launchd.log ``` Load it. It runs straight away (`RunAtLoad`), then every hour, and loads again at each login: ```bash plutil -lint ~/Library/LaunchAgents/local.neon-sync.plist launchctl bootstrap gui/$(id -u) ~/Library/LaunchAgents/local.neon-sync.plist ``` macOS may show a "background item added" notice for `bash`; that is this job. After editing the plist, `bootout` and `bootstrap` it again. To stop it: ```bash launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u)/local.neon-sync rm ~/Library/LaunchAgents/local.neon-sync.plist # or it loads again at next login ``` ### Linux: cron Add one line with `crontab -e`: ```text 0 * * * * $HOME/.local/bin/neon-sync ``` ## Check on it A failing sync is silent: if your CyVerse password changes or the network is down, every run fails and nothing tells you. Look for a non-zero status now and then: ```bash grep 'sync end status=[^0]' ~/Library/Logs/neon-sync.log # any failed runs launchctl print gui/$(id -u)/local.neon-sync | grep 'last exit code' # macOS ``` A failed login is fixed by running `gocmd init` again. ## Syncing into a MESA project If `DEST` is a MESA project, its `.mesa/ducklake/` history exists only in the Data Store, which is why the script must never use `--delete`. The sync carries file content only: to tag new files with DataCite or ontology metadata and record that in the project's history, use mesa-mcp; see the [IDSS MESA documentation](https://idss-mesa.github.io/docs/){target=_blank}[^idss-mesa]. Sync to a copy you own, and publish curated or shared copies deliberately rather than syncing into them. [^gocommands]: GoCommands — iRODS command-line client. [^cyverse-install]: GoCommands Installation and Upgrade. [^cyverse-config]: GoCommands Configuration. [^apple-launchd]: Creating Launch Daemons and Agents. [^idss-mesa]: IDSS MESA documentation.