Avamar: How to upload or download files from an Avamar server

Summary: This article explains several methods for transferring files to and from an Avamar grid.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Instructions

Note: All references "Avamar" or "Avamar server" refer to the Avamar Utility Node (on a multinode grid), and the single node or AVE (on a single-node grid)
 
 

There are two likely scenarios when files must be transferred to or from an Avamar server:

1. If Avamar has direct access to the remote FTP Server.

If the Avamar has network access to the FTP server, the files can be uploaded and downloaded directly:

Downloading:

a. Log in to the Avamar grid as admin using SSH.

b. Change to the directory where one or more files are going to be downloaded to.

c. Run a wget command with the path of the file to download, for example: 

wget --output-document <output file> https://<download-location.company.com/<path-to-file>

(If the wget command is not available, the curl command should be used in its place.)

If the file download completes successfully, stop here.

If the file download fails, verify that the ftp address is correct. If it is, it is likely the Avamar does not have external FTP Access and the file must be downloaded to a local personal computer first.

Uploading:

a. Log in to the Avamar grid as admin using SSH.

b. Change to the directory where the file or files are to be uploaded from.

c. Enable the FTP service temporarily:

sudo /usr/local/avamar/lib/admin/security/ftp_service
 

d. Upload the file using the following curl command:

curl -T <filename_to_upload> ftp://<FTP_server_username>:<FTP_user_password>@<FTP_server_address>/ --disable-epsv
 
 

2. If Avamar does not have direct access to the remote FTP Server:

The simplest and recommended way to transfer files to or from a local machine is using a program such as WinSCP, or Filezilla.
  • Both are UI driven transfer clients;
  • WinSCP is windows only, and available for download here (external link)
  • FileZilla offers Windows, Linux, and OSX binaries and is available for download here (external link)
  • It is also possible to transfer files using the command line, however, the command line is not as suited to transferring multiple files across as one of the UI-based methods outlined above.
    • The SCP tool is included by default in Linux variants and Mac OSX
    • In Windows, the lightweight PSCP tool can be used to provide the same functionality. It is available for standalone download here (external link).

Additional Information

If the Avamar version does not include wget by default, it fails with the following error:

wget ftp://user:password@some.company.com/file.txt
bash: wget: command not found
 
As a workaround, a curl command must be used. 

Products

Avamar
Article Properties
Article Number: 000038907
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 10 Jul 2025
Version:  12
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