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The Transfer Appliance has two modes:
Offline transfer: Data is copied to the appliance until it is full. The
appliance is shipped back to Google and the copied data is moved to your
Cloud Storage bucket.
Online transfer: Data copied to the appliance is streamed to your
Cloud Storage bucket. After the data is uploaded to your Cloud Storage
bucket, it is removed from the appliance.
Online transfer compresses and encrypts the data in transit and accelerates
data transfer compared to the gcloud CLI and other command-line
tools.
You can toggle between offline and online mode.
Download Appliance Service Account Key
Once the project setup is completed, prepare a service account key:
Rename the key to key.json, and save it to a safe location.
Once you've received your appliance, upload key.json to the /tmp
directory on the appliance.
Set to online mode
Before enabling online transfer mode for the first time, follow the
instructions to complete project setup.
Outbound connectivity is required in order to enable and use online mode.
To enable online transfer mode, follow the instructions below:
Verify your outbound connectivity from the appliance to the HTTPS endpoints
listed below:
https://gcr.io
https://storage.googleapis.com
https://oauth2.googleapis.com
https://storagetransfer.googleapis.com
https://pubsub.googleapis.com
Run the following command using each of the HTTPS endpoints:
ping URL
If the command fails, it may indicate that DNS is misconfigured on the
appliance. If the appliance was configured to use a static IP address,
update it to use DHCP:
ta config --data_port=PORT --ip=dhcp
Replace PORT with the data port you are using on
the appliance, either RJ45 or QSFP.
PATH_TO_KEY_FILE: The path to the key file
that you are copying.
USERNAME: The appliance username provided by
the Transfer Appliance Team.
IP_ADDRESS: The IP address for the
appliance.
When prompted, enter the appliance password provided by the
Transfer Appliance Team.
To set the appliance to online mode, run the following command:
ta online
The following sample response resembles the output that is returned:
Starting containers for online transfer...
Copied new credentials. ## Or, Using old credentials
Running binary to enable online transfer.
This may take several minutes to finish...
Containers have been successfully started. You can transfer data in
online mode.
Optional: change the transfer destination bucket and the job object prefix.
ta online --bucket=BUCKET --object_prefix=OBJECT_PREFIX
Replace BUCKET with the destination bucket and OBJECT_PREFIX
with the object prefix you are updating to.
If the command is successful, it returns output resembling the output from the step where you run the online transfer without these two arguments.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Enable or disable online transfer\n\nThe Transfer Appliance has two modes:\n\n- **Offline transfer**: Data is copied to the appliance until it is full. The\n appliance is shipped back to Google and the copied data is moved to your\n Cloud Storage bucket.\n\n- **Online transfer**: Data copied to the appliance is streamed to your\n Cloud Storage bucket. After the data is uploaded to your Cloud Storage\n bucket, it is removed from the appliance.\n Online transfer compresses and encrypts the data in transit and accelerates\n data transfer compared to the gcloud CLI and other command-line\n tools.\n\nYou can toggle between offline and online mode.\n\nDownload Appliance Service Account Key\n--------------------------------------\n\nOnce the [project setup](/transfer-appliance/docs/4.0/procedure-guide#project-setup-and-key-download) is completed, prepare a service account key:\n\n1. [Create a service account key](/iam/docs/creating-managing-service-account-keys#iam-service-account-keys-create-console)\n for the appliance service account. This is a one time download key.\n\n2. Rename the key to `key.json`, and save it to a safe location.\n\n3. Once you've received your appliance, upload `key.json` to the `/tmp`\n directory on the appliance.\n\nSet to online mode\n------------------\n\nBefore enabling online transfer mode for the first time, follow the\ninstructions to complete [project setup](/transfer-appliance/docs/4.0/procedure-guide#project-setup-and-key-download).\n\nOutbound connectivity is required in order to enable and use online mode.\nTo enable online transfer mode, follow the instructions below:\n\n1. Verify your outbound connectivity from the appliance to the HTTPS endpoints\n listed below:\n\n - https://gcr.io\n\n - https://storage.googleapis.com\n\n - https://oauth2.googleapis.com\n\n - https://storagetransfer.googleapis.com\n\n - https://pubsub.googleapis.com\n\n Run the following command using each of the HTTPS endpoints: \n\n ping \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eURL\u003c/var\u003e\n\n If the command fails, it may indicate that DNS is misconfigured on the\n appliance. If the appliance was configured to use a static IP address,\n update it to use DHCP: \n\n ```\n ta config --data_port=PORT --ip=dhcp\n ```\n\n Replace \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003ePORT\u003c/var\u003e with the data port you are using on\n the appliance, either `RJ45` or `QSFP`.\n2. Copy the service key downloaded in\n [Download Appliance Service Account Key](#download-appliance-sa-key)\n to the appliance's `tmp` folder, by doing the following:\n\n ### Windows\n\n 1. Using the SCP tool, connect to the appliance using the following\n settings:\n\n - **File protocol**: SFTP\n - **Host name**: The IP address for the appliance.\n - **Port number**: 22\n - **Username**: The appliance username provided by the Transfer Appliance Team.\n - **Password**: The appliance password provided by the Transfer Appliance Team.\n 2. Copy the file to the `/tmp` folder\n\n ### Linux\n\n 1. Run the following command:\n\n ```\n scp PATH_TO_KEY_FILE/key.json USERNAME@IP_ADDRESS:/tmp\n ```\n\n Replace the following:\n - \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003ePATH_TO_KEY_FILE\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003e\u003c/var\u003e\u003c/var\u003e: The path to the key file that you are copying.\n - \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eUSERNAME\u003c/var\u003e: The appliance username provided by the Transfer Appliance Team.\n - \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eIP_ADDRESS\u003c/var\u003e: The IP address for the appliance.\n 2. When prompted, enter the appliance password provided by\n the Transfer Appliance Team.\n\n ### Apple macOS\n\n 1. Run the following command:\n\n ```\n scp PATH_TO_KEY_FILE/key.json USERNAME@IP_ADDRESS:/tmp\n ```\n\n Replace the following:\n - \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003ePATH_TO_KEY_FILE\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003e\u003c/var\u003e\u003c/var\u003e: The path to the key file that you are copying.\n - \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eUSERNAME\u003c/var\u003e: The appliance username provided by the Transfer Appliance Team.\n - \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eIP_ADDRESS\u003c/var\u003e: The IP address for the appliance.\n 2. When prompted, enter the appliance password provided by the\n Transfer Appliance Team.\n\n3. To set the appliance to online mode, run the following command:\n\n ```\n ta online\n ```\n\n The following sample response resembles the output that is returned: \n\n ```\n\n Starting containers for online transfer...\n Copied new credentials. ## Or, Using old credentials\n Running binary to enable online transfer.\n This may take several minutes to finish...\n\n Containers have been successfully started. You can transfer data in\n online mode.\n ```\n4. **Optional:** change the transfer destination bucket and the job object prefix.\n\n ```\n ta online --bucket=BUCKET --object_prefix=OBJECT_PREFIX\n ```\n\n Replace \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eBUCKET\u003c/var\u003e with the destination bucket and \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eOBJECT_PREFIX\u003c/var\u003e\n with the object prefix you are updating to.\n\n If the command is successful, it returns output resembling the output from the step where you run the online transfer without these two arguments.\n\n \u003cbr /\u003e\n\n | **Note:** You can update the destination bucket and the object prefix independently. If updating to a new destination bucket, ensure that the required service accounts are [set up for the new bucket](/transfer-appliance/docs/4.0/prepare-permissions). Additionally, each invocation of this command with at least one of the the two flags triggers a new transfer operation, regardless of whether the appliance is offline or online.\n |\n | \u003cbr /\u003e\n |\nTo troubleshoot online mode, see [Troubleshooting online\nmode](/transfer-appliance/docs/4.0/troubleshoot-online-mode).\n\nSet to offline mode\n-------------------\n\nTo specify offline mode, run the following command: \n\n```\nta offline\n```\n\nThe following sample response resembles the output that is returned: \n\n```\n\nPutting the appliance in offline mode...\nAppliance is successfully put into the offline mode.\n```"]]
