Access Keys:
Skip to content (Access Key - 0)

Fetch 5.x for Mac - Using Fetch at MIT

On this page:

Duo Authentication is now required for accessing Athena lockers.

Start Fetch

  1. Go to Macintosh HD > Applications > Fetch and double-click the Fetch icon.
    Note: For quicker access, drag the Fetch icon to the dock or create an alias.
    Fetch icon

    Result: The "New Connection..." dialog box appears. If you have set a default shortcut connection, the default fields will be completed. If the fields are empty, complete them as demonstrated below.

    New Connection popup menu

  2. Click the heart icon just to the right of the "Server" field and select "Make Shortcut".

    Heart icon

  3. When prompted, enter a name for this connection (e.g. Athena SFTP) and click the button labeled "OK". Note: You can toggle the checkbox "Make this the default connection" if you want this connection to automatically open each time Fetch is launched.

    Make Shortcut window

  4. Click the button labeled "Connect". You will be connected to your desired server.

    Popup window

    result

Make a New Connection to MITnet

  1. To make a secure connection to MITnet, complete the fields as follows.
    • Hostname: athena.dialup.mit.edu
    • Username: keberos_username
    • Connect using: SFTP
    • Password: kerberos_password

      Note the buttons at the bottom of the dialog box.
  2. When you connect to athena.dialup.mit.edu or other Athena servers, the default Athena folder to which you connect is your Athena home directory. To connect to a different Athena directory, you can either:
    1. Click on the Shortcuts dropdown menu and choose from a list of preset shortcuts, including any shortcuts you may have created using an earlier version of Fetch.
      OR:
    2. Click on the down-pointing arrow to expand the dialog box and then enter the initial folder/directory to which you want to connect.
      Select folder/ directory screen

  3. Clicking on the ? button opens Fetch's online help, which can answer many of your questions.
  4. Clicking on the Cancel button closes the dialog box, but leaves Fetch running.
  5. When you have completed the fields with the appropriate information for you, click Connect.
    Result: When the connection is established, a window appears displaying the directory that you specified in the Initial folder field. If you are connecting to Athena and don't specify an initial directory your connection defaults to your home directory.
    Chosen directory screen

  6. If you click on Path in the directory toolbar, you see the directory's/folder's location. You can maneuver up this path and change directories from this dropdown menu.

Change Directories

  1. If the directory you want is within the current directory, scroll through the list until you find the item you want, for instance, Mail, and double click.
    Result: The chosen directory appears in the menu window.
    New directory

  2. If the directory you want is not within the current directory, you can either navigate up and down through the hierarchy, by clicking on the down arrow beside the directory name
    OR:
    you can go directly to the new directory by going to the Go menu in the Fetch menu bar and selecting Go to Folder...
    Result: The Go to the folder: dialog box appears.
    Go to folder dialog box

  3. Enter the full path of the new folder or directory (for example, /afs/athena.mit.edu/org/i/ist/help) and click OK.

Upload (or Put) a File

One of the most common uses of Fetch is to move HTML files from your Macintosh to an Athena locker so they can be published on the Web.

There are three ways to move a file from your computer to an Athena locker.

  1. You can drag and drop a file or a folder from your Macintosh to the remote directory,
  2. You can use the Put command.
  3. You can follow the path Remote > Put....

Drag and Drop

  1. Important: Make sure you are in the directory to which you want to upload the file.
  2. Find the file on your computer and drag-and-drop it into the chosen directory.

Put Command

  1. Click on Put in the directory toolbar.
    Result: A menu box appears with the files and folders on your Macintosh.
    Select file screen

  2. Find and select the file you wish to upload.
    Unless you are sure of the file format and want to change it, leave the format field set to Automatic. Fetch automatically determines the file type of the file(s) you are transferring and selects the appropriate format in which to transfer them.
    If you know you want to change the file type, select the appropriate transfer format from the dropdown menu. For HTML files, choose Text. For GIF or JPEG graphics or PDF files, choose Raw Data from the drop down menu.
  3. Click Put.
    Result: The transfer begins. The cursor becomes a very small running dog demonstrating that the file transfer is in progress. When the dog stops running, the transfer is complete.
    For explanations of other transfer formats, see the Fetch online help.

Download a File (Get File)

There are two ways to move a file to your computer from an Athena locker:

  • You can drag and drop the file from the remote directory to a directory on your Macintosh.
  • You can use the Get command.
  1. Highlight the file you want to download.
    Result: The Get button on the directory toolbar becomes active.
  2. Click Get on the directory toolbar.
    Result: The file is downloaded to your desktop, by default.
    OR:
    Drag-and-drop the file onto your hard drive into whichever folder you prefer.
    Result: Fetch transfers a copy of the selected file to your Macintosh.

Delete a File in the Remote Directory

You can delete files from the remote directory.

  1. Select the file you want to delete.
  2. In the directory toolbar click the Delete button.
    Result: A dialog box asks if you are sure you want to delete the directory or file.
  3. If you are sure that you want to delete, click Delete.

End a Fetch Session/Start a New Session and Quit Fetch

  1. To end the Fetch session but leave Fetch open, from the File menu select Close.
    Result: The Fetch window closes, but the menu bar remains so that you can begin a new session at another FTP site by clicking on File > New Connection...
  2. To quit Fetch, from the Fetch menu select Quit.

See Also

IS&T Contributions

Documentation and information provided by IS&T staff members


Last Modified:

September 22, 2021

Get Help

Request help
from the Help Desk
Report a security incident
to the Security Team
Labels:
5 5 Delete
fetch fetch Delete
m-hermes m-hermes Delete
using using Delete
software software Delete
macintosh macintosh Delete
mac mac Delete
athena athena Delete
file file Delete
dialup dialup Delete
c-fetch c-fetch Delete
Enter labels to add to this page:
Please wait 
Looking for a label? Just start typing.
Feedback
This product/service is:
Easy to use
Average
Difficult to use

This article is:
Helpful
Inaccurate
Obsolete
  1. Jul 27, 2011

    I was assisting someone and we could not establish a connection using GSSAPI. Got error message that authentication data could not be constructed. Selected SFTP an was able to make the connection fine.

  2. Nov 13, 2017

    See this article if using Mac OS X 10.12

    Q: Why do I get "Bad configuration option gssapikeyexchange" after upgrading to macOS Sierra? https://kb.mit.edu/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=156207299

Adaptavist Theme Builder (4.2.3) Powered by Atlassian Confluence 3.5.13, the Enterprise Wiki