First time Aspera Setup Instructions

If this is your first time downloading data from ConnectomeDB, before you start selecting packages to download, we highly recommend setting up the preferences in your Aspera Connect plugin to download to the appropriate
place on your local or network hard drive.

[!note] The default Aspera Connect download location is your Desktop, which is likely not where you want your HCP data to go! (Unfortunately HCP has no control over the Aspera defaults).

To set your Aspera Connect preferences

  1. Search your computer for Aspera Connect using the Spotlight or Search functions in your operating system. Click on “Aspera Connect” to open the application.
  2. Open the Aspera Connect: Transfers window:
    1. On Mac, in the Menu bar click on Window > Transfers, or use the shortcut ^T (control + T)
    2. On PC, in the Notification area at the very bottom right of your Desktop, click the button, then click the Aspera Connect icon:
    3. On Linux, extract the .gzip Aspera Connect plugin file you downloaded. Run the extracted script in a terminal window to launch Aspera Connect. The Aspera Connect icon should appear in your program notification area (often at the top or bottom right of your desktop), click on this icon and choose Transfers in the dropdown.
  3. Click the gear icon at the bottom left of the Aspera Connect — Transfers window to launch the Aspera preferences window.
  4. Click on the “Transfers” tab to setup where in your hard drive or network you would like your HCP data to download.

Now, each time you download HCP data it will go to the directory you selected (unless you change the preference again).

Initiating Your First Download

  1. Return to the browser window and log back into ConnectomeDB
  2. A Confirm - Aspera Connect” dialog will appear, asking you to permit connections to nrg-aspera1.humanconnectome.org. Allow this.
  3. A “Transfers - Aspera Connect” window will appear, displaying the download progress. Also, to the right of the progress bar, there will be three small, round, blue icons. The leftmost of these opens a graph of download rate over time. This view is very useful for monitoring your connection speed over the course of the download.

Also See