Transfer artifact files with jf rt transfer-files

Transfer files from one Artifactory instance to another.

Synopsis

jf rt transfer-files [options] <source-server-id> <target-server-id>

Aliases: —

Arguments

Options

Examples

Transfer All Files Between Servers

Transfer all artifacts from one Artifactory instance to another.

To transfer all repositories between two servers:

• Run:

jf rt transfer-files <source-server-id> <target-server-id>

Where:

• <source-server-id>: CLI server ID for the source Artifactory instance.
• <target-server-id>: CLI server ID for the target Artifactory instance.

Full example:

jf rt transfer-files source-server target-server

Expected output (initial lines):

[Info] Starting files transfer from 'source-server' to 'target-server'...
[Info] Found 12 repositories to transfer.
[Info] Transferring repository: libs-release (1 of 12)
...

Transfer Specific Repositories

Transfer only the listed repositories.

To transfer only selected repositories:

• Run:

jf rt transfer-files <source-server-id> <target-server-id> --include-repos "<repo-list>"

Where:

• <repo-list>: Semicolon-separated repository keys or patterns.

Full example:

jf rt transfer-files source-server target-server --include-repos "libs-release;libs-snapshot"

Expected output (initial lines):

[Info] Starting files transfer from 'source-server' to 'target-server'...
[Info] Found 2 repositories to transfer (filtered by --include-repos).
[Info] Transferring repository: libs-release (1 of 2)
...

Exclude Repositories

Transfer all repositories except the ones matching the exclusion patterns.

To exclude repositories by pattern:

• Run:

jf rt transfer-files <source-server-id> <target-server-id> --exclude-repos "<repo-patterns>"

Full example:

jf rt transfer-files source-server target-server --exclude-repos "temp-*;archive-*"

Expected output (initial lines):

[Info] Starting files transfer from 'source-server' to 'target-server'...
[Info] Repositories excluded by --exclude-repos: temp-builds, archive-2023.
...

Run Pre-Transfer Checks

Validate connectivity and plugin installation before starting a large transfer.

To run pre-transfer checks:

• Run:

jf rt transfer-files <source-server-id> <target-server-id> --prechecks

Full example:

jf rt transfer-files source-server target-server --prechecks

Expected output (when checks pass):

[Info] Running pre-transfer checks...
[Info] data-transfer plugin found on source instance.
[Info] Source and target instances are reachable.
[Info] Pre-transfer checks passed.

Check Transfer Status

Check the progress of a transfer running in the background. This command reads local state and does not require a server connection.

To check transfer status:

• Run:

jf rt transfer-files <source-server-id> <target-server-id> --status

Full example:

jf rt transfer-files source-server target-server --status

Expected output when a transfer is in progress:

 Status: Running
 Transferred: 3,412 / 10,000 files (34%)
 Current repository: libs-release

Expected output when no transfer is running:

 Status: Not running

Stop an In-Progress Transfer

Gracefully stop a transfer that is running in the background. This command reads local state and does not require a server connection.

To stop an in-progress transfer:

• Run:

jf rt transfer-files <source-server-id> <target-server-id> --stop

Full example:

jf rt transfer-files source-server target-server --stop

Expected output:

[Info] Gracefully stopping files transfer...

Get Command Help

To view command help:

• Run:

jf rt transfer-files --help

When to Use

Use transfer-files after transfer-config (or transfer-config-merge) to move the actual artifact binaries from one Artifactory to another. This is the final step in a full migration workflow.

Typical migration workflow:

1. jf rt transfer-plugin-install <source-server>: Install the data-transfer plugin on the source instance. Required before any other transfer commands.
2. jf rt transfer-config <source> <target>: Copy repositories, users, permissions, and other configuration from source to target.
3. jf rt transfer-files <source> <target>: Transfer all artifact binaries. Run --prechecks first to validate readiness.

Known Limitations

• Requires the data-transfer plugin installed on the source Artifactory instance.
• Transfer progress is saved. If interrupted, re-running the command resumes from where it stopped (unless --ignore-state is set).
• Large-scale transfers (millions of artifacts) may take hours or days depending on network bandwidth.
• The --filestore flag makes the transfer check whether artifacts already exist on the target filestore before copying them. This is useful for shared-storage migrations where files are physically present but not yet indexed.
• Performance depends on network bandwidth between source and target. Use --proxy-key to route traffic through Artifactory's proxy in controlled environments.

Performance Considerations

Troubleshooting

It looks like the data-transfer user plugin isn't installed

Full message:

[Error] server response: 400 Bad Request
It looks like the 'data-transfer' user plugin isn't installed on the source instance.
Please refer to the documentation available at https://jfrog.com/help/r/...

What it means: This error can appear for multiple reasons, not only a missing plugin. Before reinstalling the plugin, work through this checklist:

1. Verify the source server is reachable. Run jf rt ping --server-id <source-server> to confirm connectivity.
2. Check for a proxy or load-balancer issue. An nginx-level 400 Request Header Or Cookie Too Large in the error body means the request never reached Artifactory. This is a network/proxy configuration issue, not a plugin issue.
3. Confirm the plugin is installed. If the source server is reachable and the error persists, follow the plugin installation instructions to install or reinstall the data-transfer plugin.

--stop shows Gracefully stopping files transfer... but nothing was running

This is expected behavior. The CLI emits this message and exits 0 regardless of whether a transfer was in progress. If you need to confirm whether a transfer was actually stopped, run --status before and after:

jf rt transfer-files source-server target-server --status
jf rt transfer-files source-server target-server --stop
jf rt transfer-files source-server target-server --status

--prechecks reports Files transfer is already running unexpectedly

If you ran --stop just before --prechecks, a transient state file may cause this false positive. Wait a moment and re-run --prechecks. If the error persists, check --status to determine whether a transfer is genuinely in progress.

Frequently Asked Questions

This section provides answers to frequently asked questions.

Related Topics

• Transfer Files Between Artifactory Servers
• Copy Artifactory Configuration with jf rt transfer-config
• Merge Artifactory Configuration with jf rt transfer-config-merge