# How to download data to institutional cluster

**URL:** <https://help.anvilproject.org/t/how-to-download-data-to-institutional-cluster/359>\
**Category:** Data Access\
**Created:** [November 16, 2025, 8:30pm UTC](https://help.anvilproject.org/t/how-to-download-data-to-institutional-cluster/359 "2025-11-16T20:30:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Wesley\_Au](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/help.anvilproject.org/wesley_au/32/234_2.png) [@Wesley\_Au](https://help.anvilproject.org/u/Wesley_Au)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2025, 8:30pm UTC](https://help.anvilproject.org/t/how-to-download-data-to-institutional-cluster/359/1 "2025-11-16T20:30:13Z")

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I’m wondering if there is functionality to download data that I have access to to my institutional cluster using the metadata file.

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**Author:** ![avahoffman](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/help.anvilproject.org/avahoffman/32/38_2.png) [@avahoffman](https://help.anvilproject.org/u/avahoffman)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://help.anvilproject.org/t/how-to-download-data-to-institutional-cluster/359/2 "2025-11-17T15:20:26Z")

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Hi @Wesley_Au ,

We recommend using Google Cloud SDK to transfer files to and from your institutional HPC. [This article](https://support.terra.bio/hc/en-us/articles/4409101169051-How-to-move-data-to-from-a-Google-bucket) provides a nice detailed overview. Briefly:

- Log into your institutional HPC
- Make sure Google Cloud SDK is installed (you should be able to run the `gcloud` command)
- Authenticate through Google Cloud SDK
- Identify the bucket/path for your data to use in copy commands
- Run the command(s): e.g., `gcloud storage cp WHERE_TO_COPY_DATA_FROM/FILENAME WHERE_TO_COPY_DATA_TO`

If you have a list of paths in the metadata, you could call that within a script that also uses `gcloud storage cp`.

Best,

Ava