How to keep bash commands running after you log out

Useful for file transfers on O2's new transfer cluster (transfer.rc.hms.harvard.edu).

The nohup command can be prepended to the bash command and the command will keep running after you logout (or have your connection interrupted).

From HMS RC:

From one of the file transfer systems under transfer.rc.hms.harvard.edu , you can prefix your command with "nohup" to put it in the background and be able to log out without interrupting the process.

For example, after logging in to e.g. the transfer01 host, run your command:

nohup rsync -av /dir1 /dir2

and then log out. rsync will keep running.

To check in on the process later, just remember which machine you ran rsync and you can directly re-login to that system if you like.

For example:

1. ssh transfer.rc.hms.harvard.edu (let's say you land on transfer03), and then: 2. ssh transfer01 -- from there you can run the "ps" command or however you like to monitor the process.