Enable https for orbit file download

Microwave Toolbox
1

When trying to process Sentinel-1 scenes using SNAP/the microwave toolbox I have as first step “Apply Orbit File” in my graph. However, this step fails, because the HPC cluster I’m running the processing has a firewall rule against unencrypted http connections, so I’m seeing an error like:

INFO: org.esa.snap.engine_utilities.download.DownloadableContentImpl: http retrieving http://step.esa.int/auxdata/orbits/Sentinel-1/POEORB/S1A/2023/01/S1A_OPER_AUX_POEORB_OPOD_20230123T081808_V20230102T225942_20230104T005942.EOF.zip
SEVERE: org.esa.snap.engine_utilities.download.DownloadableContentImpl: Failed to download remote file.
java.io.IOException: Server returned HTTP response code: 403 for URL: http://step.esa.int/auxdata/orbits/Sentinel-1/POEORB/S1A/2023/01/S1A_OPER_AUX_POEORB_OPOD_20230123T081808_V20230102T225942_20230104T005942.EOF.zip

Is there an option to change the URL/protocoll to https for Sentinel-1 orbit file retrieval in SNAP? And should this be made the default to encrypt the transfer?

2

I personally don’t need a solution anymore, as a firewall exception was added on the cluster I’m using.

I found a possible solution when looking at pyroSAR. There, some custom configuration is done, one of them is specifying the orbit remote path. pyroSAR sets in this configuration file the properties OrbitFiles.sentinel1POEOrbit_remotePath and sentinel1RESOrbit_remotePath.

Now, changing this to https:// should work, but when I tested it, the orbits where still downloaded via http.

The command I ran:

gpt -DOrbitFiles.sentinel1POEOrbit_remotePath=https://step.esa.int/auxdata/orbits/Sentinel-1/POEORB/ $S1_SNAP_GRAPH_PATH

Relevant output showing that still http was used:

INFO: org.esa.snap.engine_utilities.download.DownloadableContentImpl: http retrieving http://step.esa.int/auxdata/orbits/Sentinel-1/POEORB/S1A/2023/01/S1A_OPER_AUX_POEORB_OPOD_20230123T081808_V20230102T225942_20230104T005942.EOF.zip