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Connecting to your RCS Home Directory

To connect to your RCS home directory, please follow the instructions corresponding to your operating system:
[ Windows - Linux - Mac OS X ]

Windows

  1. The easiest way to connect to your home directory in Windows is to use the RCS File and Print Sharing icon (located on the desktop of RPI laptops and desktop computers). To connect, simply Double-click the RCS File and Print Sharing icon, Type your RCS userID and password when prompted, then Check the checkbox labeled Connect to Rensselaer Home Directory



    If you do not have the RCS File and Print Sharing icon on your desktop, please read these instructions on how to download the program.

    If you are using Windows 98, you must be logged on to Windows as your RCS userid. If you are logged on to Windows with a user name that is different from your RCS userid, log out and type your RCS userid and password at the logon prompt.
  2. If for some reason using the RCS File and Print Sharing icon does not work or is not convenient for you, you can also connect to your home directory by mapping the corresponding network drive.
    1. Right-Click on the My Computer icon on your desktop, then select Map Network Drive.
    2. In Drive: Select any drive letter that you like. This is where your RCS home directory will appear on your computer.
      In Folder: Type \\sambasrv\userID (replacing 'userID' with your own RCS userID)
      If there is a check in the checkbox labeled Reconnect at logon, then click the box to make the checkbox disappear.
      Click Finish
    3. A popup window will appear asking you for your user name and password.
      In Connect As: Type your RCS userID
      In Password: Type your RCS password
      Click OK
    If you are using Windows 98, you must be logged on to Windows as your RCS userID. If you are logged on to Windows with a user name that is different from your RCS userID, log out and type your RCS userID and password at the logon prompt.
    If mapping to \\sambasrv\RCSuserID does not work, you can also try \\samba.rpi.edu\RCSuserID, which may work in some cases when the other will not.

Linux

Please note that you must either be logged on as root or use the su or sudo commands for this process to succeed.

  1. Create a directory where you would like to mount your RCS home directory. The command you should use is:
    mkdir rcs_drive
    You need to replace rcs_drive with the directory name that you would like, a typical example being /mnt/rcs :
    mkdir /mnt/rcs
  2. After you have created the directory, use one of the following commands to mount your RCS home directory, replacing rcs_drive with the name of the directory you created earlier (/mnt/rcs in the above example), and RCSuserid with your RCS userid.
    smbmount //samba.rpi.edu/RCSuserid rcs_drive -o username=RCSuserid

    mount -t smbfs //samba.rpi.edu/RCSuserid rcs_drive -o username=RCSuserid

    mount -t smb //samba.rpi.edu/RCSuserid rcs_drive -o username=RCSuserid
    The first command should work in most cases. If it does not, try the second one, and so on.

Mac OS X

Since our SMB servers do not support encrypted passwords, which are the default for for most current SMB installations, Mac users have two different methods of accessing their RCS home directory: 1) enabling plaintext passwords on their Mac and then connecting via Sambasrv, or 2) using an FTP program to connect securely.

Connecting via Sambasrv

When the specified Samba or Windows (SMB/CIFS) server does not support encrypted passwords, Mac users should follow the steps below to configure their computer to use plaintext passwords to make SMB/CIFS connections. (You must be an administrator to do these steps.)

Also please note that it is necessary to complete steps 1 through 11 only once. After that, you need only use steps 12 through 14 to connect.)

To enable plaintext passwords:

  1. Make sure that you are not currently connected to any Samba or Windows (SMB/CIFS) servers and that you do not have any Samba or Windows-related error messages open.
  2. Open the terminal by opening your Applications folder, then opening the Utilities folder.
  3. At the prompt, type sudo pico /etc/nsmb.conf
  4. Press the Return key.
  5. Enter your password when prompted, then press the Return key again.
  6. You should see an empty file and a "New File" notice at the bottom of the Pico window that appears. If the "New File" notice doesn't appear, the file already exists.
  7. Enter the following into the file so that it appears as follows:

    [default]
    minauth=none

  8. Save the file by pressing Control-O, pressing the Return key, and then exiting the Pico window by pressing Control-X.
  9. At the prompt, type sudo chmod a+r /etc/nsmb.conf
  10. Press the Return key.
  11. Restart your computer.
  12. From the finder, select Go --> Connect to server:
  13. For the server name, enter the following, replacing userID with your own RCS userID, such as smithj:
    smb://samba.rpi.edu/userID
  14. When prompted, enter your RCS userID and password.

If this does not work, you can try to connect to smb://128.113.22.15/userID instead of smb://samba.rpi.edu/userID.

Connecting Using FTP

Users also have the option of connecting to their RCS home directory by using any FTP editor, such as Cyberduck for Mac, which is free, open-source, and highly stable.

From the main Cyberduck website, you may download the latest Cyberduck dmg file by clicking on the Download link that appears on the right side of the page. Download and open this file to mount the Cyberduck install image. Copy the Cyberduck.app file to your Applications folder, and then eject the Cyberduck install image.

Once Cyberduck is installed on your computer, you can use the following steps to connect to your RCS user space.

  1. Run the Cyberduck.app file from your Applications folder.
  2. Click on the Open Connection button.
  3. Set the first dropdown to FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
  4. Set the server to ftp.rpi.edu .
  5. Set the port as 21.
  6. Set the Username and Password as your RCS userID and password. (Note that you may choose to leave the password blank in order to be prompted each time you connect.)
  7. (optional) Check the "Add to Keychain" check box in order to save your userID and password.
  8. Click the Connect button.

Your RCS user space will then load and be usable similar to Finder; it is now saved and can be accessed via the Quick Connect drop-down menu in the main Cyberduck window, and you will not have to re-enter your information each time you connect in the future.

Please refer to the Cyberduck website for further information and details about this open-source FTP service.

Last modified: March 3, 2009
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