There are a number of different ways to access your files which are housed on the School of Engineering file server. This page will walk through a number of different methods. Not all methods will work on all machines as you may not have the necessary privileges on some computers.

The location of your files, regardless of which method you use to connect, are as follows:

\\fserv.engr.ship.edu\home\$USERID where $USERID would be replaced with your username

You will always need to use your ENGR account credentials when prompted. If you are connecting from a Windows machine, you will need to include the full user information including domain. NOTE: Most of the methods listed below only work while connected to the campus network, either directly or over a VPN connection.

RECOMMENDED WINDOWS OPTION

The fastest and most reliable connection method uses the Windows command line utility. Updated security settings makes it difficult to browse for network shares on modern networks and GUI tools often try to use the local session credentials first. These introduce latency while you wait for the attempt to fail.  Here are the steps to quickly mount your files.

  1. Open the Command Prompt (cmd.exe) from the Windows Start Menu
  2. Type the following replacing USERNAME with your user ID (ex AB4321)
    • net use v: /persistent:no \\fserv.engr.ship.edu\home\USERNAME /user:ENGR\USERNAME
  3. If entered correctly, you will be prompted for your ENGR domain password

Please note: if you are on a personal device, you can leave off the persistent option if you want the computer to always try and reconnect. THIS IS NOT ADVISED EVER ON A SHARED DEVICE!!!

Due to changes with the internal and external firewalls, it is now recommended students follow the directions for installing and configuring the SFTP Drive software when using personal devices on or off campus.

Alternate Methods for Windows

While some consider these methods simpler, they can be less effective when there are conflicting or cached credentials involved.

  • Using Windows Explorer: The fastest method for accessing your files from a Windows machine running any contemporary version is to simply navigate to the server from an Explorer window.
        • Open an explorer windows, typically by going to “Computer” from the Start Menu
        • Highlight the navigation bar at the top of the window. (see image)
        • Enter the location of your files as stated above.
        • Enter your login credentials, making sure to include the ENGR domain information. (see image)
        • You now have access to your files.
  • Adding Network Location: If you want to create a shortcut to make it more convenient to access your files, you can use the Wizard Microsoft provides.
        • Open an explorer windows, typically by going to “Computer” from the Start Menu
        • Right click ‘Computer’ in the side bar to access the option menu and select “Add a network location”. (see image)
        • Click Next twice.
        • Enter the location for your files as stated above, then click next
        • Give the location a name and select next.
        • Select finish.
        • Enter your login credentials, making sure to include the ENGR domain information. (see image)
        • You now have access to your files.
        • You may want to move the shortcut created in the sidebar to your Documents folder for future access.
  • Mapping a network drive: The most traditional method for linking to a network location has been to simply ‘map’ a network drive. This creates a local mount point for the network location which was often needed for certain software packages. This method is not currently supported for most users on the computer located in the various lab on campus.
        • Open an explorer windows, typically by going to “Computer” from the Start Menu
        • Right click ‘Computer’ in the side bar to access the option menu and select “Map network drive” or select “Map network drive” from the top bar navigation. (see image)
        • Select an unused drive letter.
        • Enter the location for your files as stated above in the “Folder” field.
        • Check the box “Connect using different credentials”.
        • If you want this connection to be re-established every time you log into the machine, check the box “Reconnect at logon”. I would advise against this option as there are many places where you won’t be able to establish a connection to the server.
        • Select finish.
        • Enter your login credentials, making sure to include the ENGR domain information. (see image)
        • You now have access to your files.
        • You may want to move the shortcut created in the sidebar to your Documents folder for future access.

LINUX OPTIONS

  • Using SSHFS: My favorite method for accessing remote file systems on a linux machine is using SSHFS. This utility is used to establish a local mount which redirects to a remote location over an SSH connection. Its fast, easy and all communication is encrypted.
        • First make sure you have SSHFS installed. On Ubuntu, this is simply an “apt-get install sshfs” or a “yum install fuse-sshfs” if you prefer your Fedora/CentOS distros.
        • Create a directory to use as your mount point. I will use remFiles for my example.
        • Use the following command to mount your files using the Sloop SSH server
          • sshfs userid@sloop.engr.ship.edu:/home/userid remFiles where userid is your user ID.
        • You might be prompted to confirm the identity of the server which you should be able to say yes to.
        • Enter your password to complete the mounting of your files.
        • You should now have access to all of your files under the remFiles directory.
        • The only part people seem to have trouble with is unmounting their remote filesystems. This is because it uses a completely different command. Simply type fusermount -u remFiles.
  • Mounting a CIFS share: There will be times where Sloop may be unavailable to be utilized as a relay agent. In these situations, you can use the more traditional approach by mounting your home directory using the standard CIFS utilities. NOTE: This method only works while connected to the campus network, either directly or over a VPN connection.
        • First make sure you have the necessary tools installed. On Ubuntu, this is simply an “apt-get install cifs-utils” or a “yum install cifs-utils” if you prefer your Fedora/CentOS distros.
        • Create a directory to use as your mount point. I will use remFiles for my example.
        • You will need to either be on campus or connected to the campus network using a VPN connection.
        • You will need root privileges for the machine you are working on.
        • Use the following command to mount your files:
          • sudo mount -t cifs //fserv.engr.ship.edu/home/userid remFiles -o username=userid where userid is your user ID.
        • Enter your password to complete the mounting of your files.
        • You should now have access to all of your files under the remFiles directory.

UNIVERSAL OPTION

    • Using SFTP: One method for accessing your files which will work from nearly any computer system, tablet or smartphone is SFTP. As long as your device has a software client installed which supports the SFTP protocol, you can use it to access your files. Popular programs for SFTP are list below:
          • FileZilla (Linux, OSX, Windows)
          • WinSCP (Windows)
          • MobaXterm (Windows)
          • Cyberduck (OSX)
          • AndFTP (Android)
          • iTransfer (iPad/iPhone)
          • Turbo Client (Android, iPad/iPhone, Android)
          • FireFTP – Firefox Plugin (Android, iPad/iPhone, Linux, OSX, Windows)

The specifics for establishing a connection will vary depending on which client you are using but the following details will apply regardless of your choice of software:

        • Make sure the connection type you are using is SFTP not FTP.
        • Make sure the port number being used is 22.
        • Make sure the server name is sloop.engr.ship.edu.
        • You will use the same userid you use to access the departmental infrastructure and you should not need to include the domain portion of your ID.
        • You might be prompted to confirm the identity of the server which you should answer yes to.
        • Enter your password to complete your connection to the server. Do not have your software save your password because if it is typed incorrectly the software will make multiple failed connection attempts which will ultimately result in your machine being blacklisted for 24 hours.
        • Once connected, you should have access to all of your files in the client window. At this time you should be able to transfer files back and forth from your personal machine to the fileserver as needed.
        • When finished, simply close the connection / application.