Access your files¶

Here we describe how to access our file servers from the different operating systems.

Note that file server access via SMB from outside the ETH network only works via VPN! Alternatively you can try to access the files via the SSH protocol from everywhere. Scroll down to "Using SSH" for details.

In order to cope with the huge amount of storage at D-PHYS and to optimize for different usage patterns, we have multiple front end servers. Please use the table below to determine which server you need:

You can also use the Account Info tab in our account portal to determine the mounts for all shares you have access to.

On Windows¶

How to connect your home drive¶

• Click your Start button
• Type \\home.phys.ethz.ch\USERNAME eg: \\home.phys.ethz.ch\patrika
• Connect using ad\USERNAME and password. Select OK
• Optionally click with the right mouse button on your home and assign a drive letter

How to connect to a group share¶

• Click your Start button
• Type \\SERVERNAME\SHARENAME eg: \\group-data.phys.ethz.ch\nano1, where SERVERNAME is take from the table above
• Connect using ad\USERNAME and password. Select OK
• Optionally click with the right mouse button on your home and assign a drive letter

On macOS¶

• Select the Finder
• In the menu Go, click on Connect to server...
• Type in smb://home.phys.ethz.ch/homes for your home, respectively smb://SERVERNAME/SHARENAME for group shares (SERVERNAME taken from the table above) and click Connect
• In the following dialog enter your D-Phys username and password
• The mounted share should appear on your desktop or Finder window
• Optionally: configure quick access via the Finder sidebar

Troubleshooting¶

It may happen that the wrong username or password were saved and you can no longer connect to the network share. You may either remove the entry in the Keychain Access application, or provide the correct username when connecting: smb://username:*@home.phys.ethz.ch/homes

Cosmologists¶

If you don't see all files inside the ipa/refreg/data subfolder, please create a /etc/nsmb.conf file, with the following contents

[default]
file_ids_off=yes

to fix bugs because of nested file systems.

On Linux¶

There are several ways to access our SMB shares: (replace "USERNAME" with your D-PHYS user name).

The package cifs-utils must be installed on your system:

apt install cifs-utils

Konqueror, Midnight commander and others¶

You are able to connect directly to:

smb://home.phys.ethz.ch/homes

and

smb://SERVERNAME/SHARENAME

(see table at the top)

If you get an error, you may need to configure samba. Check that the following line is in the section [global] in your /etc/samba/smb.conf:

[global]
client max protocol = SMB3

It may also be necessary to specify your D-PHYS username:

smb://AD;USERNAME@SERVERNAME/SHARENAME

mount¶

You may mount the files server on your local workstation.

To access your home:

mkdir -p /media/dphys
sudo mount -t cifs -o domain=AD,username=USERNAME,vers=3.0 //home.phys.ethz.ch/homes /media/dphys

To access the group share SHARENAME on server SERVERNAME:

mkdir -p /media/GROUP
sudo mount -t cifs -o domain=AD,username=USERNAME,vers=3.0 //SERVERNAME/SHARENAME /media/SHARENAME

To map uid and gid to your local user:

sudo mount -t cifs -o domain=AD,username=USERNAME,vers=3.0,uid=$(id -u $UID),gid=$(id -g $UID) //home.phys.ethz.ch/homes /media/dphys

smbclient¶

This will give you a ftp-like interface.

To access your home:

smbclient --max-protocol SMB3 -W AD -U USERNAME //home.phys.ethz.ch/homes

To access the group share SHARENAME on server SERVERNAME:

smbclient --max-protocol SMB3 -W AD -U USERNAME //SERVERNAME/SHARENAME

Direct access on managed Linux workstations¶

On our managed Linux workstations, your home and shares will be automounted to

Using SSH (any operating system)¶

Even though SMB access is not possible without VPN from outside ETH, you may access your files from everywhere using tools based on the SSH protocol.

All variants work by connecting to login.phys.ethz.ch or one of our student pool workstation using your normal D-PHYS username and password.

SCP or SFTP¶

You can access your files also using SCP (Secure Copy) or SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) clients, e.g. WinSCP or Putty under Windows or CyberDuck under macOS. See our Readme SFTP Samples Windows Workstation to D-PHYS Workstation for how to use SFTP with WinSCP.

SSHFS¶

SSHFS on Linux or Windows provide a way to mount shares directly and access files using the default operating system file explorers. See our Readme sshfs for setup instructions.

SSHUTTLE¶

Mac and Linux users may also use sshuttle as replacement for VPN and then connect to the storage with the SMB protocol.