It is possible to mount your Linux home directory (the uppermost directory in your own personal directory tree on our Linux workstations) directly on your Macintosh's desktop. This allows you to access all the files stored there just as if they were on some read/write storage medium attached directly to your Macintosh. We also have a shared directory called lab_mac, which can be mounted on a mac.
The mounting procedure uses Appleshare over TCP. Our particular implementation requires DHX encoding capeabilities, which are included in MacOS 9.0 and above. Appropriate translation of text and binary files is automatic. Our firewall is transparent to the assocated packets, which means you can mount your home directory from a client Macintosh on either side of it, even from a networked Macintosh in your home or from an institution you visit halfway around the world!
If you store all your work-related files in your Linux home directory, you can work with them from any Macintosh client, and be sure of having up-to-date versions without manually synchronizing different files on different computers. Furthermore, you can be sure of having access to these same files via secure copy from anywhere, even if a Macintosh client is not available to you.
The directory lab_mac is a shared directory, which means everyone in the lab has read/write access to it. This means anyone can accidently erase something you have placed in this directory, and these files are more vulnerable to corruption. The directory is backed up every night (as are the home directories), but it is best treat these files with extra care. Also, because many people have access to this directory, try not to keep this directory mounted for long periods of time on your mac. The directory can be mounted on multiple macs at once, but multiple people accessing the same files at the same time can wreak havok!
To mount your Linux home directory from an OS X machine, choose 'Connect to Server' from the Go menu.
This will bring up a new window. In the address window on the bottom type 'files.shadlen.org', as shown below:
now click connect, and another window will come up asking for your username and password.
You will now have a choice to mount your home directory or lab_mac. Whichever you choose to mount will appear subsequently as an icon on your Macintosh's desktop. Be sure to put away this icon (click the eject icon, use the Apple-e keyboard shortcut or move the icon to the trash) when you are done, so that no one else can access these directories.
To mount your Linux home directory from an OS 9 machine, active the Chooser from the Apple menu, and select AppleShare, as illustrated in the illustration below.
Note that AppleTalk need not be active (although may be), because this service runs over TCP rather than Apple's propriatary AppleTalk protocol. This also means that, even if AppleTalk is active, our server will not appear in the associated list of file servers in any AppleTalk zone.
Press the Server IP Address button and enter the name of our Linux file server in the resulting dialog window.
You can get away with entering just "files" if "shadlen.org" is in your search path, and you can always enter "128.95.53.44", file's IP address, even if your name server is down.
Koko, the mac server, can be mounted in the same way. This server has files that everyone has access to.
When your Macintosh has contacted files, it will present the following dialog window.
Enter your Linux username and password, which will be sent, encrypted, to our file server. If the information you provide is correct, you will be offered access to your home directory and koko, one of which will appear subsequently as an icon on your Macintosh's desktop. Be sure to put away this icon (using the Apple-Y keyboard shortcut or moving the icon to the trash) when you are done, so that no one else can access your home directory.
Please note that, although this service is extremely convenient, it is not as secure as using secure copy. Although your password is encrypted, the data you transfer in this way is not, so be careful not to use it to transmit sensitive information. Enabling this service also opens our Linux machines to attack if you or your colleagues should happen to forget to put away your home directory on a Macintosh to which others beside yourself have access. If we ever experience such problems, your sysadmin will not hesitate to shut down this service, so remember to use it in a security-conscious way!