Home and Shared Folders on Mac OS X Accessing Home and Shared Folders on Active Directory File Servers Using Mac OS X

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Home and Shared Folders on Mac OS X

Accessing Home and Shared Folders on Active Directory File Servers Using Mac OS X

Overview

Ithaca College provides network file sharing for all faculty

members, all staff members, and some students through Microsoft Active Directory accounts. This guide offers instructions for accessing home and shared folders on the Active Directory file server from a Macintosh running Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), 10.6 (Snow Leopard), or 10.7 (Lion) on the campus network.

“Home” folders are accessible only to the owner of the individual account. “Shared” folders are accessible to groups of users who need to collaborate and share files, e.g., members of departments. All faculty and staff members have home folders. Most faculty and staff members have shared folders. Some students have shared folders (e.g., student employees in a department).

The Active Directory file server that hosts home and shared folders is called Mentor. When you log onto your computer, your home folder will always appear with the name “Home.” Shared folder names will vary, however, depending on the nature of your work. The two main shared sections of the Mentor file server are “Shared” and “Academic.” Folders in the section called “Shared”

host shared folders for departments. Folders in the “Academic” section host shared folders for academic projects (e.g., an instructor may request a shared folder for members of a research team). Other shared sections with a variety of names are hosted for other groups of users who need to share files.

Data on the Active Directory file server is password-protected, scanned for viruses, and backed up nightly. Using the file server is the safest and most reliable way to store work-related files.

If you are using a network connection off campus, please refer to the Remote Access to Campus Resources quick guide for instructions on using your home and shared folders through a remote network connection.

Requirements

You may access your home and shared folders through file sharing if you are logging into Active Directory with a standard user account (faculty, staff, or student) using a college-owned computer or a personal computer running Macintosh OS X with a direct network connection on campus or a wireless network connection through ICAirnet-Secure. File sharing does not work with ICAirnet connections, however.

Laptops

If you use a college-owned Mac laptop, you will need to use a direct (not wireless) connection to the campus network the first time you log into the computer using Active Directory so that a local (on your computer) profile can be created.

In This Guide

Overview ... 1

Requirements ... 1

Laptops ... 1

Logging In ... 2

Home and Shared Folders ... 3

Logging Off ... 5

For More Information ... 5

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Network Printing for Mac OS X

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For those who use a Macintosh laptop that is shared among several users, each user will need to use a direct (not wireless) connection to the network for the first time logging in using Active Directory so that a local (on your computer) profile can be created. Each successive user also will need to perform a one-time procedure to add administrative privileges to his/her local account. The tool for this procedure is right on the Macintosh. Specifically, each successive user of this shared laptop needs to follow these steps:

1. Connect the Macintosh laptop to a direct, hardwired, on-campus network connection (not wireless). 2. Log into the computer with your Netpass username and password.

3. Double-click the main hard drive icon on the desktop (usually called “Macintosh HD”) 4. Open the UsersShared  Make Admin folder

5. Run the makeadmin tool. 6. Enter your Netpass username. 7. Click OK twice.

Logging In

Use your Netpass username and password to log into Active Directory. Do not change your password using Mac OS X. Instead, always use the IC Netpass Manager online at http://www.ithaca.edu/passwords. Follow the steps below to log into your college-owned computer. If you are using a personal computer, start up and log into your computer as you normally do.

1. Turn on your computer. The first window you see displays a message about the IC computer and network use policy. When you log in, you are agreeing to abide by this policy.

2. In your login window, take a look at the dot next to Network Accounts Available.

Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or 10.6 (Snow Leopard): Wait for the red dot to turn green before you log in. Notice that the dot next to Network Accounts Unavailable is red at first, then the dot turns green and the words change to Network Accounts Available when a network connection has been established.

Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion): Wait for the red dot to turn clear before you log in. Notice that the dot next to Network Accounts Unavailable is red at first, then the dot turns clear and the words change to Network Accounts Available when a network connection has been established.

3. In the Name field, enter your Netpass username (e.g., jsmith for faculty/staff member Joe Smith, jsmith1 for student Jane Smith).

4. In the Password field, enter your Netpass password.

5. The first time you log into your Macintosh using Active Directory, you may get a message that reads, “The system was unable to unlock your login keychain.” From the 3 button options at the bottom of this

window, choose Create New Keychain. For subsequent logins, check the box next to Add this to my keychain?

Please note: Keychains are used throughout Macintosh OSX to store data such as passwords. By checking the keychain box, you are agreeing to add this password to your stored keychain. You will be prompted to update your keychain password whenever you change your Active Directory password with the Netpass Manager.

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Accessing your Home and Shared Folders

Access to your home and shared folders is defined and included in your Active Directory account. Your Active Directory credentials (username and password) are the same as your Netpass credentials. Once you have logged into Active Directory, you will have access to your home and shared folders automatically.

Home Folder

Home folders are accessible only to you, the owner of the individual account. By default, you have 1 GB of disk space in your home folder.

College-owned Computers with a Direct Network Connection -- If you are using a college-owned computer with a direct network connection on campus, your home folder (volume) is set up to mount and appear in the dock automatically after you log into your computer. To find and use your home folder, follow these steps:

1. Hover over the icons on the right end of the dock until you see a folder with your username floating above it. This is your home folder.

2. Click on your home folder to open it. If you prefer to open your home folder in a Finder window, hold down the Command Key

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as you click on your home folder. You may now open, move, copy, upload, or download files and folders in your Home folder as you wish.

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College-owned Computers with a Wireless Network Connection -- If you are using a college-owned computer with an ICAirnet-Secure network connection on campus, you will need to make a connection to your home folder after you have started up, logged into, and established a network connection on the computer. To find and use your home folder, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Finder, choose Go, then choose Connect to Server.... 2. In the Server Address field, enter smb://mentor.campus.ithaca.lan

3. Click the plus (+) button to the right of the Server Address field to save your choice as a favorite server. The Server Address field will be populated automatically with this address for subsequent logons. 4. Click Connect.

5. Selected the Registered User radio button.

6. In the Name field, enter campus\username, where “username” is your Netpass username. In the Password field, enter your Netpass password. Do not check the Remember this password in my keychain checkbox.

7. Click Connect.

8. At the prompt that asks you which volumes to mount on Mentor, select the volume called Home and click OK. The home folder (volume) will appear in a Finder window. You may now open, move, copy, upload, or download files and folders in your home folder as you wish.

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Personal Computers with a Direct or Wireless Network Connection -- If you are using a personal computer with an ICAirnet-Secure wireless or a direct network connection on campus, you will need to make a connection to your home folder after you have started up, logged into, and established a network

connection on the computer. To find and use your home folder, follow these steps: 1. Go to the Finder, choose Go, then choose Connect to Server....

2. If you are using a direct network connection on campus, in the Server Address field, enter smb://mentor If you are using an ICAirnet-Secure network connection on campus, in the Server Address field, enter smb://mentor.campus.ithaca.lan

5. Selected the Registered User radio button

8. At the prompt that asks you which volumes to mount on Mentor, select the volume called Home and click OK. The home folder (volume) will appear in a Finder window. You may now open, move, copy, upload, or download files and folders in your home folder as you wish.

Shared Folder(s)

Your shared folder(s) are accessible to the group of users with whom you need to collaborate and share files, such as members of your department, your research team, or your project group. The amount of disk space provided for shared folders varies by each group’s needs. Access to your shared folder(s) is defined and included in your Active Directory account. Follow these steps to access your shared folder(s):

1. Once you are logged into the Mac with your Active Directory account, go to the Finder, choose Go, then choose Connect to Server....

2. If you are using a direct network connection on campus, in the Server Address field, enter smb://mentor If you are using an ICAirnet-Secure wireless network connection on campus, in the Server Address field, enter smb://mentor.campus.ithaca.lan

5. Selected the Registered User radio button

8. At the prompt that asks you which volumes to mount on Mentor, select the shared volume called Shared, the shared volume called Academic, or another shared volume you will use, and click OK. The shared folder (volume) will appear in a Finder window. You may now open, move, copy, upload, or download files and folders in your Shared folder as you wish.

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Creating Aliases to Shared Folders

ITS recommends that you create aliases to your shared folder(s) on your desktop to make it easy to access them, as follows:

1. Go to the Finder and choose Preferences. 2. Click on the General icon.

3. Under Show these items on the desktop, put a check in the Connected servers checkbox. 4. Click the new icon for the Shared or Academic volume that appears on your desktop.

5. Hold down the Command key

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simultaneously, select a folder inside the shared

folder section, and drag it to your desktop. An alias to that folder will appear on your desktop.

6. Repeat this procedure to create aliases for additional shared folders. You will now be able to double-click the alias to your shared folder(s) on the Mentor Active Directory file server whenever you want to open, upload, or download files.

Logging Off

Once you have logged into Active Directory on a computer, anyone who uses it can access the data on the computer and the data in your home and shared folders on the file server. If you are on a computer that is in a public area or is shared by multiple users, it is important to log off when you have completed your work session to ensure the safety of your data.

1. From the Finder (under the Apple icon in the top left corner of your desktop), choose Log Out

username…, where “username” is the Netpass username for the account that is currently logged into the computer.

2. Click the Log Out button.

For More Information

If you would like additional help, a variety of support services are available:

Online documentation, training, and tutorials on IC-supported computing software and systems are available from ITS at https://www.ithaca.edu/its/traindoc.

Frontline computing support is available through the ITS Helpdesk in 104 Job Hall; send email to [email protected] or call 607-274-1000.

Backline consulting support is available in the Technology Learning Center, room 101 Friends Hall.