The Transparent Remote File-System Access Method

An alternative to the explicit transfer of files from one machine to another is to attach the remote filesystem to the local machine such that all programs can access it as if it was just another local partition. There are several solutions to this problem, the classical examples are NFS and AFS. At the ETH we are using both of them extensively. Unfortunately NFS has security issues which prevent it from being used in an open environment, and AFS requires special (complex) software on the client side and fundamental changes in the setup of servers. We therefore currently recommend Samba for remote filesystem attachment. Samba is a free implementation of the Microsoft File Sharing Protocol (SMB). We are running it on all our Unix servers. This enables Windows computers to access files on the Unix machines as if they were on a normal Windows server. Linux is also able to access Samba and mount it just like any other file system. SMB does not encrypt the data it transfers (unlike SSH) but it uses a special method for password authentication which protects the privacy of the password.

The Samba Password

Samba (SMB) uses a fundamentally different way to handle passwords than Unix. This has the advantage that passwords do not cross the net unencrypted, but it has the big disadvantage that we have to maintain a separate password database for Samba. We have setup our system so that the Samba password gets changed at the same time as the unix password. If your samba password does not work, please contact support@ee.ethz.ch .

First, note, that all the information below assumes that you have Windows NT, 2000 or XP installed. With this out of the way you just open the start menu, select Run ... and type:

 net use * \\homes.ee.ethz.ch\login * /user:login

Replace login with your Tardis login name and press return. Now a pop-up will ask for your login name (again) and your (samba)password. Once you have entered them, an explorer will open which shows the content of your Tardis home directory. You can now use the same syntax to access the Tardis home directly from within applications. You can also create a shortcut on the desktop which points to this address to make access even simpler. Note that if you use the same user-name and (samba)password on Windows as you use on Tardis, then windows will not ask you again for your password when mounting the Tardis home.

Using Samba from Linux (only on self-managed machines, as you need to be root)

From Linux you can use the normal mount command for mounting Samba shares:

$ sudo su
# mkdir /tardis-home
# mount -t smbfs -o user=lanserc,name=homes.ee.ethz.ch \\\\homes.ee.ethz.ch\\lanserc  /tardis-home

When you execute the command you will be asked for your (samba)password and then your home will be available under /tardis-home. Because mounting generally requires root access, the whole process is a bit tedious because you have to become root first. There is shortcut though. You can add an appropriate line to the /etc/fstab file which will allow users to mount your Tardis home with mount /tardis-home:

[...]
//homes.ee.ethz.ch/  smbfs username=lanserc,user,noauto
[...]

In the man page smbmount you can find more information about this.

Using CIFS to connect to Samba shares

You can also mount your Samba home area with CIFS:

$ sudo su
# mount -t cifs -o user=lanserc,name=homes.ee.ethz.ch \\\\homes.ee.ethz.ch\\lanserc  /tardis-home

Recent Linux Kernels contain the userspace filesystem FUSE. This allows you to use all sorts of new an inovative ways for mounting remote fileystems ... for example you can mount a file system via an ssh connection without needing root privileges:

$ mkdir ~/tardis-home
$ sshfs lanserc@login.ee.ethz.ch: ~/tardis-home

But please note, that you can't do sshfs on homes.ee.ethz.ch - use login.ee.ethz.ch instead!

You can also unmount it again by typing:

$ fusermount -u ~/tardis-home

Please note that sshfs is not officially supported by the ISG.EE

Windows Network Drive

You can access your home directory on Tardis by mounting \\homes.ee.ethz.ch\username as network drive on your Windows box (replace username with your Tardis username). Also specify your username in the box "Connect as". You will be asked to supply your Tardis password when mounting your home directory.

Tardis uses Samba to export your home directory. Our Samba setup uses encrypted passwords which are kept in a separate user database that is NOT synchronized with your Unix password. The password can not be longer than 8 characters. If you cannot mount your Tardis directory, chances are that we must update your entry in the Samba database. Send eMail to support@ee.ethz.ch . You can change the samba password with smbpasswd -r tardis.