Printer friendly version

Remote Access to NetWare Directories
(Macintosh)

Introduction

Using FTP (File Transfer Protocol), you can copy files to and from the SOU NetWare directories (your “F:” drive, in PC parlance, and any other directories you have access to) and a remote computer, such as your home computer. You can also perform other file management tasks, such as making directories and deleting files. This functionality is built-in to your NetWare account; no configuration of your account is required on your part.

You are welcome to use whatever FTP client you wish. Many are available for downloading from services such as C|NET Download and ZDNet Mac Downloads.

These instructions are written for use with Fetch, an easy-to-use FTP client for Macintosh. If you use a different client program, you’ll still want to read this document for important log-in information; but you’ll need to adapt other specifics for use with your software.

A free educational license for Fetch is available to faculty, staff, and students. Complete a license request at http://www.fetchsoftworks.com/Licensing/edustore.application.html in order to download it. (Please note: when you are no longer a student, faculty, or staff with SOU, you must delete your copy of Fetch or pay the license fee.)

Once you’ve obtained and installed Fetch on your home computer or laptop, just establish a PPP connection to the SOU dial-in system, then launch Fetch to perform file transfer operations.

Log In

1. When you launch Fetch, you’ll be presented with a New Connection window.
2. If this is not the first time you’ve used the software to log in to the SOU FTP, use the drop-down list next to Shortcuts to choose the shortcut you saved earlier. Then enter your password, if necessary, and click on OK to open the connection. Skip down to Change Directories in these instructions.
3. If this is the first time using Fetch to log in to the SOU FTP site, you’ll need to enter the appropriate connection information.
4. In the Host box, enter: ftp.sou.edu
5. In the User ID box, enter your NetWare user name, followed by a period, and your context, but without a final period. This is the same user name you use to log on to a networked computer on campus. Examples:
   

   Faculty/Staff: reagan.economics

   Student: spaceyk

6. In the Password box, enter the NetWare password you use to log on to a networked computer on campus.
7. That’s all you need in this window, so click on OK to make the connection.

Save Shortcut

1. Once connected to ftp.sou.edu, you’ll want to save these connection settings as a shortcut.
2. Use the menu bar to choose Customize ... New Shortcut.
3. In the first box, Name, you can either leave what’s there as the name of this shortcut, or you can change it to something else, such as “SOU F: Drive.”
4. Notice the Type, Host, and User ID boxes are already filled in.
5. If you want to save the password so you don’t have to type it in every time, type it into the Password box; but be aware that if you do this, anyone you share this machine with may be able to connect to the campus network as you.
6. Leave the Directory box blank, and click on OK.
7. This will now be available in the Fetch Shortcuts window and pop-up list.

Change Directories

By default, the file list displays the files and folders in the “root” of your F: drive. You can navigate through the various folders to any other directory you have access to. (On the remote system, the NetWare network will only allow you open directories that you have rights to, such as your G: drive, etc. If you try to switch to a directory that you do not have access rights to, you will receive an error message that the directory does not exist or that you cannot access it.)

1. In the file list, simply double-click on a folder icon to open that directory. (Since Fetch does not indicate the difference between a file and a folder, you’ll need to remember the names of your folders to identify them.)
2. To back out of a folder (move up a level in the directory tree), use the pop-up menu above the file list.
3. If you know the directory you want to change to, you can type it in directly without having to traverse the entire tree. To do that, use the Menu bar to choose Directories ... Change Directory, then type in the directory name. On the NetWare network (the remote system), this will usually start with 2 slashes (//), followed by the volume name, etc.

For example, to access his department’s directory to upload some web pages he’s been working on, Professor Reagan would enter the directory name of the web server (//sequoia/web/docs/), followed by the name of his department’s web directory (econ), all with the appropriate slashes, as in this example:

//sequoia/web/docs/econ/

Please Note: On the remote system, the NetWare network will only allow you open directories that you have rights to, such as your F: drive, G: drive, personal web directory, etc. If you try to switch to a directory that you do not have access rights to, you will receive an error message, such as: “No such file or directory.”

Transfer Files From Remote (SOU) System

1. Change to the appropriate directory on the remote system. (See above.)
2. Select the file(s) or directories that you want to copy. (If you want to select more than one at a time, hold down the Command key while clicking on the second, third, etc.; or hold down the Shift key to select a block of items.)
3. Notice the Transfer Mode choices near the bottom of the window: Automatic, Text, and Binary. While you can use Text to transfer text only files, or Binary for most everything else - in most cases, leaving it set to Automatic will work just fine.
4. Click on the Get File button.
5. In the “Save” dialog box that appears, navigate to the folder you want to save to on your own hard disk, then click on the Save button. This will start the transfer process. (Depending on the speed of your modem and the size of the file(s), this could go by very quickly.)

Transfer File To Remote (SOU) System

1. Change to the directory on the remote system where you want to copy your file to. (See above.)
2. Click on the Put File button.
3. In the “Open” dialog box that appears, navigate to the appropriate folder on your own hard disk, select the file you want to copy (you can only do one at a time), then click on the Open button.
           
4. Next you will be asked to verify the name to save this document as, as well as the file format to use. Fetch will usually pick an appropriate name and format, so you probably won’t have to change it. (FYI: if you’re sending from a Macintosh, and the file will be used on another Macintosh, MacBinary II or BinHex format should be chosen. If the file is going to be used on a PC or is already in a “cross-platform” format such as GIF or JPEG, Raw Data format would be a good choice.)
5. Click on OK. This will start the transfer process. (Depending on the speed of your modem and the size of the file, this could go by very quickly.)

Other Considerations

1. You must use DOS file names (up to 8 characters, followed by a period and up to 3 characters) for files that are transferred in either direction. Keep this in mind when creating files; or rename the files before transferring them.
2. You can perform other file management tasks on the remote server (rename or delete files and directories, make new directories, etc.) by using the Remote menu.
3. Complete instructions are available in the Fetch Help menu.

Log Out

When you’re through transferring or managing files, choose File ... Quit from the Menu bar. (If you want to FTP to another location, choose File Close instead, then choose File New Connection, and follow the login steps for the other FTP site.)

Support

For assistance, faculty and staff should contact the Help Desk during business hours at 552-6900, or send an e-mail to Helpdesk@sou.edu. They can assist you in following these setup instructions and in the use of FTP. They may not be able to provide telephone support for your computer hardware or modem, or software they are not familiar with.

Students should contact the Lab Desk at 552-6969.

Our Lab Aides can assist you in following these set-up instructions and in the use of Netscape Navigator. If the problem goes beyond that, including the configuration of your computer hardware or modem, they may need to issue you a “trouble ticket” or “job number” for the problem, as well as the phone number for our support provider. When you call the support center number and provide the job number the lab aide gave you, the support provider will be able to further assist you. When the problem is resolved, they will close the job number.

Back to previous page

  Printer friendly version