Accessing cluster storage on Windows and Mac clients

You can access storage on the cluster directly from your laptop (or if need be from a desktop computer). This is not intended for transferring large amounts of data, but rather for editing a spreadsheet needed for the next experiment that is stored on a server in the IKIM network and is mounted to the lab instrument.

Secure access to file server storage in the cluster is available via sshFS. It is not intended for large file transfer. See transfer for options for large file transfer.

We will first ensure all the bits are in place, test the setup and finally set your system up to automatically connect to directories on the file servers.

While you can mosly cut-copy-paste, you still need to replace user, group and project names with your own.

Below is a resonable configuration for a home directory, a group directory and one project directory.

name	remote directory	local directory	Parameters
Home directory	/homes/juser/	/Users/joe/remote/	-odefer_permissions,volname=HOMES-DIR
Group directory	/groups/experts/	/Users/joe/group/	-defer_permissions,volname=GROUPDIR
Project directory	/project/workwithme/	/Users/joe/project/	-odefer_permissions,volname=PROJECTDIR

Please insert your username, groupname and project name respectively. You can add more directories if you so desire.

HowTo for Windows Clients

These instructions assume you are the administrator of your Windows computer and that it is running the latest fully patched version of Windows.

1. Download and Install – WinFsp

   Only install the core elements as indicated here

   

2. From the same page, download SSHFS-win(x64) and install

3. Download and install the latest version of

   SSHFS-win manager

4. Open a txt file in the .ssh folder (located in the user folder), enter the following, and save it as a .ps1 file

   Start-Process ssh -WindowStyle Hidden -ArgumentList "-fN", "-L", "6666:shellhost.ikim.uk-essen.de:22", "shellhost"
   

5. Open SSHFS-win Manager – click on the Add connection button, enter the following, and save

   

6. Open Task Scheduler

7. Select Action > Create Task

7.1 In the General Tab – give a name to the action and select Run with highest privileges

7.2 Under the Trigger tab – click new at the bottom left and select the option in the figure

7.3 Under the Action tab, click new at the bottom left

• Action - Start a Program
• In Program/script: option enter powershell.exe

• In Add Arguments: option enter the following

  -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "indicate the location of the ps1 file here" 
  

7.4 Under Conditions tab

7.5 Under Settings Tab

7.6 Click OK

Your task should be available in the task scheduler library – right click and select run.

Then go to SSHFS-win manager and click the connect button (the round button with the plug and socket). You should now have the IKIM drive mapped in your file explorer. Now, the connection should be automatically triggered every time you connect to a network, for example, after restarting.

HowTo for Mac Clients

We provide a step-by-step guide for setting up secure remote storage access.

1. Install MacFuse and SSHFS: Follow the instructions at MacFuse. Please note that this will require at least one reboot and some level of attention to details. It should take about 3-5 minutes to complete.

2. Ensure sure that your ~/.ssh/config file is set up correctly

Check our guide on setting up the ssh config.

1. Verify your ~/.ssh/config file Note: You will not need to do this to use the storage, but if this does not work, there is something wrong with your ssh setup.

ssh shellhost

If this does not work, please check the guide above.

1. Create an empty directory Mac for temporary purposes

Open a Terminal window and type

mkdir ~/remote

Or use the Finder to create this directories. (Please note this guide assumes there is not already a file or directory by this name.)

1. Mount your homes directory into your local environment

In your Terminal execute the command below to mount, after replacing "juser" with your own username for the cluster.

sshfs juser@shellhost:/homes/juser $HOME/remote/ -odefer_permissions,volname=HOMES-DIR

We supply a volume name (volname) to describe the directory, you can modify the name to your liking.

1. check if things work Type mount | fgrep ikim and you should see something link

   juser@shellhost.ikim.uk-essen.de:/homes/juser on /Users/joe/remote (macfuse, nodev, nosuid, synchronous, mounted by juser)

You are now connected to your home directory on the file server.

You can now either use command line tools like ls or use the Mac Finder to browse the directory. But we are not done, if you close your laptop or log out, the network drive will not re-appear. So we need to ensure its available permanently.

1. Remove the temporary bits

Before we automate the setup, we need to clean up. You can use the Finder to unmount the directory (right-click) and remove the now empty directory that we created earlier.

Or you can type:

```
diskutil unmount force ~/remote
rmdir ~/remote
```

1. Now set up permanent access to the server

   1. Download ConnectMeNow Depending on your computer use Apple Silicon or Intel to download the software.

2. Follow this guide on how to use the software to automate mounting.

   1. Ensure you set the following parameters are set for share

      * select SSHFS as ShareType * set Server Address: shellhost * set the Path to your homes-directory e.g. /homes/juser

   2. Ensure you set the following parameters are set for Advanced Options

      * ensure that the menu title makes sense, we suggest using homes-dir, etc. * ensure that under Advanced settings Ping before mount is disabled * ensure under MountStyle you use -o follow_symlinks,defer_permissions,volname=homes-dir

3. Success.

If everything worked well so far, you should now have set up one or more Share definition in ConnectMeNow. The software will appear as an entry in the menu bar of your Mac like this .

You have now successfully enabled file secure server access to the server using your existing SSH configuration.

Please note that this is not the correct option to transfer very large files.

1. FAQs

   1. If you experience a permisssion denied response, you forgot the -odefer_permissions parameter

   2. ConnectMeNow disappeared, check the menu bar.