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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

TBD

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

      Share-setup * 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

      Advanced-setup * 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 menubaricon.

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.