Connect to University file storage in Linux

How to connect to a Uni network drive in Linux.

If you do not know the path of the network drive you need to access, please contact your local admin team or the IS Helpline. For the path to your personal home drive, please visit:

My homespace info

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Connect to the University network

If your Linux machine is not connected to the Uni network by an ethernet cable or eduroam wi-fi, e.g. if it is off-campus, please register for, set up and connect to the University Virtual Private Network (VPN) service to authenticate your computer:

Connecting to the VPN Service

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Map a DataStore drive with the Files application

  1. Open the Files application and click the folder path/directory at the top of the window (so that you can type in another path manually)
  2. Copy & paste (or type) the Datastore path into the bar (replacing what's there currently) using the same format as for MacOS (e.g.  smb://cmvm.datastore.ed.ac.uk/cmvm/users/UUN) and press enter.
  3. An 'Authentication required' window will open. Select 'Registered User' and enter 'Username' as your UUN with @ed.ac.uk on the end (e.g. username@ed.ac.uk), 'Domain' as ED, and 'Password' as your account login password.
  4. Click Connect

All being well the drive will now be mapped under the 'Network' area on the left.

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Map a DataStore drive with CIFS

  1. You can map a DataStore directory to a local directory on your computer using the CIFS file-sharing protocol (needs root access):

mount -t cifs -o username=UUN,uid=LOCALUSERNAME,domain=ED //COLLEGE.datastore.ed.ac.uk/path/to/DataStore/directory /path/to/local/directory 

  1. You may alternatively find that the command, depending on your type of Linux system, is:

sudo mount.cifs //path/to/DataStore/directory /path/to/local/directory -o user=ED\\UUN

Where COLLEGE is either chss, cmvm, csce or sg depending on the DataStore area you are mapping and UUN is your University username.

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Map a DataStore drive with NFS

NFS access is restricted by a firewall. If you require access to the NFS service, you must first register your machine with the ECDF team (IS Research Services). A static IP address and root access is also required for NFS access. Please contact the IS Helpline for further information.

  1. Run the following command to mount an NFS drive:

mount.nfs COLLEGE.datastore.ed.ac.uk:/exports/COLLEGE/datastore/path/to/DataStore/directory /path/to/local/directory

Where COLLEGE is either chss, cmvm, csce or sg depending on the DataStore area you are mapping.

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Map a DataStore drive with SMB

Command line access using smbclient is also possible, for example:

smbclient \\\\COLLEGE.datastore.ed.ac.uk\\COLLEGE -W ED -U UUN

Where COLLEGE is either chss, cmvm, csce or sg depending on the DataStore area you are mapping and UUN is your University username.

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Related links

Request DataStore access

Need any help?

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