Basic Concepts

What is AFS® ?
What is my AFS ® Home folder?
Why do I have space in AFS® ?
How do I access my AFS® file space?
How do I keep my password secure?
How do I use AFS® to publish on the Web?
How do I manage files in AFS®?
What is the Finder?
How can I manage files with the Finder?

What is AFS® ?

The Andrew File System is a set of software originally developed at Carnegie Mellon University and later commercialized under the trademark AFS® by TransArc, Inc., now a subsidiary of IBM, Inc. AFS® is used at NC State to manage files in the Unity distributed computing environment.

What is OpenAFS?

What is my AFS® Home folder?

Your AFS® Home folder is your main entry point to AFS® space. All the files and folders that you will store in your personal AFS® space will be inside this folder. These pages will explain how to get to your AFS® Home folder and work with the files inside it.

NOTE: There is also a Home folder on your hard drive, symbolized by the house icon on the hard drive’s menu bar, which you can see by double clicking on your hard drive’s icon on your desktop. In these pages we will use the term “AFS® Home folder” to avoid confusion with the Home folder on the hard drive.

Why do I have space in AFS® ?

Many courses at NC State require that you be able to manipulate files in the Unity environment. For example, you may need to download a calculus assignment or collaborate with classmates on an economics project. For more information about on-line collaboration and allowing other people to access your files, see OpenAFS.

AFS® space gives you more flexibility about where you work. Any of several public Unity computing labs can access AFS® space. In fact, if you have the necessary software, you can access your files from anywhere on the Internet.

Aside from completing course requirements, your AFS® space also provides storage for personal documents and an easy means of displaying your own Web pages.

How do I access my AFS® file space?

The primary means of accessing your AFS® file space directly at NC State is OpenAFS.

How do I keep my password secure?

Never give your Unity password to anyone for any reason, and do not let anyone watch you type it. Change your initial password using the Password Change Tool at https://sysnews.ncsu.edu/tools-obin/password-change as soon as you receive it. You will need to change it again at least once a year in order to use the MyPack portal. Also change it anytime you think someone may have seen you type it. Use a combination of letters and numbers as specified in the guidelines on the Password Change Tool page. For more information on passwords, see Unity Password.

How do I use AFS® to publish on the Web?

The URL that you will give someone to access one of your files in AFS® space (a Web page, for example) will depend on both the access protocol for the file and where that file is stored. There are various URL formats for use with OpenAFS.

How do I manage files in AFS®?

They are managed just as they are in the Macintosh operating system. The section on the Finder (below) is a simple introduction to files and folders. Even if you use a Macintosh regularly, you may find it useful as a review.

What is the Finder?

The Finder is the application that runs after you log in on a Macintosh. Its various components—the Desktop, menu bar, disk icons and Trash—allow you to access and manage all your folders and files, including those in AFS®.

Desktop

The screen that appears after you have entered a valid ID and password is the standard Macintosh Desktop, the starting point for managing all files and folders. The background graphics, disk icons and other items in the Desktop folder are said to be “on the Desktop.”

Menu Bar

The menu bar running across the top of the Macintosh Desktop provides the interface for performing tasks on files and folders. When you select one of the items on it, you will see a drop-down menu with several options. The illustration above shows the left hand end of the menu bar.

Disk Icons

The Finder represents each mounted disk—hard drive, a zip disk, AFS® space, and others—as an icon that will appear by default on the Desktop unless you have changed it using System Preferences. The hard drive icon (shown above) represents the computer’s hard disk, which contains system software, applications, and files. The applications may include Microsoft Office and TextEdit. By default, a hard drive icon is always named “Macintosh HD,” but yours may be something different, depending on the prior use of your computer. The AFS® icon appears on the Desktop by default when you use OpenAFS.

Trash

The Trash icon (above) in the Dock can be used to delete folders and files. Below is more information about managing files.

How can I manage files with the Finder?

Open an existing folder

Depending on how your Macintosh has been set to view a window of information, you can open a folder in either one of two ways:

• Double-click on the folder icon.
• Select the triangular arrow (if any) at the left of the folder title.

Create a new folder

1. To create a folder on the Macintosh Desktop, click on the background graphic, move the cursor to File on the menu bar and open the drop-down menu by selecting File.
2. Select New Folder. A new folder will appear on your Desktop with its name, “untitled folder,” highlighted. Alternatively, instead of selecting New Folder from the File menu, you can hold down both the SHIFT and APPLE keys and press the letter N key.
3. Type in the name you want the new folder to have.
4. Press RETURN.
5. To create a sub-folder inside an existing folder, first open the existing folder. From the File menu, select New Folder. Type in the name you want the sub-folder to have and press RETURN.

Copy a folder

1. Select the folder you want to copy.
2. On the Macintosh Desktop, move the cursor to File on the menu bar and open the drop-down menu by selecting File.
3. Select Duplicate. The Macintosh will now make another copy of the folder and title it “foldername copy,” where foldername is the name of the folder that you selected in step 1.
4. Alternatively, you can copy a folder by highlighting it, holding down the APPLE key and pressing the letter D key.
   

Move a folder

1. Select the desired folder icon and hold down the mouse button.
2. Drag the icon to the folder's new location.
3. Release the mouse button. If the folder contains a lot of data, a box may appear and show the progress of the move.

Rename a folder

1. Select the folder’s name. The background color of the folder name will change.
2. Type in the new folder name.
3. Press RETURN to accept the new name.

Delete a folder

1. Select the folder that you want to delete and hold down the mouse button.
2. Drag the folder icon to the Trash basket icon on the Dock.
3. Release the mouse button. The basket will change to show contents, and you may hear a sound.
4. Place the cursor on the basket icon and hold down the mouse button .
5. Select Empty Trash. The unwanted folder will now be deleted.
6. Alternatively, you can highlight the folder and press the APPLE and DELETE keys simultaneously to put it into the Trash. Then you can empty the Trash by pressing the SHIFT, APPLE and DELETE keys simultaneously.

Open an existing file

Double-click on the file icon. The appropriate software application will open and display the file.

Create a new file

1. Open the program in which you want to create the file. For example, to create a file in TextEdit, double-click on the hard drive icon on your Desktop, open the Applications folder then open the TextEdit folder.
   NOTE: TextEdit allows you to save files in either rich text format (.rtf) or plain (ascii) text (.txt). The default is .rtf, so be sure to change to plain text if you need it (from the TextEdit menu, choose Preferences then select the Plain text button under New Document Attributes). For example, the AppleVolumes file must be created in ascii text.
2. From the File menu, select Save As.
3. Choose a name for the file and type it into the box labeled Save as.
4. Choose a location for the file from the drop-down menu labeled Where or browse to another location using the button with the single triangle to the right of the menu.
5. Select Save or press RETURN. You can choose to save the file to your Desktop initially and then copy it to another location as described below.

Copy a file

1. Select the file you want to copy.
2. On the Macintosh Desktop, move the cursor to File on the menu bar and open the drop-down menu by selecting File.
3. Select Duplicate. The Macintosh will now make another copy of the file and title it “filename copy,” where filename is the name of the file that you selected in step 1.
4. Alternatively, you can copy a file by highlighting it, holding down the APPLE key and pressing the letter D key.

Move a file

1. Select the file you want to move.
2. Holding down the mouse button, drag the icon to the file's new location.
3. Release the mouse button. If the file is large, a box may appear and show the progress of the move.

Rename a file

1. Select the file name. The background color of the file name will change.
2. Type in the new file name.
3. Press RETURN to accept the new name.

Delete a file

1. Select the file that you want to delete and hold down the mouse button.
2. Drag the file icon to the Trash basket icon in the Dock.
3. Release the mouse button. The basket will show that it has contents, and you may hear a sound.
4. Place the cursor on the basket icon and hold down the mouse button.
5. Select Empty Trash. The unwanted file will now be deleted.
6. Alternatively, you can highlight the file and press the APPLE and DELETE keys simultaneously to put it into the Trash. Then you can empty the Trash by pressing the SHIFT, APPLE and DELETE keys simultaneously.

Now that you have the basics in hand you can access and manage your AFS® file space by installing and using OpenAFS.

Go to the main page for this guide.

Last modified August 31, 2007 by cawalker