Configuring SMB/CIFS to access your CS home directory

Laptops or desktops that are not managed by techstaff can mount a user's CS home directory via smb.

To use our SMB/CIFS service, you must first have a smb password. Please go to Ryerson 254 to get one. The following instructions assume the computer is wired into the CS local network. If you are using wireless, or connecting from another network, you first must establish an ssh tunnel. See below.

Mac OS-X

Go->Connect to Server
Server Address: smb://smb.cs.uchicago.edu/$USER (use your CS username)
Authenticate -- just type in your smb password. This will mount the volume.
To have this volume always mounted at login:
  • While the volume is mounted, open System Preferences and choose Accounts. For the account of interest, choose Login Items. Click the +.
  • This brings up a browser. Choose the mounted volume and click Add.

Windows

Open an Explorer window (keyboard shortcut: Windows Logo + E), and enter \\smb.cs.uchicago.edu in the address field.

In the authentication dialog window enter your user name and password and click OK. Check the box "remember this password" if you want.

  • Right-click the $USER folder and choose Map Network Drive...
  • To have this drive always connected at logon:
    • Check the box "Reconnect at logon"
  • Click OK
The network drive will be connected and listed in "My Computer" under a new letter (other than C: or D:).

Linux

Make a mountpoint directory, e.g.:
mkdir /mnt/smb

Then execute:
mount -t smbfs //smb.cs.uchicago.edu/csusername /mnt/smb

Then you can use that mountpoint to access your CS home directory. When done, just run
umount /mnt/smb

ssh tunneling

To tunnel securely to our network, you can use ssh or Putty (under Windows) to establish an ssh tunnel. The tunnel should be from localhost:139 through classes.cs.uchicago.edu to smb.cs.uchicago.edu:139

For details, see our page on SSH Tunneling.