Access DartFS

• Accessing Your DartFS (Windows)
• Accessing Your DartFS (Mac)
• Accessing Your DartFS (Linux)
• Accessing your DartFS Lab
• Troubleshooting

The steps are similar to setting up your home share, except for the server and path to the lab folder. You may have access to multiple lab shares. The default naming scheme uses the PI’s last name and first initial, but many shares are named differently. Let’s use share KirkJ as an example. This share will either be at \\dartfs-hpc\rc\lab\K\KirkJ or \\dartfs\rc\lab\K\KirkJ depending on the performance tier. It should not be required to have the full server domain name (.dartmouth.edu) but in some cases, it is needed. The full mount path will be e.g. \\dartfs-hpc.dartmouth.edu\rc\lab\K\KirkJ. Capitalization is important.

As above, a Dartmouth (kiewit) domain-joined computer requires no further input. All non-kiewit-domain-joined computers will require a username (kiewit\NETID) and password, and Tuck and DHMC computers need to use the attached mount script.

Accessing Your DartFS (Windows)  

1. If off-campus, first start the Dartmouth VPN so that your computer is effectively on-campus.

Eduroam WiFi is on-campus, unless you are a visitor from another institution using the “guest eduroam,” which will not work.

2. Click the Start or Windows menu icon (bottom left corner of the desktop).
3. In the search text field, type Run.
4. Select and click the Run application found towards the top of the menu.
5. In the Open text field, type \\dartfs-hpc\rc\home\x\netid where x (lowercase) is the last character of your NetID (also lowercase). For example: \\dartfs-hpc\rc\home\8\dz99918 or the fully-qualified \\dartfs-hpc.dartmouth.edu\rc\home\x\netid.
6. On a kiewit-domain-joined computer, this should open a Windows Explorer window in your DartFS home with no further input. Your computer already has the needed credential. 57 On a non-kiewit-domain-joined computer (for example, joined to the Tuck or DHMC domain or privately owned), you will be prompted for a username and password.
   • You may have to click on Use another account to edit/add the username. If your system is configured to use a fingerprint scanner or short PIN to authenticate locally, the Use another account button may not be very obvious.
7. In the Username field, enter kiewit\<your NetID>. For example, kiewit\dz99918.
8. In the Password field, enter the password associated with your NetID.

• Optionally check the Remember my credentials or Store my password box.

10. Click OK.

For computers on the TUCKNT & DHMC domain, privately owned, and as an alternate method for all users, download the attached mkdartfsmount.zip file. Unzip and run the enclosed mkhomemount.bat script. This will create a custom mount script on your Desktop, named for example d1234e-DartFS.bat. This script will prompt for a password if needed, then mount DartFS with the correct syntax for an alternate domain (needed for Tuck, DHMC, and privately owned computers) and open an Explorer window.

To save a shortcut to DartFS on your desktop:

1. Open a Windows Explorer window in your DartFS home as above.
2. Right-click the folder named for your NetID in the address bar at the top of the Explorer Window.
3. Click Copy address from the menu that appears.
4. Right click on your desktop then click Paste shortcut from the menu that appears.
5. A new shortcut icon appears on your desktop leading directly to your DartFS home directory.

Creating 1-click shortcuts(NEED to Update)

The attached mkdartfsmount.zip file contains another script, mklabmount.bat, which will prompt for your NetID (not the NetID of the faculty member who owns the share), the share name (e.g., KirkJ in our example), and the performance tier: h (high) for dartfs-hpc or l (low) for dartfs. With this information, it constructs a Desktop clickable script customized for your NetID and lab share. This can be used by any computer, regardless of domain affiliation (i.e., not joined to any domain, or joined to the Tuck domain, or joined to a DHMC domain or privately owned computers). You can download this mkdartfsmount script here(external)

Accessing Your DartFS (Mac)  

1. If off-campus, first start the Dartmouth VPN so that your computer is effectively on-campus. Eduroam WiFi is on-campus, unless you are a visitor from another institution using the “guest eduroam” which will not work.
2. Click Finder to make it the active application, then click Go from the menu bar.
3. Click Connect to Server.
4. In the Server address field type smb://KIEWIT;netid@dartfs-hpc.dartmouth.edu/rc/home/x/netid

where x (lowercase) is the last character of your NetID (also lowercase).

For example, if your NetID is “d12345e” the server address will be smb://KIEWIT;d12345e@dartfs-hpc.dartmouth.edu/rc/home/e/d12345e

5. Add this to your Favorite Servers by clicking the + button; explore the Server Address history by using the clock button. You may choose to remember the password in the Keychain.
6. Click Connect.
7. Next, you are prompted for your credentials. The username field already has your Dartmouth NetID. The KIEWIT part signifies the authentication server to use. In the password field, enter your Dartmouth email account password that is associated with your NetID.
8. If you would like DartFS to be automatically available after you restart your computer:
   1. From the Finder, open the Finder Preferences by hitting Command+,.
   2. Click the General tab.
   3. Click the checkbox next to Connected Servers.
   4. Close Finder Preferences.
   5. Open System Preferences then User & Groups.
   6. Click your name in the Current User left panel.
   7. Click the Login Items tab.
   8. Drag and drop the mounted volume icon (blue background, white stick figures holding hands) with your NetID to the Login Items list.
9. To access your DartFS folder using the Finder:
   1. Click dartfs-hpc.dartmouth.edu under Shared in the left-most panel.
   2. Navigate to home then «last letter of your NetID» then «Your NetID».
   3. Drag and drop your DartFS (NetID) folder to left-most Finder panel to create a shortcut and facilitate access. Other standard Mac methods of creating shortcuts/aliases also work.

Accessing Your DartFS (Linux)  

DartFS is available via two different protocols: NFS and SMB. Linux can mount DartFS volumes with either but for Linux workstations we recommend using SMB because it is less complicated. Older Linux systems supported only the SMB1 protocol, which is not supported by DartFS for security reasons. This includes RHEL6/Centos6/Ubuntu14 and earlier.

This FAQ only addresses SMB mounts. Please contact Research.Computing directly if you need NFS.

To mount a DartFS volume from SMB you really only need a single command.

[Warning]: you need to run this from a root shell or have sudo privileges for the mount command. Also replace the username, localme, path, and mount point as appropriate.

command example:

mount -t cifs -o username=f123456,domain=KIEWIT.DARTMOUTH.EDU \
-o vers=3.0,file_mode=0660,dir_mode=0770,uid=localme \
//dartfs-hpc.dartmouth.edu/rc/lab/I/ImaginaryLab /mnt

Then you will be prompted for your password

Password for f123456@//dartfs-hpc.dartmouth.edu/rc/lab/I/ImaginaryLab: ********

The example mounts “//dartfs-hpc/rc/lab/I/ImaginaryLab” on the mount point “/mnt” using the NetID credential for “f123456”. “localme” is your username locally on the Linux system. Replace those elements of the command with appropriate values for your situation. The backslashes ‘\’ in this command are for line continuation because the command is too long to fit on one line. You can omit them and put it all on one line.

If it works, you should be able to change to the /mnt directory and see all your files.

Linux can also use a keytab file (encrypted password) to mount DartFS non-interactively. This is useful for system services and cron jobs.

Troubleshooting error messages:

• “mount: only root can do that” means that you forgot to become root (or use sudo) before running the command.
• “mount: unknown filesystem type ‘cifs’” usually means that you do not have SMB support installed on your Linux system.
• “Couldn’t chdir to /mnt: No such file or directory” means that you forgot to create the mount point. /mnt exists by default on most Linux systems but if you choose a different location you will need to create it first.
• “mount error: could not resolve address for …” means you have a typo in the server name piece of the DartFS location
• “mount error(2): No such file or directory” (after being prompted for your password) usually means that you have a typo in the path piece of the DartFS location.

If all else fails, you can try checking that the “rc” shares are visible to your machine. This should work for both dartfs and dartfs-hpc.

Enter f123456@KIEWIT.DARTMOUTH.EDU’s password:
OS=[Unix] Server=[Isilon OneFS]
Sharename Type Comment
——— —- ——-
rc Disk HPC homes and 1TB Labs
[ignore the errors that appear here]

Accessing your DartFS Lab  

The steps are similar to setting up your DartFS Home, except for the server and path to the lab folder. You may have access to multiple lab shares. The default naming scheme uses the PI’s last name and first initial, but many shares are named differently. Let’s use share KirkJ as an example. This share example is for Windows, will either be at \\dartfs-hpc\rc\lab\K\KirkJ or \\dartfs\rc\lab\K\KirkJ depending on the performance tier. It should not be required to have the full server domain name (.dartmouth.edu) but in some cases, it is needed. The full mount path will be e.g. \\dartfs-hpc.dartmouth.edu\rc\lab\K\KirkJ.

Example for the Mac using same examples as above.

This share will either be at //dartfs-hpc/rc/lab/K/KirkJ or //dartfs/rc/lab/K/KirkJ. The end of the path is /K/KirkJ because the first letter of your share is ‘K’. The beginning will either be /dartfs or /dartfs-hpc depending on the performance tier.​ It should not be required to have the full server domain name (.dartmouth.edu) but in some cases it is needed. The​​ full mount path will be e.g. smb://KIEWIT;netid@​​​​dartfs-hpc.dartmouth.edu/rc/lab/K/KirkJ Capitalization is important.

As above, a Dartmouth (kiewit) domain-joined computer requires no further input. All non-kiewit-domain-joined computers will require a username (kiewit\NETID) and password, and Tuck and DHMC computers need to use the attached mount script.

Troubleshooting  

1. Make sure you are on the Dartmouth network. If you are on campus connected with an ethernet cable or using the wireless eduroam network, that should work. If you are off campus, use Dartmouth’s VPN. Note: If you are a visitor using eduroam credentials from another institution, that will not work.
2. Try using dartfs-hpc.dartmouth.edu instead of just dartfs-hpc for the server name (or dartfs.dartmouth.edu as appropriate). If you have tinkered with the DNS search path on your computer this may fix a “server not found” error.
3. Similarly, if you have tinkered with the DNS server settings on your computer you could try 10.1.8.97-10.1.8.101 and 10.1.9.14-10.1.9.15 instead of dartfs-hpc (or 10.1.8.47-10.1.8.51 and '10.1.9.16-10.1.9.17 instead of dartfs). That will completely bypass DNS lookups and also possibly fix a “server not found” error.
4. If you find that you need to use the “.dartmouth.edu” in the server name, you should also use it for the authentication domain, i.e., kiewit.dartmouth.edu\NETID.

Still need help? Email Research.Computing@dartmouth.edu for assistance.