User account – Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science

First, check your network disk space usage using the ENCS web-based quota checking tool; it requires your ENCS username and password. If you see a red bar in the output, it means that you are over your allocated disk quota in that disk space, and you may have problems using your account until you return below quota in this disk space by deleting some files.

If the disk space in which you're over quota is your basic home and web space, you can use our “bigfiles” tool to find the largest files in this diskspace. To use it, use SSH (e.g., “ssh” or “PuTTY”) to log in to the host “login.encs.concordia.ca”, then type the command “bigfiles”. Depending on how many files you have, it may take a few minutes for results to appear. The results will show you your 20 largest files.

Delete some files, or move them to another network diskspace if you have one, or move them to external storage such as a USB. or move them to the local disk of your workstation (in the latter two cases, be aware that your files will no longer be protected by AITS snapshots, and if your workstation disk dies or you lose the USB key, it may be impossible to recover your files.)

Once you think you've deleted enough files, check your work by once again consulting the ENCS web-based quota checking tool (requires ENCS username/password) to ensure your network drives have enough free space. 

NOTE:
The directory “.snapshot” on any network drive (on Windows drive G, U, W, etc., or on your Unix/Linux directories) does not consume any disk quota. It is a system back-up folder that allows users to recover modified/deleted files by themselves.

While “basic home and web” disk space cannot be shared, a faculty member's “facdisk” space can be shared with students or other School users. To allocate some of your facdisk space to another person, contact the Service Desk.

All graduate students registered in a degree program requiring a supervised thesis are granted some disk space in the “thesis” area, which is intended for the storage of any thesis-related files.

Under Unix/Linux, ‘cd /thesis/u/username/’ to reach your thesis space.

On a Gina Cody School-managed Windows host, your thesis space is automatically mapped to drive T. 

On a user-managed Windows host, you can map your thesis space via ‘\\filer-thesis\thesis\u\username’.

In both cases, the letter ‘u’ represents the first character of your ENCS username and the word ‘username’ is your ENCS username.

If you have problems, contact the Service Desk.

To facilitate access to your files through different services in varying environments, the files are stored in different directories on the network.

Each user is assigned basic “home and web” space available in the locations described in the table above. Depending on their status and roles, the user may be assigned additional disk space; once again, please refer to the table above.

Files stored on network shares benefit from AITS' backups and snapshots. In many cases, you can also store files on your desktop's local disk, but it's not recommended as files on your local disk are not protected against disk failure and other catastrophes that could arise with your desktop.

If you're using a Gina Cody School analyst managed Windows desktop, all of the drives you need are probably already mapped. If you want to map more drives, or if you're using a user-managed Windows desktop or laptop where you must map the network drives yourself, here's how to do it:

How to map ENCS network drives automatically:

1. Download the Map ENCS Drives application to your Windows system.
2. Double click on the application.

Any problems should be reported to the Service Desk with screen captures, if possible.

How to manually map a network drive:

1. Click Start → Computer
2. Select Map network drive.
3. Specify the Drive letter for the connection, for instance G:.
4. Type in the network path to the share (e.g., \\filer-users.encs.concordia.ca\<encs_username>) you want to connect to, in the Folder space.
5. Check Connect using different credentials.
6. Click Finish to connect the drive.
7. You will be prompted for a username and password. Supply ENCS\< username> and password.

Review the Location of disk space table for more information.

To map a drive from outside Concordia University, you must first connect to the VPN service. Follow the instructions found on the Virtual Private Network (VPN) information page.

Important: To connect to the VPN service you must use your Concordia Netname and Password. Then to map an ENCS network drive, you need to use your ENCS Username and Password.

Once you've connected to the VPN service, you can map your network drive as usual.

A request for a group account can be made only by a full-time employee.
To request a group account, the employee must contact the Service Desk and provide the following information:

• The purpose of the group/account
• All ENCS usernames (or Concordia ID number) requiring access to the account

1. Shared file space for group members

Unlike your personal ENCS account, the group account normally cannot be used for interactive logins on an ENCS machine. Instead, you can access the group directory once you log in with your usual ENCS username and password (assuming, of course, that you are a member of the group).

To find out who is in a group, you can use this command in a Unix/Linux shell:
getent group groupname

Normally, only the group's members have permission to create, modify, and delete files in their group directory; individual files and subdirectories can have different permissions set on them if desired.

2. Email alias which delivers messages to all group members

For most groups, an email alias (in the form 'groupname@encs.concordia.ca') is created along with the group account. Any email sent to this alias will be re-distributed to all group members.

3. Group web page

For non-administrative groups, a group web directory is also created. The material you place in your group web directory will appear at the URL:

https://users.encs.concordia.ca/~groupname

Examples in this section are given for the group “foo”. Adjust them as necessary for your group name.

For Windows users

To access the group's home (private) directory:

• On an AITS-managed desktop, go to drive S:
  
• Double click on ‘f’ and then click on ‘foo’.
  
• On a user-managed machine, you may need to map the group network share manually before you can use it.
  

The mount path for the share is:
\\filer-groups.encs.concordia.ca\v_groups\groups_unix\f\foo

To access the group's web directory:

The group's web directory might not be mounted automatically on Windows. In that case, you will need to mount it manually.

The mount path is:
\\filer-groups.encs.concordia.ca\v_groups\groups_web\f\foo

To verify directory group ownership and permissions:

To check the permissions on a directory, you must verify that the ‘setgid’ bit is ON for the group directory. To do so, follow these instructions:

• Right click on the directory (in this example ‘sd’)
• Click on Properties
• Select the Secure Share tab
  
• Make sure that the status of SGID is checked ON.

To check the group ownership of a file, follow these instructions:

• Right click on that file in your group directory
• Click on Properties
• Select the Secure Share tab
• For private (to your group) files, the permissions should be set as shown below. For files in the web space, make sure that you also turn on the “R” and “X” permissions under ‘Other’.

For Unix/Linux users

To access the group's home (private) directory:

You can access the group's home directory with:
cd /groups/f/foo/

To access the group's web directory:

To make files available on the web page of your group account, place them in:
/www/groups/f/foo/

Checking and setting permissions:

To check the “setgid” bit on a directory:
ls -ld 'the_group_directory_name'

If you don't see a "s" in the permissions field, you'll need to set it.

To set the "setgid" bit on all directories in a group directory:
find 'your_group_directory' -type d -exec chmod g+s {} \;

To ensure that all files in a group directory can be read and written to by members of a group:
chmod -R g+rwX 'your_group_directory'

CVS and SVN repositories can be generated using your ENCS account. However, it means that only you have permission to access this repository. It makes more sense to create a CVS/SVN repository with a group account as it will benefit all group members in controlling the source version.

Please make sure:

• the umask is set; so that group writing is enabled and the root of the repository is writeable by the group.
• the sticky s bit is turned on. This will cause any subdirectories and files that are created to belong to the correct group.

CVS

To create repository

This action needs only to be done once. Go to the group location, create a repository, and set the sticky s bit for this folder.

Assuming the group location is /group/s/sd, the CVS repository to create would be called CVS_REPOSITORY.

[genie] [/home/n/nguyen] > ssh login
[grace] [/home/n/nguyen] > cd /groups/s/sd
[grace] [/groups/s/sd] > mkdir /groups/s/sd/CVS_REPOSITORY
[grace] [/groups/s/sd] > chmod 2770 CVS_REPOSITORY/
[grace] [/groups/s/sd] > cvs -d /groups/s/sd/CVS_REPOSITORY init

To import

If you want to import a project source folder named my_cvs_project to the CVS repository, go to that source folder and start to import.

[grace] [/home/n/nguyen] > cd /home/n/nguyen/my_cvs_project
[grace] [/home/n/nguyen/test] > cvs -d /groups/s/sd/CVS_REPOSITORY import -m "Initial import project test" my_cvs_project INITIAL start

To check out

If your group members want to check out my_cvs_project to your their ENCS accounts located at $HOME/workspace

[genie] [/home/n/nguyen] > cd ~/workspace
[genie] [/home/n/nguyen/workspace] > cvs -d /groups/s/sd/CVS_REPOSITORY/ co my_cvs_project

SVN

To create repository

This action needs only to be done once. Go to the group location, create a repository, and set the sticky s bit for this folder.

If the group location is /group/s/sd, the SVN repository I want to create called SVN_REPOSITORY

[genie] [/home/n/nguyen] > ssh login
[grace] [/home/n/nguyen] > cd /groups/s/sd
[grace] [/groups/s/sd] > mkdir /groups/s/sd/SVN_REPOSITORY
[grace] [/groups/s/sd] > chmod 2770 SVN_REPOSITORY
[grace] [/groups/s/sd] > svnadmin create --fs-type fsfs SVN_REPOSITORY/myproject/

To import

If you want to import a project source folder named my_svn_project to the SVN repository.

[grace] [/home/n/nguyen] > svn import /home/n/nguyen/my_svn_project/ file:///groups/s/sd/SVN_REPOSITORY/myproject/trunk -m 'Initial import'

To check out

If your group members want to check out my_svn_project to your their ENCS accounts located at $HOME/workspace

[grace] [/home/n/nguyen] > cd ~/workspace
[grace] [/home/n/nguyen/workspace] > svn checkout file:///groups/s/sd/SVN_REPOSITORY/myproject

To set up your ENCS website, follow these steps, replacing “username” and “groupname” with your actual username and your actual group name and replacing “u” and “g” with the first letter of your actual username or group name.

1. Locate your web directory.
   If you're using an ENCS-managed desktop or server, then your personal web directory, and any group dirctories you might have, are already mapped or mounted. Under Windows, they are drive “W” (personal web directory) or drive “X” (all of the group directories: follow “g\groupname” to the one you want). Under Unix, go to “/www/home/u/username” or “/www/groups/g/groupname”.
   
   If you're using a user-managed host, you must manually map or mount the directories of interest, using the paths:
       - Personal web directory: \\filer-users\web\u\username
       - Group web directory: \\filer-groups\v_groups\groups_web\g\groupname
   
   
2. Create your home page.
   Create a file "index.html" in your web directory, using the text or HTML editor of your choice. Your new file will count against your "basic home and web" disk quota.
   
   If you want to have multiple pages on your website, create additional files as needed.
   
   
3. Provide access to the world.
   
   Verify web directory permission.
   
   For personal web home directory:
   Your web directory must normally be accessible to "the world" (all users on the system). It will have been created with the correct permissions, that is, "drwxr-xr-x" as seen under Unix. 
   
   If that's not the case, you can fix it with:
   chmod 0755 /www/home/u/username
    
   Alternatively, if it's important that other users not be able to reach your web files through the filesystem, it's possible to set up the ownership and permissions like those for group directories (see below). This is something that requires staff intervention: if you need that change, contact the Service Desk.
   
   For group web home directory:
   Group web directories are owned by the special web user, and have permissions "dr-xrws---" as seen under Unix. You cannot change them.
   
   Verify web file permission.
   
   In order for your web pages to be visible on the web, the special web user must be able to see them, so in practice, you must make the corresponding files world readable. If you have subdirectories under your web directory, they must be world readable and world executable.
   
   From Linux/Unix:
   
   You can assign world read permission on a file with (e.g.):
   
   chmod o+r /www/home/u/username/index.html
   chmod o+r /www/home/g/groupname/index.html
   
   You can assign world read and execute permissions on a directory with (e.g.):
   
   chmod o+rx /www/home/u/username/subdirname/
   chmod o+rx /www/home/g/groupname/subdirname/
   
   You must ensure correct permissions on all of your web files and directories.
   
   From Windows:
   
   In your personal web directory, it is likely that your files already have world read permission, inherited from the parent directory when the file was created. If this isn't the case, you'll need to log into a Unix host to fix the permissions as described above.
   
   In group directories, newly created files probably have the wrong permissions. To fix them, follow the method above, but check also that the owner has “Write” permission.
   
   
4. View your web page.
   
   To view your personal or group web pages, go to any web browser and type the following web address:
   
   Personal web URL:
   https://users.encs.concordia.ca/~username/
   

   Group web URL:
   https://users.encs.concordia.ca/~groupname/

1. Prepare your website and web directory

2. Create a .htaccess file

This file should be in the same web directory that you want to protect.
Log in from one of ENCS Linux desktops or ssh to one of ENCS Unix servers, then use your preferred text editor from the Linux/Unix command console to create a file (example: pico .htaccess). In this file, type in the following lines:

• AuthType Basic
  AuthName "Restricted Files"
  AuthUserFile /www/home/u/username/ProtectedWebDir/.htpasswd
  Require user SOMEUSER

Where u is the first letter of your own username; note that if the web pages you are protecting are in a group directory, then the "AuthUserFile" will be "/www/groups/g/groupname/ProtectedWebDir/.htpasswd" instead, once again replacing g and groupname as appropriate.  someuser is the username that you are allowing to visit your protected web site, and
for which you'll create a password entry below. For example if you were user jsmith with web documents in the directory '/www/home/j/jsmith/protected/', and you wanted to restrict access to the required name testuser, your .htaccess file might look like:

• AuthType Basic
  AuthName "Restricted Files"
  AuthUserFile /www/home/j/jsmith/protected/.htpasswd
  Require user testuser

3. Create a .htpasswd file

You can create this file in the same directory as .htaccess by typing in the information below:

• htpasswd -c .htpasswd someuser

In the example above, the username is testuser so you would type:

• htpasswd -c .htpasswd testuser

You will be prompted to enter the password you would like to use. The .htpasswd file will be created in the current directory and will contain an encrypted version of the password.

NOTE: To add a new user or modify an existing user, type: htpasswd .htpasswd anotheruser

4. Provide proper permissions to the two files

You have to give proper permissions (world readability) to .htaccess and .htpasswd files.

Type the following command:

• chmod a+r .htaccess
  chmod a+r .htpasswd

5. Protect your web directory from access through the file system

Now that you've protected your web directory from unauthorized access, you'll probably also want to protect its contents from being accessed by ENCS users through the file system.

You'll need help to do this: open a ticket with the Service Desk and ask to make the directory owned by the web user, and not world-readable. The system administrators will make the required changes for you.

Be aware that the contents of the directory will still need to be world-readable in order to be served by the web server. If you use Windows to create new files after the directory ownership and permissions are changed, you'll also need to explicitly change permissions on newly created files to (a) add permission for the owner to write to the file, and (b) add permission for others to read the file.

6. View Protected Web Pages

To view your protected web pages, go to any web browser and type the following Web address:

• http://users.encs.concordia.ca/~username/ProtectWebDir/

Example: If you were user jsmith and your protected web directory is “/www/home/j/jsmith/protected/”, you have to type:

• http://users.encs.concordia.ca/~jsmith/projected/

7. Unprotect this Web Directory

To unprotect this web directory area, just delete the .htaccess and the .htpasswd files.

You can run CGI scripts on your personal and group ENCS web space.

You can place your .cgi file anywhere on your web space, but take careful note of the following points:

• The first line in your CGI script file should be:

  #!/encs/bin/perl
  

• Make sure the directory containing your CGI script has permissions such that:
  • web users can have access to the scripts inside (world executable)
  • any newly created files in the directory are group owned (group sticky bit)

  For any directory containing your scripts, change the permissions as follows:

  chmod 2771 <directory>

• Make sure your CGI script files also have the proper permissions:

  chmod 755 <filename>

To obtain access to your ENCS account, you must be associated with the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science as a student, staff member, faculty member, or other authorized personnel.

If you meet any of these requirements, submit an IT Service Desk Support Request or email help@concordia.ca.

To change your password, visit the password reset page (requires ENCS username/password).

If you have forgotten your password and require in-person support, visit one of the following support locations:

• Room H-964, on the 9th floor of the Hall building
• Room EV-7.182, on the 7th floor of the EV building

For security reasons, passwords cannot be reset by email or phone.

In an effort to keep accounts consistent, the Concordia netname is typically used as the basis for the ENCS username (though the passwords are different).

ENCS usernames will not be modified unless there is a valid reason (for example, the username is an offensive word in the user's native language). To request a change, you must contact the Service Desk to ensure that both your netname and ENCS user account can be changed.

No — you are responsible for the security of your ENCS account. Account sharing is strictly prohibited.

Student access to ENCS accounts is based on registration in ENCS degree programs or courses that are supported with ENCS computing resources.

ENCS student accounts are granted a grace period before they are scheduled for deletion, as follows:

• Students in a degree program: 4 months after completion of the program.
• Students taking ENCS courses: 1 month after completion of the course.

Once a student is no longer eligible for service (is no longer registered in an ENCS program or supported course), and after the grace period has passed, then their account is placed into an “expiry sequence”. Over a period of a few weeks, the student is sent several email messages warning them of the upcoming account deletion, then access to the account is restricted, and finally, the account is deleted. Students are advised to retrieve any files or email messages that they wish to keep, as well as to notify their email correspondents that their ENCS email address will be deactivated.

If a student needs to continue using their computer account for longer than the usual grace period after graduation, (example: they are still collaborating with a professor) the student's supervisor must contact the Department Administrator (DA). If the department approves, the DA updates or creates the record for the student in the Engineering Identity Information System (EIIS). This makes it possible for the computer account to remain active.