Network drives

Table of Contents

1. Map network drive on Campus in Windows
2. Map network drive on campus  Mac
   1. Make network drive visible
   2. Remount drive after reboot
3. Map network drive on campus Ubuntu
4. Map network drive off campus
   1. Windows
   2. Mac

How do I map a network drive on-campus on Windows

Go to Windows Explorer; right click on “This PC” and select map network drive.

Then select a drive letter and in the server name type: \\servername\share and press enter. if you are login with your Nexus user id you can go to the next step. If not it will ask you for your credentials: nexus\userid and your nexus password.

Click on Finish.

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How do I map a network drive on-campus on a MacOs

How to Map a network drive/server to Mac OS X

This method connects to and maps a network drive or network share that will disappear if the network connection drops, is disconnected, or if you reboot your Mac:

1. From the Mac OS X Finder, hit Command+K to bring up the ‘Connect to Server’ window.
2. Enter the path to the network drive you want to map, ie: smb://servername/networkshare and click ‘Connect’.
3. Enter your login/password and click “OK” to mount the network drive.
4. The drive will now appear on your desktop and in the Finder window sidebar.

You can access the network share like any other folder at this point, so long as it’s maintained on the same network.

Map a network drive to Mac OS X that re-mounts after system reboot

This method allows you to reboot your Mac and have the mapped network drive / network share automatically connect and remount, appearing on the desktop of OS X or in the Finder sidebar. This is more persistent than the above method and is helpful for network shares you connect to frequently:

1. From the Finder, hit Command+K.
2. Enter the path to the network drive you want to map, ie: smb://networkcomputer/networkshare and click ‘Connect’.
3. Enter your login credentials and click “OK”.
4. The drive is now mounted, but continue on to map for system reboot persistence.
5. Now enter into System Preferences, from the Apple menu.
6. Click on ‘Accounts’.
7. Click on “Login Items”.
8. Click on the + button to add another login item.
9. Locate the network drive you previously mounted and click “Add”.
10. Exit out of System Preferences.

Your network drive will now be mapped and automatically remounted when you reboot your Mac. Keep in mind that if you leave the network where the mapped share is located, the drive/share will not automatically reconnect until that network is joined again, and the Mac is either rebooted or manually reconnected to the desired network share.

Nonetheless, the actual mounted network share works the same as usual, visible through Finder as a folder. You can also go to the Network window to see the connected shares.

Let’s go a step further and make the network share visible on the OS X Desktop, and learn an easy way to remap a drive with an alias.

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How to Make the Mapped Network Drive Visible on the Mac Desktop

It’s possible that the mounted drive will not appear on the desktop due to a system setting. If you want the mapped drive icon to be visible on the Desktop, be sure to do the following additional steps:

1. From the Finder, open Finder Preferences by hitting Command+,
2. Click the General tab
3. Select the checkbox next to ‘Connected Servers’
4. Close Finder Preferences.

Selecting the checkbox next to Connected Servers ensures that you’ll see the icon on your Mac Desktop, otherwise it will only be visible in the Finder window sidebars and Open/Save dialogues.

Remount a mapped network drive with a click in OS X

A great additional step for either method is to create an alias of the mapped network drive. This allows you to reconnect to the share with just a click. Here’s how to do this:

1. Right-click on the mapped network drive on the Mac OS desktop.
2. Select “Make Alias”.

Now you can double-click that alias to reconnect to the network drive instantly.

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How to map a network drive on-campus on Ubuntu

Graphicaloption (Ubuntu desktop):

1.  Open the Nautilus graphical file browser through the Applications menu, or from a terminal window type: nautilus –browser, then press Enter. 
2. Click Other Locations on the left pane.
3. In the Connect to Server field, type smb://servername/share/, and click Connect.
4. Now select Registered User, enter your  Username, Nexus as the Domain, and your nexus password for the Password.

How do I connect to a network drive from wi-fi or if I'm off-campus

Map a campus-based network drive over Wi-Fi

In order to get access to your files located on a network drive, while you are having a presentation using a laptop with Wi-Fi connection, make sure your laptop is:

1. Connected to Wi-Fi (eduroam)
2. Connected to VPN
3. If you accessing a network drive, make sure your drive is mapped

Connect to Wi-Fi (eduroam)

1. Locate the network icon in the taskbar and go to the list of wireless networks and select eduroam and click connect.
2. Enter your WatIAM followed by @uwaterloo.ca in the User name field (jdoe@uwaterloo.ca, for example) and your WatIAM password in the Password field, then click OK.

Connect to VPN

If VPN client has not been already installed,download and install Any Connect VPN client first.

1. Find the Any Connect VPN icon in the Taskbar Notification area (lower right corner).
2. Click to Connect to VPN (cn-vpn.uwaterloo.ca)
3. Enter user name and password (WatIAM user name and password)

Map a network drive (Windows)

1. In the Start menu, click Computer.
2. In the next window, click Map Network Drive.
3. In the Folder box, select letter “N” and type the path to the server:
   \\ecfile1.uwaterloo.ca\userid
4. Click Reconnect at logon
5. In the User name box, type your WatIAM ID: nexus\yourid

6. In the Password box, type your WatIAM password, and then click OK.

Map a network drive (MacOS)

1. Switch to the “Finder” application (click on any empty place on your Mac desktop.)

2. Click “Go” on the Finder menu, then click “Connect to Server…” from the drop-down list, or use the keyboard shortcut “command+K”.

3. Enter the following for the N drive in the “Server Address:” input field:

   • N drive: smb://ecfile1.uwaterloo.ca/userid

4. Click on the “Connect” button in the lower-right corner of the window.

5. You will be prompted for your WatIAM credentials: userid and your password.

6. Select Remember forever, and then click Connect in the top right.

7. Enter your Nexus password twice and press Enter.

8. Right click share just created in the left pane and select Add Bookmark.

9. Right click the newly made bookmark, select Rename, and enter a drive letter you want to use.

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