Connecting to Anes.tulane.edu using SFTP

You may have heard that Datasystems is taking over the Anesthesiology Fileserver. For the most part, you shouldn't experience any serious changes in the way things operate. The one notable exception is accessing files from off campus.

Because of the way the network is configured, and for purposes of network security, you will no longer be able to use AppleShare (also know as AFP, or sometimes as AppleTalk) to connect to the file server from off campus. Instead, we're making the file server available to you via a service known as SFTP (or Secure File Transfer Protocol.) SFTP is an industry standard for the secure transfer of files; in fact, all web developers at Tulane use SFTP to transfer web pages to and from the web servers. You can rest easy knowing that anytime you're using SFTP, your login information and the contents of any files that you're sending to and from the server cannot be intercepted by anyone outside of the University.

If you're connecting to the file server from on campus, you can continue to use AppleShare. If you want to, you can use SFTP to connect instead of AppleShare. This might be easier for you if you need to connect to the file server both on and off campus, since you'll be dealing with the server in a single consistent fashion.

However, from off campus, (at home, in coffee shops, at other institutions) your only option will be to use SFTP. So, if you access the server from a home computer, if you use a laptop and need to access your files from off-campus, or for whatever other reason you might need to reach the Anesthesiology Fileserver from outside the University, you'll need to read and follow these instructions.

Installing Fugu

First up, download Fugu. You can find it here. It'll download as a dmg file, so you'll need to install it.

Fortunately, this is pretty simple. First, double click on Fugu-1.1.2-English.dmg.

A license will open up. Read over it, then click "Agree." A new window will open in the finder for Fugu-1.1.2. There'll be a big icon of a pufferfish in that window. Drag the pufferfish into your applications folder. If you want, you can drag it into your Dock as well so that it'll be at your fingertips. Then close the window.

Using Fugu to connect to anes.tulane.edu

First of all, launch Fugu. You can either double click on Fugu in your Applications folder, or click on it in your Dock if you've put it in your Dock.

Fugu will present you with a connection window.

Type "anes.tulane.edu" in the "Connect To:" field. Type in your regular login name into the "Username:" This would be the same username you'd use to connect to an Appleshare drive the Anesthesiology Fileserver. Don't worry about Port and Directory. (Quick tip: If you click the "Add to Favorites" button, anes.tulane.edu will show up in the little globe menu, and you'll be able to select it from the globe menu in the future.) Then click the "Connect" button.

Now Fugu will present you with a password dialog.

Go ahead and enter your usual password for the Anesthesiology Fileserver. (Quick tip: Feel free to check the "Add to Keychain" box; it'll save you some time down the road.) Then click "Authenticate."

Using Fugu to transfer files

If you've entered everything properly you should see a screen a lot like this one:

On the left side, you'll see directories from your local computer, and on the right the directories on the fileserver. You can use both sides the same way you would an "Open File..." style dialog. More importantly, you can drag files and folders back and forth, and Fugu will take care of copying them.

One little caveat though: if you want to copy a folder form one place to the other, Fugu will show you a dialog like this:

Do not be alarmed. Fugu can still copy the files around, it'll just take a little extra effort. Click on the "Download" button, and a new window will open, like this:

Just click the "Secure Copy" button, and Fugu will take care of the rest.

Good Luck!

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