Connect to a file server with Mac OS X
You can connect to a file server from the Mac OS X Finder application.
Supported protocols
Mac OS X 10.2 and later support connecting to file servers using:
- Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) over AppleTalk or TCP/IP (see AFP over IP)
- "Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning" (WebDAV) which is based on the same technology as Web browsers and Web servers
- Server Messaging Block (SMB) or CIFS (Common Internet File System), common for Microsoft Windows-based servers
Note: AppleTalk routing is no longer available on the RIT campus network as of July 24, 2006. This could affect connections to file servers, network printers, and inter-application communication. While RIT’s network does not disable or prevent the use of the AppleTalk protocol itself, the lack of AppleTalk routing does prevent that traffic from:
- going across network segment boundaries (or subnets)
- traversing the RIT backbone.
Because of this ITS will not be able to support or troubleshoot AppleTalk related problems. For more information, see our AppleTalk support statement page.
Connecting to a file server using the Finder
The instructions below are geared towards using AFP, WebDAV, and SMB/CIFS. When you connect a file server share point, it appears a volume or disk on your Desktop.
- Switch to the Finder. You can click on its icon in the Dock or click on your desktop picture to take you back to the Finder.
- Select "Connect to Server …" from the Go menu in the Finder. The "Connect to Server" window appears.
- Enter the address of your file server in the "Server Address" field (see File server addresses for information on how to format the addresses). If you do not know the address of the file server, you may also browse the network for it, but this may be difficult due to the size of the RIT campus network.
- Click the "Connect" button.
- Enter your username and password for the file server in the resulting authentication dialog box. Depending on the file server’s features, your login information may be transmitted more or less securely across the network. If you are not a registered user of the file server, it may allow guest access; you can change to guest access by clicking the "Guest" choice.
- Click "Connect" to proceed past the authentication dialog box.
- Select one or more share points that you wish to connect to from the next dialog box. You may not have privileges to access every volume listed. Share points that are greyed out are ones you do not have the privileges to put on your Desktop — even those whose names are not greyed out may not let you log in, ultimately, if the server administrator has not given you access privileges.
- Click the "OK" button to mount the selected volumes on your Desktop.
That's it, the selected volumes should appear on your Desktop.
Browsing for file servers
Versions of Mac OS X have different ways of browsing the RIT network. In Mac OS X Tiger, you browse the network through the "Network" item in the sidebar of Finder windows. Items in the list announce their availability through:
- a directory service, such as LDAP
- "Rendezvous" (in Mac OS X 10.2 and later) network discovery mechanism
- the Service Location Protocol (SLP) network discovery mechanism
- Microsoft Windows NT domains or WINS services
- AppleTalk protocols.
Using other network file sharing protocols
Alternatively, Mac OS X can also natively support the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and the Network File System (NFSv3). For FTP, however, we recommend Fetch instead of the built-in FTP client available in the Terminal. NFS requires the "Terminal application" at this time.
Both FTP and NFS are considered insecure protocols. In the case of FTP, you should consider using standard file sharing protocols like AFP, WebDAV, or SMB/CIFS, because they at least provide more secure authentication and better integration with the Finder. You may also choose to use Secure FTP (SFTP) or Secure Copy (SCP) if the server you are connecting to supports either, but these are not integrated with the Finder and require another application (such as Fetch, which works with SFTP). Both SFTP and SCP are available through the Terminal, as well.