Managing your DS files on an MCS Linux PC

Naming files

Because we use a Novell file server to provide the home directories there are certain characters that cannot be used in a filename in your home directory that would have been possible in a standard Unix context. In brief, filenames are restricted to be no longer than 127 characters and may not to use the following characters: * / \ ? ÿ (asterisk, forward slash, backslash, query and y-diaeresis).

If you are writing web pages we recommend filenames should only contain lower-case letters (a-z), digits (0-9), and the punctuation characters . , - and _ (period, comma, hyphen, underscore). Spaces should be avoided.

File viewing and storage

Each user of DS-Filespace is allocated a quota of filespace. To see how much filespace you are using and what your limit is type quota in a Linux terminal window or, from the Applications menu on an MCS machine, select Account Management -> Display filespace quota. Please delete any files or folders that you no longer need.

For a graphical display of your files and folders, when using an MCS machine, double click on the your_CRSid Home icon on the desktop. To see the size of files and folders either select View -> List in the graphical display or type ls -l in a terminal window.

All files, whether they were created on a PC or on a Macintosh, will be shown in your filespace. If you have used Windows or a Mac there will be some files in your filespace that you may not be aware of. These are necessary for applications or preferences to work and should not be removed (e.g. for OS X the Library directory is required).

NB: Please remember that it is your responsibility to back up your own files. There is information online about different methods for backup and file management of personal files

Temporary workspace

You can use the directory /tmp as temporary workspace. Note that any files you create in there will be deleted on reboot, so anything you wish to keep should be moved to your own filespace.

Last updated: September 2011