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Transferring Files to AFS

To increase security and reduce risk, Stanford is sunsetting its WebAFS service that is used to upload and download files to AFS.

To optimize AFS and make sure it is serving its intended functions, UIT has also taken these actions:

  • UIT no longer automatically provisions new faculty and staff members with AFS user volumes. New faculty or staff who need a personal user volume must submit a Help request.
    • This change does not impact existing AFS directories or the process for adding permissions for new individuals to those existing directories. Your existing space and everything in it remains intact.
    • This change does not impact the auto-provisioning of new AFS user volumes for students and postdocs.

​Class volumes do not expire and are kept indefinitely. This is an official academic policy, and any change to this policy must be considered by the Faculty Senate.

Overview

Stanford provides secure tools —  OpenAFS and SFTP — for you to transfer computer files to and from your AFS storage/web space, and between desktop machines using AFS as a virtual bridge.

Transferring files to and from AFS (including Stanford WWW directories)

The Mac and Windows documents below use web files as examples. While this means they can double as instructions for publishing web pages, remember that you can transfer files into any AFS directory, not just web (WWW) directories, using the steps outlined below.

Transferring files from desktop to desktop (via OpenAFS or the Web)

Use AFS

Stanford OpenAFS allows you transfer files from desktop to desktop.

  1. Mount AFS on your desktop. Have your friend do the same.
  2. Use the steps outlined in Transferring files with Windows or Transferring files with a Macintosh to drag a file from your desktop into AFS space.
    • You can drag the file into your friend's "Public" directory; just mount his or her home directory instead of your own.
    • You can create a folder in your home directory that he or she has access to.
    • You can choose a directory somewhere else in AFS, one to which each of you has access.
  3. Your friend can then drag the file from AFS onto his or her desktop.

This method works even if one of you has a Windows computer and the other has a Macintosh. If your "Public" directory isn't accepting files from other people, take a look at the AFS Permissions page to figure out how to change your "Public" directory so it works correctly.

Use the web

The advantage of transferring files via the web is that you can make your file available to almost any computer anywhere.

  1. Use the steps outlined in Transferring files with Windows or Transferring files with a Macintosh to put a file from your desktop into the WWW directory of your home folder.
    • If your WWW directory has an index.html file inside, create a sub-directory that has no index.html and put the file in there.
    • If your WWW directory has no index.html file you can just put the file inside.
    • Choose a web directory somewhere else in AFS, one to which each of you has access, and place the file there.
  2. Send your friend the URL where he or she can find the file.
  3. Your friend can then use a web browser to find the file, double- or right-click on the file name (depending on whether he or she is using a Mac or Windows computer), and select the option that downloads the file from the web onto his or her desktop.
Last modified November 2, 2023