Collaborating with Whitman People

Overview

It is very easy to set up sharing in netFiles so you can collaborate with other people at Whitman. For example, you can create a folder for a group you're in and give everyone in the group permission to change files in that folder. This documentation will assume that you want to share an entire folder, but you can share individual files the same way.

Granting Permission

Getting to the Permissions

To begin, log into netFiles Web. Browse to the folder you want to share. If it does not exist yet, create it by clicking on "New Directory" on the top menu. From the directory you want to share, click on the Advanced icon to the right of the folder path (it should look something like "Directory: /home/username/folder"). The Advanced icon looks like a pen writing on paper and is the left most of the three icons there.

You should now have a list of advanced settings for that folder. Near the top of that list is an option called "Sharing." To avoid future confusion, the "Sharing" link will be renamed to "Permissions" soon. It will take you to the same place.

The permission setting page shows you a list of people or groups who have access to a particular file or folder. It also shows you what specific rights, or permissions, they have. By default, you will have read, write, delete, and administer permission on all of your files and folders. There are two other default groups: Users with accounts (Whitman people using netFiles) and Public (Everyone in the world). Neither of these two groups has any permission by default.

Adding New Users or Groups

To add a person or group (instructions for creating groups at the bottom of the page) to the list, click on the button labeled "Add User/Group." You can select a group (or groups) from the list at the top (if you have at least one group) or you can search for a particular user.

Note: Finding users can be a bit tricky. You need to search by Display Name (rather than ID). You can enter the person's first name or you can enter an asterisk (*) before their last name. Either "John" or "*Doe" should work, but the latter will probably return fewer useless results. If you just enter their last name, you will not find the person you're looking for.

Applying the New Permissions

If more than one user matched your search criterion, you will see a list of options. Click the check box next to the user(s) you want to add to the list and then click "Next" at the bottom. You should now see the user(s) listed with four check boxes to the right. By default, only Read access is checked. See below for more information on the specific permissions. Check the appropriate boxes for the user permissions. If you are sharing a folder, you will have an option to apply the permissions to all sub-folders and files. Decide if that is what you want and then press "Apply." When the next page loads, click the "Ok" button.

You're all set. Unless you provided Read access to your home folder (not recommended), people will not be able to browse through netFiles and see your folder. You will need to provide them with the specific path to your folder. This is the path you saw earlier at the top that said something like "Directory: /home/username/folder". Users with Read access to that folder should be able to enter that path after https://netfiles.whitman.edu to access the shared folder.

Permission Warnings

CAUTION!!! It is very easy to get yourself into trouble by granting permissions to other users!

If you want to simply provide the file as is to others, the default setting (only Read access) will be fine. If you want to collaborate with others and allow them to change the file, you will need to grant write access. You may wish to grant Delete access as well, but you should be careful. You will almost never want to grant Administer access. That would be like giving them the master key to your folder.

Granting Delete or Administer access on any folder can be very risky. You could cause a problem for yourself later on if somebody else deletes your files. It may not be possible for WCTS to restore your files.

Under no circumstances should you grant "Delete" or "Administer" access on your home directory!

Changing or Removing Permission

When your collaborative work is finished (or if you accidentally grant too much permission), you will want to change your permission settings to be more secure.  You can either change the permissions for users and groups, or you can remove permission for them entirely.

Changing Existing Permissions

Go the the permissions settings for the file(s) or folder(s) that you are sharing (See Getting to the Permissions). Clicking the various check boxes will let you grant additional permissions to or remove existing permissions from existing users and groups. If you are changing the settings for a folder, you will have the option to apply changes to just that folder or to everything within it as well. You will most likely want to change permissions to everything within it (the default setting). When you are satisfied with your changes, click the "Apply" button.

You should now see a page showing you the changes you are about to make.  Take a quick look to make sure the new permissions are correct. Click "Ok" when you are ready.  You should see the main permissions screen with a message saying, " The Permissions for this resource have been changed."

Removing Permissions

When you no longer wish to share files or folders with a particular user or group, you should remove their permission. To do this, go to the permissions settings for the appropriate file(s) or folder(s) (See Getting to the Permissions). Click the button at the top that is labeled "Remove User/Group." Click the check box next to each of the users or groups you want to remove. If you are changing the permission for a folder, you will have the option to apply the changes to just that folder or to everything within it. Since you are removing access, you should probably remove it from everything within the folder as well (the default setting). Click the "Apply Now" button. You should now see the main permissions screen with a message saying, " The Selected Permissions have been removed."