University Computing Systems

OpenAFS Client for MS Windows Installation

Document version 4.3, modified 6-Aug-2007. Copyright © 2007 New Jersey Institute of Technology

0: Table of Contents

1:What is this?
2:Requirements
3:Installation
4:Configuration
5:Troubleshooting
6:How to get help or more info

1: What is this?

This document shows how to install or update the OpenAFS client for MS Windows and how to connect your AFS disk space to MS Windows as your H: drive.

AFS is a distributed file system for use with Solaris, Linux, MS Windows, MacOS X, and many others. NJIT allocates AFS space to all our students, faculty, and staff. You can use this space for any NJIT-related activities including your website. See the help section below for more information.

[top]

2: Requirements

All of the following are necessary to install and use AFS to connect to your NJIT-hosted disk space.
Accounts
You must have an NJIT AFS login to connect to your AFS space. You must have an NJIT UCID to download the software from our servers. If your PC is in an NJIT Microsoft Domain (NJITDM or ACADEMIC) then you need that password also. If you have one of these, then you probably have all of them. See http://ist.njit.edu/accounts for more information about this.
Passwords
Obviously you need passwords to use the accounts mentioned above, but it is noteworthy that AFS works particularly well if your NJIT Microsoft Domain account has the same password as your NJIT AFS account--you will only get prompted for a password once. You can set all your accounts' passwords with the following:

If neither of these works, then please see the help section below for assistance with passwords.
Admin
You must have administrative privileges on your PC in order to perform the installation.
Network
A working network connection is necessary to install and use AFS:

  • Off campus? If your PC is not on the NJIT network you must first download and install VPN (virtual private network) from http://telecom.njit.edu/vpn.
  • Wireless? If you are using an NJIT wireless Internet connection then you should first make sure your network connection is working. See http://telecom.njit.edu/wireless for instructions.
  • Private PC? If you are using your own private PC on an NJIT wired connection you should likewise verify your connection is working, and if necessary see http://telecom.njit.edu/mobile/persmobile.html for instructions.
Fixes
Last but hardly least, your PC should be up-to-date with the latest anti-virus updates and patches.
[top]

3: Installation

Example images shown on the right side can be enlarged by clicking. Please disregard slight differences in version number and appearance in the example images.
3.1:
Obtain the AFS client software package from the web
  1. Download from http://ist.njit.edu/software/download.php
  2. Save to your desktop
  3. Double-click the OpenAFSforWindows-1-5-21 (zip) file you just saved to your desktop
  4. If you see another directory listing (like shown here), then go to the next step. If instead WinZip starts, then:
    1. Extract into a temporary directory, such as \temp\ on your tesktop
    2. Quit out of Winzip
    3. Open the desktop \temp\ directory
  5. You should see these files:
    instructions\ A copy of the installation instructions you are reading right now
    setup (exe) The actual OpenAFS client installation file
    CellServDB A NJIT-specific AFS CellServDB file, required for the client to locate the AFS servers
  6. Double click the setup.exe file
Advanced users tip: An alternative source for the download installation EXE file is from http://openafs.org/windows.html. Find it under the "32-bit EXE installer for individual installations" link.
Unpacked zip file
3.2:
Click "Next" on "Welcome" screen. 		Welcome
3.3:
Under "Choose Components", make sure "install AFS Client" and "MS Loopback Adapter" boxes are checked, then click "Next" 		Choose Components
3.4:
Accept default on "Choose Install Location", click "Next" 		Choose Install Location
3.5:
On Configuration screen install the bundled CellServDB file:
  1. Choose "Select a file"
  2. Click "Browse"
  3. Find the \tmp\ directory from step 3.1
  4. Select the "CellServDB" file
Advanced users tip: An alternative is the latested version of the bundled file is at http://web.njit.edu/all_topics/AFS/CellServDB
CellServDB Configuration
3.6:
At Client Cell Name Configuration screen
  1. Set "Cell Name" to cad.njit.edu
  2. Click "Next"
 Client Cell Name Configuration
3.7:
At AFS Credentials Configuration, click "Install" 		AFS Credentials Configuration
3.8:
Allow system to reboot by clicking "Finish". Proceed with "Configuration" as shown below when system restarts. 		Finish
[top]

4: Configuration

Example images shown on the right side can be enlarged by clicking. Please disregard slight differences in version number and appearance in the example images.
4.1:
Setup AFS Authentication, "Start → All Programs → OpenAFS → Client → Authentication" 		Setup AFS Authentication
4.2:
The AFS client icon should show up in the system tray (lower right part of taskbar, next to time). 		Client task icon
4.3:
Double-click on the icon, then click on "Obtain New Tokens" 		Obtain New Tokens
4.4:
Type in your UCID and your AFS password, then click "OK" 		Enter login and password
4.5:
Note the "tokens expire yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss" message, which indicates you are correctly logged in and when you must re-authenticate your login. Successful login results in your PC receiving an AFS "token" required to access files. 		Successful authentication
4.6:
Click "Drive Letters" and "Add" to configure your AFS space as a drive letter under Windows. 		Drive Letters
4.7:
Map Drive Letter.
  1. Click "Drive Letter" pull down and select H:. If H: is not available, then use a different letter and use that instead for the rest of these instructions
  2. Click in "AFS Path" and type in your full AFS home directory path.

    Your home directory path contains the first and second letters of your UCID, like this:
        \afs\cad.njit.edu\u\1st\2nd\UCID
    For example, if your UCID is xyz23, then your AFS home directory will be:
        \afs\cad.njit.edu\u\x\y\xyz23
  3. Close the AFS Client window by clicking "X" at upper right. Notice that the AFS task client seen in 4.3 remains in the system tray.
Advanced users tip: You can also add drive letters for specially allocated "project" directories, or for other users directories or subdirectories (provided they grant you access with the "fs" command). You can even add file systems from other universities and instititions. A partal list of these is at http://web.njit.edu/all_topics/AFS/CellServDB.
Map Drive Letter
4.8:
Verify correct installation.
  1. Wait 30 seconds or so and then click Windows "Start" and then "My Computer" (or "My Computer" on your desktop)
  2. Find your H: drive and double-click it
  3. You should see your files, including your "public_html" directory.
Advanced users tip: Double-click on your H:\public_html and then double click the index.html file to modify your NJIT webpage. This file is shown at http://web.njit.edu/~ucid (so if your ucid is xyz23, that would be http://web.njit.edu/~xyz23).
images/pic15_T.jpg
[top]

5: Troubleshooting

Example images shown on the right side can be enlarged by clicking. Please disregard slight differences in version number and appearance in the example images.
5.1:
The most common cause of not being able to access your files is that your token has expired or your AFS password is not the same as your Windows password. To renew your token or enter an AFS password:
  1. Click on the AFS Client icon in the system tray
  2. Enter your UCID and your AFS password
  3. Click "OK".
    4. See 4.4 above for more detail.
AFS Client icon
5.2:
If the AFS client doesn't show in the system tray, then:
  1. Click Windows "Start" → "All Programs" → "Client" → "Authentication"
  2. Click "Advanced" tab
  3. Verify a checkmark for "Start the AFS Client Service whenever this computer starts"
  4. Verify a checkmark for "Always show the AFS Client icon in the taskbar"
 AFS Client, Advanced
5.3:
Checking your Client Configuration
  1. After 5.2, click "Configure AFS Client"
  2. Verify "Cell Name" contains cad.njit.edu
  3. Verify a checkmark for "Obtain AFS tokens when logging into Windows"
  4. Click "OK"
 AFS Client Configuration, General
5.4:
In some rare cases, restarting client fixes some problems. To stop the client:
  1. Click on the AFS Client icon in the system tray
  2. Click "Advanced"
  3. Click "Stop Service". If it is not clickable as shown in the image here, then the client is not running.
  4. Wait a few seconds, then press "Start Service"
  5. Close the AFS Client window by clicking the "X" at upper right.
 Stop Service
5.5:
Starting or restarting the client:
  1. Click on the AFS Client icon in the system tray
  2. Click "Advanced"
  3. If "Start Service" is clickable, then click it. If it is not clickable as shown in the image here, then the client is already running.
  4. Close the AFS Client window by clicking the "X" at upper right.
 Start Service
[top]

6: How to get help or more info

Please make sure the problem you are encountering is not already described in the troubleshooting section above.

Your primary contact, especially if you have problems installing, is the NJIT Helpdesk.

If you encounter problems after installing, you can contact the helpdesk or email help@afs.njit.edu.

For more information about AFS, see the NJIT AFS Intro. It contains links to other sources of information about AFS. You can also find NJIT-specific descriptions of common tasks at http://web.njit.edu under the AFS tab.

Please report problems with this document to help@afs.njit.edu.

[top]