On October 26th, 2019, the Arts & Sciences file shares (commonly known as the J and X drives) will have been migrated to an upgraded server.


There should be no change to way that your files are organized, or to the permissions of the users accessing these files. 


You can connect to the server from a Mac connected to any Ethernet port on the Morningside campus.  

For access via the WiFi network or from off-campus, please refer to the below guidelines (points 2 and 3).



1) How will this affect me, and what do I need to do to reconnect?


All Mac users will need to reconnect to the new server location -- Mac computers will not automatically be reconfigured to use the new server.


  1. You will first need to remove the old server addresses from your "Favorite Servers" list:
    1. Open a Finder window, then click "Go" on the menu bar at the top of the screen, followed by "Connect to Server":


    2. Under favorite servers, click on each of the individual entries for the old file server, which will contain "proteus.ad.asit.columbia.edu" in the server address, then click the "-" button to remove this location from your favorites list:
      Repeat this process until there are no remaining "proteus.ad.asit.columbia.edu" addresses remaining in the "favorite servers" list. (Please note that the exact address of the server location may differ for different users, but all of them will include "proteus.ad.asit.columbia.edu", and these must be removed")

  2. Now add the new server location to your favorite servers list. In the same "Connect to Server" window as in step b-ii above, please do the following
    1. To add the J drive:
      Enter the following in the server address box, replacing <UNI> with your UNI, then click "+" to add to the list of favorite servers:
      smb://ADCU\<UNI>@asfsprod01.adcu.columbia.edu/DEPT

      In the following example, I use my UNI (mjs2348) to fill out this address:

      You may test your connection by highlighting the location you just added to the "favorite servers" list by clicking on the address, then clicking "connect"

      Depending on your version of MacOS, you may see the following screen. If so, please click "Connect" again:

      You will then be prompted to enter a password. This password will always be your current UNI password. You may tick the box for "remember this password in my keychain" to store your password until you next change your UNI password:

      If you entered your credentials correctly, the J drive will open up in Finder, and you will also see a network drive labeled "DEPT" appear on your desktop as below:


    2. To add the X drive:
      Enter the following in the server address box, replacing <UNI> with your UNI, then click "+" to add to the list of favorite servers:
      smb://ADCU\<UNI>@asfsprod01.adcu.columbia.edu/EVP

      In the following example, I use my UNI (mjs2348) to fill out this address:


      Repeat the above steps for the J drive, but this time choosing the smb://ADCU\<UNI>@asfsprod01.adcu.columbia.edu/EVP address in your favorite servers list.

      Once connected, the X drive will open in a Finder window and you will see a network drive on your desktop labeled "EVP" as below:


  3. If you wish to have these drives automatically reconnect when you login to your Mac, please do the following:
    1. Click on the Apple logo in the top-left of the screen, then click "System Preferences":
    2. Click on "Users and Groups":
    3. Be sure that "Current Users" is selected in the left-hand column, then click "Login Items" on the right:
    4. If you see the old network drives in this "Login Items" list, please click them one by one then click "-" to remove them from this list
    5. Click the lock icon in the bottom left-hand corner of the window, then enter the password you use to login to your Mac when prompted:
    6. To add the new network drives so that they open up automatically when you log in to your Mac, please drag the "DEPT" and "EVP" icons from your Desktop into the "Login Items" list. They should both now appear in the list of "login items":
    7. It may take the DEPT and EVP items a few minutes to appear in your login items. Please close the "Users & Groups" window, and the drives should now reconnect when you login to your Mac.



2) What if I am using a laptop or another Mac on the Columbia University WiFi network?

  • The server housing the J and X drives is directly accessible only when connected to the "Columbia U Secure" wireless network.
    • You can connect to the Columbia U Secure wireless network by visiting the following CUIT webpage: https://cloud.securew2.com/public/28503/Groups/Columbia_University_Network/
    • Please choose "Columbia U Secure" from the list options:
    • Click "Join Now" on the following screen:
    • This will download a small utility, which you will need to run in order to connect to the secure WiFi network.
    • This utility will prompt you to enter your UNI and UNI password, and will inform you when you have been successfully connected



3) What if I am off-campus, or am not connected to the Columbia U Secure WiFi network:

  • The server housing the J and X drives is accessible from any location when you are connected to the CUIT VPN (Cisco AnyConnect). Instructions to install and connect to the CUIT VPN can be found on the following web page:

    https://cuit.columbia.edu/install-vpn

  • After connecting to the CUIT VPN, you may access the J drive from off-campus using the above instructions just as you would from on-campus