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Regional Computing Centre (RRZK)

Instructions for accessing SoFS under MacOS via CIFS

The requirement for using CIFS is that the computer is connected to the network of the University of Cologne. This applies to stationary devices (Mac Pro, iMac, Mac mini) in the institutes and facilities on campus or such Macs that have previously established a VPN connection to the university network.

In all other cases, access via CIFS does not work, WebDAV should be used instead.

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  • To establish a connection to SoFS, open Finder.
  • In the menu, click on „Go“ and then on „Connect to Server“. You can also use the keyboard shortcut ⌘ + K.
  • Enter the following address of the SoFS-server in the field „Server Address“:
    • For your private directory:
      smb://sofs1.uni-koeln.de/private/[account name]
    • for your public directory:
      smb://sofs1.uni-koeln.de/public/[first letter of your account name]/[account name]
    • for SoFS workspaces for institutions:
      smb://sofs2.uni-koeln.de/projects/[directory of the SoFS-workspace of the institution]
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[This content is not available in "Englisch" yet] Beispiele für einzugebende Serveradressen

  • Enter the server address in one of the formats above and replace the placeholders in square brackets with the account name of your student or employee account.
  • Use the "+" button to save an address so that you can retrieve it directly from the list in the future.
  • Click on the Connect button.
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  • In the login window, enter the account name and password of your student or employee account (it is not possible to log on to the server as a guest). Saving your password to the keychain is not mandatory for server access and remains a personal choice that depends on your preferences and the level of security that you are aiming for.
  • If the password entered was correct, a window with the contents of the selected directory is now displayed in the Finder. If the account name or password was entered incorrectly, you will see the typical "head-shaking window".
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  • To terminate the connection to the SoFS server, click on the eject symbol next to the server name (marked with a red arrow in the illustration). Make sure to save all your work before you disconnect from the server.

Contact
If you have any questions or problems, please contact the RRZK-Helpdesk