Accounts
NOTICE: Beginning Fall quarter 2024, CS accounts will no longer be separate from WWU accounts, and logins for all CS systems will utilize your WWU Universal ID and password.
In order to utilize CS department services, you must be officially registered for a computer science course. Please allow 24 hours after registration for your first computer science class before trying to utilize CS services.
Understanding CS Account Storage
In the Computer Science department, we store your account’s data and
files on our file servers so that you can log in to any machine in our
environment and access your files easily. When you sign into a computer,
our file server gets contacted with your credentials to
verify your account information. Then your file system gets sent from
the file server to the computer you are on to be downloaded and mounted
on your computer according to the operating system you choose. This just
means when you log in as bobDoe you get access to your CS
files and not billieSmith’s. How your profile is mounted to your
computer when you log in is different between loading Windows and Linux,
but it is important to understand how it works and what not to do in
order to make your log in time as fast as possible. When you log off,
whatever you have been working on will be uploaded to the file server.
Linux - Home Directory
In Linux, everything is a file. That means even your user is a file.
Like we’ve alluded to in early parts of the survival guide, under
/home in the root of the file system (signified by the / symbol at
the end of your terminal prompt) we store all the users in our domain. Your
computer mounts your account like it would a file so that your
information is available and accessible to you on the computer you log
into.
Whenever you log into Linux, you are operating in what is called your
Home Directory. When you first fire up a terminal, your home
directory is signified by the ~ symbol near the end of your command
line prompt. You can always get back here by running either cd ~ or
just cd.
Another saying you might hear is “root of your profile”. If you were to
type in the command pwd in your terminal upon opening it, you would
notice that it yields something like the photo below. Notice the ~.
This is because your home directory is not the beginning of the
overarching file system, it is just your personal section of the whole
file system. You can cd into the /home directory and run ls to see
all the accounts that exist in our domain, but you only have access to
your account’s files. Directories and files that are parent to /home
govern how the lab machines are set up for our specific curriculum
goals, this is the root of the machine. Because these files are so
important, most are read only and you will not be able to make any
changes here.
However, if there is something you are trying to do, whether for a class or for extracurriculars that require you to go beyond your home directory, we ask that you create a virtual machine and experiment away! If you do want to play with a file system’s root, we recommend reading this page on virtual machines.
Important note: Try not to store very large (>1gb) files on your account as it will slow down both our network and your log in time. If you must use files this large, consider carrying around a usb stick.
Windows - CSCI Home
NOTICE: Roaming profiles will no longer be used beginning Fall quarter 2024.
If you previously used a roaming profile the data is located under the
~/.winprofile/ directory as explained below.
Under the Windows operating system, a Windows domain offers the ability
for anyone to login on any computer. While on Linux our lab machines are
configured to fetch the file of your user account and mount it when logging in,
on Windows they are configured to create a “temporary profile”, and
a configured posilicy that will mount your CSCI /home directory
as H:\
Whether on Windows or Linux, you may see a hidden file in your directory
called ~/.winprofile/, this is where “Roaming Profiles” were previously
configured. You may have noticed you do not have access to them when you are on Linux
but you can go explore the information there when you are on Windows.
I had files on Windows from before Fall 2024. Where did my Windows files go?
Since we’ve transitioned away from Roaming Profiles, the files you would typically have
inside your User Profile are now staying on the Network Fileshare under ~/.winprofile/%USERNAME%.v6/
For example, suppose your username is bobb123 and you are looking for a file from your old Desktop, you
can find those files under ~/.winprofile/bobb123.v6/Desktop/ on Linux or H:\.winprofile\bobb123.v6\Desktop
on Windows.
Why isn’t OneDrive sign in automatic? Should I use OneDrive?
OneDrive is Microsoft’s cloud storage solution for user files. Signing into OneDrive can only be fully automated for computers that are tightly integrated with Entra ID (Azure Active Directory joined). OneDrive is installed on all the WWindows-based lab computers in CSCI, but you’ll need to setup and configure the service on every computer you sit down on.
When you sign into OneDrive, you can configure folders to be “redirected” to OneDrive, creating the “your files live everywhere” experience. The University provides 1TB of OneDrive Storage with their Office365 licensing. OneDrive is a great place to keep important files, but there are consequences for being logged into OneDrive in many places at once. Formally logging into OneDrive maybe best reserved for a personal Workstation, Office computer, or a Lab machine that you’ll be working on exclusively over the course of a quarter.
Tips about how/when to sync OneDrive from WWU’s ATUS: atus.wwu.edu/kb/sync-your-onedrive-your-computer
It is good to be familiar with developing in both operating systems as wherever you work in the future could have a preference.
If you have something you want to accomplish with different computer configurations, feel free to make yourself a virtual machine to act as administrator over a Windows environment. Again, to accomplish this, familiarize yourself with this page on virtual machines.
Utilizing the /tmp folder
If you have decided you want to create a quick virtual machine or other
large temporary files and you do not have a flash drive on you, the best
place to create one is within the /tmp folder on the local machine. If
you notice, it is just at the root of the file system above all the users
in our domain. This folder is very special because it is set to delete
all the files inside it when computers get rebooted. Anyone can write in
this folder but you can only view the files you have created, not others’
files.