Connecting to M: multidrive using the command line (Linux)

To perform these steps, you will need root (or sudo) access on your machine.

VPN connection required

The following steps require you to connect to the campus VPN (see: VPN instructions for Linux). Your Multidrive will only function while connected to the Internet with a working secure VPN connection. If you disconnect from the Internet or wake your device from sleep, you will likely have to reconnect the VPN first before being able to access the Multidrive.

If you have problems with these instructions or need additional help, please contact IT by email or call 906-487-1111.

Disclaimer

These instructions are primarily intended for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and RHEL9 machines, but they can be applicable for other distributions of Linux. These instructions have been tested on Ubuntu 22.04, RHEL8, and RHEL9. If you run into any issues or errors while running the commands below, check out the troubleshooting section for common errors.

Instructions

1. Connect to the campus VPN by following VPN for Linux.
2. Once you are connected to the VPN, open a terminal. Navigate to the desired location for the Multidrive to be located. For example, we are using a directory inside ~/Documents.cd ~/Documents
3. Create a dedicated folder for mounting the Multidrive. If you decide to use a different name for your multidrive folder, make sure to make this adjustment in the following steps.
   mkdir multidrive
4. Execute the command:
   sudo mount -t cifs -o username=$USER,domain=MTU,dir_mode=0755,file_mode=0755,uid=$(id -u $USER),gid=$(id -g $USER) //multidrive.mtu.edu/multidrive ./multidrive
   Note: $USER is an environment variable that holds the local username. If it differs from your logged in account, you will need to replace the entire identifier with your Michigan Tech username (account name).
5. Enter your local sudo password:
   [sudo] password for username: <local sudo password>
6. Enter your Michigan Tech account password:
   Password for blizzard@//multidrive.mtu.edu/multidrive: <Michigan Tech account password>
7. The Multidrive should now be mounted and will contain your file shares. You can verify that the multidrive is connected if you see it listed in the output of this following command:
   findmnt -t cifs
   If the Multidrive is currently connected, you should see a line of output similar to what’s displayed below:
   TARGET            SOURCE        FSTYPE        OPTIONS
   /home/[USER]/Documents/multidrive //multidrive.mtu.edu/multidrive cifs rw,...

Disconnecting from the Multidrive

If you would like to disconnect the folder from your Multidrive, you can run the command: sudo umount ~/Documents/multidrive

If you set up your Multidrive folder somewhere other than Documents, you may have to modify this command to reference the directory where you placed your Multidrive folder.

Troubleshooting

There are a few common issues that can occur when trying to complete these steps.

I Cannot Read or Write my Files!

When connecting to the Multidrive using the command in Step 5, you should make sure to include the uid= and gid= properties in the command, as it specifies which user on your computer owns the files. Check the command you are running in Step 5, and make adjustments accordingly.

If the issues continue to persist, run the following commands to be able to manually use your User ID and Group ID:

id -g <USERNAME>
id -g <USERNAME>

Step 5 Error: No Route to Host

Check that you are currently connected to the campus VPN. If you do not have the graphical interface for VPN connection, run the following command and observe the output
f5fpc --info

• If the output starts with “Client not connected”, you are not connected to the VPN. To connect, run the following command:
  f5fpc --start --host https://vpn.mtu.edu --user <MTU_SSO>
• If the output contains “Command not found”, you might not have the tools installed to connect to the campus VPN. Follow the instructions in the VPN instructions for Linux first, then follow through the connection instructions again.

If the output starts with “Connection Status: session established”, then you are successfully connected to the campus VPN. Keep following the troubleshooting instructions

1. Check that the correct tools are installed to connect to the Multidrive by running the following commands:
   sudo dnf install keyutils
sudo dnf install cifs-utils
   • If you are on a non-RHEL8 or non-RHEL9 Linux machine, then the command you should use is different from the commands provided. Install the packages keyutils and cifs-utils using your system package manager.

Step 5 Error: Permission Denied

The command in Step 5 needs to be run with sudo appended before the command. If you are not a local administrator on this machine, you will need to contact the owner of the machine to assist you in connecting to the multidrive.

• When connecting to the Multidrive, you need to provide both your local administrator password on your machine as well as your MTU SSO username (account name) that you use to log into your email, Banweb, etc. The prompt that occurs first will be asking for the local administrator password.
  • On the password prompt that says [sudo] password for <USERNAME>:, you will need to type in your local administrator password for your machine, which may differ from your MTU SSO account password depending on the machine’s setup.
  • On the password prompt that says Password for <MTU_SSO>@//multidrive.mtu.edu/multidrive, you will need to type in your MTU SSO password that you use for university logins.
• Double-check that you are typing your password in correctly, and that caps lock is turned off. When typing in both of these passwords, you will not be able to see what you’re typing in visible in the terminal.

I’m Having Another Error!

If you have any other errors with connecting to the Multidrive, please contact Michigan Tech IT at it-help@mtu.edu or by calling 906-487-1111 and describing the error you are experiencing.