Using CITES NetFiles on a Mac

This page describes how to access NetFiles on a Mac.

Mac users can access NetFiles in two ways:

Native Mac WebDAV client

Mac users with version 10.4 (Tiger) or newer can use the built-in WebDAV client.

Logging in with the OS X native WebDAV client

  1. From the Finder, click Go > Connect to Server.
  2. Enter https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/YourNetID in the Server Address text box and click Connect.
  3. Enter your NetID and AD password in the Username and Password boxes.
  4. A new network directory using your NetID as its name will now be available from the Finder. Simply drag and drop files to and from this directory to use your NetFiles account.
  5. When you are finished with NetFiles, click the eject button next to the NetFiles directory button in your Finder window.

Goliath

Mac users with version 10.3 (Panther) or older will need to use Goliath. You will need to download and install Goliath before use.

Logging in with Goliath

  1. Launch Goliath. Goliath will automatically open a New WebDAV Connection dialog box.
  2. Enter https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/YourNetID/ into the URL text field, using your NetID in place of YourNetID.
    (Note that you will need to specify https, not http.)
  3. Enter your NetID into the User Name field.
  4. Enter your AD password into the Password field.
  5. Click OK.

Uploading and downloading

File uploads are accomplished by dragging a file or files from your computer into the Goliath connection window. You can view a file by double-clicking the filename in Goliath, but you will need to drag the file from Goliath to your Desktop in order to actually edit it.

Advanced Goliath configuration

Extra Goliath configuration options are available under Goliath > Preferences.

If you only intend to use Goliath with CITES NetFiles, you can set Goliath to connect to the NetFiles server on startup by clicking the Open an existing connection radio button on the General tab. Then, after you set up your initial connection with NetFiles, click File > Save Connection. Be aware that this creates a direct link to your CITES NetFiles home directory that will not require a password. Do not save a connection on any computer with multiple users.

Next, click the Lock Information tab and set your identifier. This is the information that will be displayed when you lock a file to prevent others from editing the same file while you are working on it. Use your NetFiles directory (https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/YourNetID/) or your email address (mailto:YourNetID@uiuc.edu) as the Locking Identifier.

Unless you are working from behind a firewall, you won't need to do anything under the Proxy tab.