Sharing Files

By default, you are the only person who can read and write to files in your home directory. Two subdirectories, www and shared, are public directories that anyone can read. Generally, this is a good system; you want most of your files to be private and you want people to be able to see (but not change) your web pages and shared files.

At times you may wish to give others permission to read or edit files and protect files from any editing. Each file and directory in your CITES NetFiles space has properties, called permissions, that allow you to specify who may access it or how much control they have over it.

Public directories

If you want to make a file available to anyone to view or download, upload the file to your shared directory. Your file will will be available at the address below. Simply substitute your NetID (ex. jdoe) for YourNetID and the name of the file (ex. CS101studyguide.doc) for YourFilename.

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/YourNetID/shared/YourFilename

Your shared directory works the same way as your www directory. An HTML file placed in your shared directory will display as a web page, just as any file placed in your www directory is available for download. Keeping your web pages and downloadable files in separate directories is simply a way to organize your files.

Setting permissions

If you want to allow someone to edit a file or directory, you will first have to change the file permissions to give others access. Sometimes it is helpful to change your own access to a file. For instance, if you want to avoid making accidental changes to a file, simply turn off the write permission for yourself.

To access the permissions editor:

1. Click the Share button next to the file or directory you wish to share. The button appears differently depending on how the file or directory is currently shared.
• Not shared with anyone
• Shared with some users
• Shared with everyone
2. In the permissions editor, you can assign read, write, and administrative privileges for yourself, a group, individual users, and all users. Check the box for the access levels you wish to give other users.
   • Read access allows a user to look at the contents of a file.
• Write access allows a user to change the contents of a file.
• Delete access allows a user to remove files.
• Administrative access allows users to delete, move, and rename a file.
3. Add other users or groups to the permissions editor by clicking on the Add User/Group button. Select from your personal groups or search for individual users in the Active Directory by their names or NetIDs.
4. Once you have set all the access levels, select either Apply the changed permissions to this directory as well as its sub-directories and files or Apply the changed permissions to this directory only.
5. Click Apply to implement your permission settings.
   

Locking files or directories

To lock any file or directory:

1. Log in to CITES NetFiles on the Web.
2. Navigate to the appropriate directory in your NetFiles account.
3. Click the Lock button to the right of the filename you would like to lock.

Creating groups

1. Log in to CITES NetFiles on the Web.
2. Click the Contacts and Groups link in the left toolbar.
3. Click the Create Group button in the top toolbar.
4. Enter your group name in the text box and click Ok.
5. Click the Add New Members button.
6. Change the Whose dropdown menu to ID, enter the group member's NetID in the Begins With field, and click OK.
7. Click the checkbox to the left of the group member's name and click Add Contact.
8. You can also set a group password and disband your group at a specific time using the Set Password and Set Expiration Date buttons.

Emailing direct links to files or directories

Note: Your recipient will still need permission to access the file when you email a link, either via shared directories or guest tickets.

1. Log in to CITES NetFiles on the Web.
2. Click the Manage button next to the file or directory you wish to link to.
3. Copy and paste the Intellilink URL into your email message. The Intellilink URL is a special, shortened URL designed to keep the link on a single line in an email message.

More detailed instructions can be found by clicking the Vendor Documentation link in the left navigation of CITES NetFiles on the Web.