Data Fabric User Guide
Accessing the ARCS Data Fabric
Access the ARCS Data Fabric using your Web Browser
Access the ARCS Data Fabric as a remote file system
Using the Web Interface
Practical Data Sharing
The ARCS Data Fabric is ARCS’ service to enable researchers to store and share data across institutional boundaries. The ARCS Data Fabric can be accessed as a remote file system or through a website using a web browser.
Accessing the ARCS Data Fabric
Login to ARCS Services
All services offered by ARCS are centrally accessible through the front page of the ARCS Website. To access any of the services, navigate to http://www.arcs.org.au/ and click on the “Services Login” button.
Figure 1: ARCS Website with the 'Services Login' Button
Follow the instructions on the Services Login screen to either authenticate using your AAF identity provided by your institution or to apply for an AAF identity provided by ARCS.
Access the ARCS Data Fabric using your Web Browser
After successfully authenticating to ARCS Services, you will see a menu of buttons that will give you access to all ARCS Services available or allow you to request a service to be setup for you. For more information on any of the services, click the green “i” next to each service.To access the ARCS Data Fabric, click the “Data Fabric” button. Please note that if you are accessing ARCS Services for the first time, it may take up to five minutes for your account on the ARCS Data Fabric to be set up. You will be notified by email once your account has been succesfully activated.
Figure 2: ARCS Services Menu and the "Data Fabric" Button
The ARCS Data Fabric will open in a new window and you will see home area, which contains all collections to which you have access. By default, these are the “public” collection, your personal collection named after your ARCS Username, and the group collection of the organisation of which you are a member. Your organisational membership is determined by the Identity Provider (IdP) that you are using to access ARCS services.
Access the ARCS Data Fabric as a remote file system
The ARCS Data Fabric can be accessed as a remote file system using most modern WebDAV clients including the nearly all of those build into major operating systems.
To access the ARCS Data Fabric, you need to provide your WebDAV client with three pieces of information:
- The service URL: https://df.arcs.org.au/ARCS/home
- Your ARCS Username
- Your ARCS Password
For details on how to establish a new connection, please see the documentation of your individual WebDAV client.
Windows XP- In Windows Explorer double-click ‘My Network Places’
- Click on ‘Add a network Place’, then Next
- Select ‘Choose another network location’
- Enter https://df.arcs.org.au/ARCS/home as the URL
- Give a name to this Network Place, for example "ARCS Data Fabric - home"
- Enter your ARCS Username and ARCS Password when prompted
- Once connected, name the connection and click ‘OK’
- The connection can now be found in ‘My Network Places’
- Activate the ‘Finder’
- In the Menubar, select the ‘Go’ then ‘Connect to Server’
- In the dialogue window, type https://df.arcs.org.au/ARCS/home in the address field
- Click the ‘+’ to save the connection
- Click ‘Connect’ and enter your ARCS Username and ARCS Password when prompted
- Optionally, select to store your ARCS Username and ARCS Password when prompted for future connections
- Click ‘Ok’ to establish a connection
- The ARCS Data Fabric now appears as a network drive in the ‘Finder’
Using the Web Interface
Figure 3 shows the Home Screen of the ARCS Data Fabric and its major interface elements. For each user, the home screen shows all directories a user has access to. These are at least the user's home directory indicated by his or hers user name, the public directory and the collection for the ARCS Compute Cloud (ACC). All group directories of the groups a user is a member of, will also appear in the home screen
Figure 3: The Home Screen of the ARCS Data Fabric
Breadcrumb Trail
The Breadcrumb Trail shows the full path to the currently active directory. You may click on any part of the breadcrumb to access quickly other directories in the path.
File Browser
The File Browser shows all file and directory objects in the currently active directory. It is used for navigation through the directory structure, accessing files and selection of objects for actions.
Action Buttons
The web interface ARCS Data Fabric has two sets of Action buttons. The top action buttons above the File Browser are for actions that relate to the currently active directory. The right action buttons execute actions on the currently selected objects.
Icons
The icons towards the top of the interface perform navigation and action tasks.
Navigation
Basics
All basic directory structure navigation takes place within the File Browser. To go into a directory (directories have a folder icon), click on the directory name.
To go back up one directory level, single click '... Parent Directory' at the very top of the listing in the File Browser.
The list in the File Browser can be sorted by any of its columns in ascending or descending order. Click on the header of a column to sort.
Short Cuts
In order to make navigation faster, there are a number of short cuts available that allow jumping multiple levels of directories at once.
The Breadcrumb Trail gives immediate access to any directory in the path of the currently active one and the home icon takes a user back to his or her personal home directory.
Trash
To navigate to the trash, click on the trash can icon. To navigate back to the home directory, click the home icon.
Logout
The logout button closes your current ARCS Data Fabric session. Note that, in order to securely destroy your Australian Access Federation (AAF) session, you need to quit your Web browser.
Show Your Shared Files
This button allows you to manage your files that are shared using QuickShare. In the file overview of all your currently shared files, select one or more multiple files to unshare them, or to generate a list of QuickShare links for easy copying and pasting of multiple QuickShare links at the same time.
Selection
In order to perform actions on the objects in the listing, they must be selected. The File Browser supports single and multiple selections of objects.
To select a single object, click in the white space next to the object's name. To select multiple objects, click the whitespace next to each object's name while holding down the control key (command key for Mac OS X users).
A blue background indicates selected objects.
Figure 4: Multiple Selected Objects
Actions
Upload a File
To upload a file into the currently active directory, click the 'Upload File' button above the File Browser. In the dialogue, click 'Select' to select the file then 'Upload' to start the transfer. If a file of the same name as the one selected for upload already exists in the current directory, the upload will cancel automatically.
Create Directory
Click 'Create Directory' to create a new directory within the currently active one.
Access Control
The ARCS Data Fabric has sophisticated access control mechanisms that allow users to share data with others. To mange the access control of files or directories, select one or more objects and click 'Access Control'.
Figure 5: Access Control Dialogue for Directories
Figure 6: Access Control Dialogue for Files
Figures 5 and 6 show the Access Control Dialogue (ACD) for files and directories. The ACD has to major elements: the Access Permissions List and the Access Controls. The Access Permissions List shows which user has what level of access to the selected object or objects. If multiple objects are selected that currently do not have the exact same access permissions, the list will be initially empty. The Access Controls to the right of the Access Permissions List allow for permissions to be granted and revoked.
The ARCS Data Fabric supports four levels of access:
- no access
- read only access
- write only access
- read and write access
The give access to an object to another user, select the username from the username box. Start typing the username in the box and the selection will narrow down. Select the desired permission level and click 'Apply'. The Access Permissions list will update to reflect the added permissions.
To revoke or change permissions, select an entry in the Access Permissions List by clicking on it. Then set the preferred permission level and click 'Apply'. To revoke all access, select 'no access' from the permissions options.
Directories support two more permission actions: recursive and sticky permissions. If changes to the permission of a collection should be applied to all files and subdirectories currently within this collection, tick the 'Recursive' box before clicking 'Apply'. Sticky permissions enable inheritance of permissions. Inheritance of permissions means that the access permissions of the parent directory are automatically applied to all files and directories created within the parent from here onwards.
Rename
The action to rename a file or directory is available when a single object is selected in the File Browser. To rename an object, select it then click 'Rename'. Enter the new name and click 'Rename' to confirm.
Move
The move action is available for single and multiple selections. Select the objects to be moved, then click 'Move'. In the dialogue box, navigate into the target directory. The currently selected target directory is shown in the path at the top of the dialogue box. Note that the move dialogue only shows directories. Click 'Move' to confirm the move.
Copy
The copy action is available for single and multiple selections of files and directories. Select the objects to be copied, then click “Copy”. In the dialogue box, navigate to the target directory. The currently selected target directory is shown in the path at the top of the dialogue box. Click “Copy” to confirm. Note that access control settings do not get copied.
QuickShare
The QuickShare functionality allows you to easily share a file object stored in the ARCS Data Fabric with anyone without the need for registration or logins. For each shared file, QuickShare generates a unique and obscure URL. Anyone in possession of this URL can directly download this file.
To quickly share/unshare one or more files, select them and click “Share/Unshare.” Choose the action you want to perform in the dialogue, and confirm by clicking “OK”.
If the "Share" action was selected, the “QuickShare” column of the files now contains the QuickShare URLs. To allow others access to a file, simply copy the QuickShare URL and, for example, send it via email or instant message.
If the "Unshare" action was selected, previous QuickShare URLs will be removed from the selected files and will no longer be active.
Note that if you share the same file again, a new QuickShare URL will be generated. Any former QuickShare URL for the same file will become invalid.
Delete
To move a single or multiple objects to the trash, select them in the File Browser. and click 'Delete'. Confirm the deletion in the dialogue or cancel. Note that objects are at this stage not removed from the system but placed into the trash.
The Trash
The access the trash, click on the trash can icon. Inside the trash, the File Browser shows all objects that have been move to the trash through the 'Delete' action.
Objects inside the trash can be restored to their original location or permanently deleted. To perform other actions, such as rename, first restore the object.
To restore one or multiple objects, select them in the File Browser, click 'Restore' and confirm.
Objects in the trash can be removed permanently either selectively or all at once. To permanently remove one or more objects, select them, then click 'Delete' and confirm. To permanently remove all objects, click 'Empty Trash' and confirm.
Practical Data Sharing
Basics of Sharing
The permissions system on the ARCS Data Fabric is stricter than the ones employed by most multiuser operating system. The basic principal is that a user can only see those files and collections to which he or she has at least read access. All other objects are hidden from view and cannot be accessed.
The result of this is that a user needs to have at least read access to the immediate parent collection of any object that is to be shared with this user.
The full link to any object in the ARCS Data Fabric can be obtained by right-clicking on the object's name and selecting 'Copy Link' or 'Copy Link Location'. This link can then be pasted elsewhere (for example, an email or instant message for easy sharing).
The "Organisation" Directory
In the ARCS Data Fabric, users who are members of an organisation with a particular AAF IdP are grouped together for easier sharing of data and resources.
Within an organisation's group directory, there is a "public" directory, as well as a directory for each member. These are named after an individual's ARCS username. By default, the entire organisation has full ownership of all files and directories within the "public" directory. Each individual has full ownership of his/her own directory.
For example, your home directory is in /ARCS/home/<YOUR ARCS USERNAME>. However, within your organisation's directory, you have another personal collection. This means that you can use your own sub-directory as a place to quickly share files with the whole organisation- and your own home directory, for personal files.
To set this up, select your collection within your organisation's directory and modify its access control to give your organisation read access. You must make access "sticky" and recursive. This way, all files that are currently in your directory- as well as all your files added in the future- can immediately be read by all colleagues within your organisation.
QuickShare
The QuickShare functionality allows you to easily share a file object stored in the ARCS Data Fabric with anyone without the need for registration or logins. For each shared file, QuickShare generates a unique and obscure URL. Anyone in possession of this URL can directly download this file.
To quickly share/unshare one or more files, select them and click “Share/Unshare.” Choose the action you want to perform in the dialogue, and confirm by clicking “OK”.
If the "Share" action was selected, the “QuickShare” column of the files now contains the QuickShare URLs. To allow others access to a file, simply copy the QuickShare URL and, for example, send it via email or instant message.
If the "Unshare" action was selected, previous QuickShare URLs will be removed from the selected files and will no longer be active.
Note that if you share the same file again, a new QuickShare URL will be generated. Any former QuickShare URL for the same file will become invalid.
Examples of Sharing
In the examples Huey, Dewey, and Louie are three users registered for ARCS Services that share files in different scenarios.
Huey wants to share a single file
Huey has a file in the subdirectory 'ToShare' of his home directory that he would like to share with Louie. He selects 'ToShare' in the File Browser and modifies its access control so that Louie has read access. He then enters the 'ToShare', selects the file he wishes to share and sets Louie's access to 'read'. He then sends Louie the link to the file. Louie clicks on the link and accesses the file.
Huey also has a file in the same subdirectory that he would like to share with Dewey. To share the file, he also first gives Dewey read access to the 'ToShare' subdirectory and then read access to the file he wishes to share.
Now, both Dewey and Louie have read access to 'ToShare' and each has access to one file in it. It is important to note that despite both having read access to 'ToShare', they can not see or access any objects that in 'ToShare' other then those they explicitly have been given at least read access to.
Huey wants to set up a shared workspace
The three are working on a project that requires them to frequently make files accessible to each other. To make this easy, Huey create a directory in his home directory called 'ProjectShare'. He gives both Dewey and Louie read and write access to the directory and sets the permissions sticky. Now, all three can upload files into 'ProjectShare' and all three can access all files anyone uploads.
Huey wants a space to quickly share with anybody
Huey does not work only with Dewey and Louie, but also commonly shares files with other users. To streamline a shared workspace, he creates a new directory inside his home directory called “SharedSpace.” He modifies the access control of “SharedSpace” to give “public” read access to the directory. This means that any registered user of the system can access this collection. However, because Hewey makes sure to not make the access control setting sticky, files added to this directory are not automatically accessible by all users.
To quickly share a file with any registered user, Hewey adds it to “SharedSpace” and then modifies the access control of this file to give other users access to it. Since the permissions of “SharedSpace” are not sticky, Hewey can have any number of files and subdirectories in “SharedSpace” that are visible only to those users to whom he explicitly gave access.
- When adding Metadata to multiple files at once, any metadata that had been added to any individual file before gets removed.
- Sticky permissions are not inherited when objects get moved into a directory using the ‘Move’ action.
- For Windows, when mounting the Data Fabric via My Network Places, files and directories with ampersands in their names are not handled as expected and may not open. This is a known issue in Windows for Web Folders.
- When using Internet Explorer 6, the user may notice an error message (similar to "transfer doesn't appear to have started yet"). This message is erroneous; if left, the message will disappear and the download will indeed take place.