Avanced data access in ERDA
Apart from the webinterface, there are other ways you can work with your files in ERDA, ways, that offer you a more efficient, transparent, and integrated access.
Through advanced data access you can a.o. transfer many and large files effectively and mount your ERDA files on your PC as network drives, letting you work with them as though they were local files. All ERDA-access uses a secure connection, meaning that they are always available if you are online. In other words, you do not need to use VPN to access ERDA outside of AU.
TIP: Check out our intro at https://erda.au.dk to see how you can set up ERDA as a network drive via SSHFS or WebDAVS. We will run through the details for both options here.
WebDAVS
WebDAVS is a protocol to access remote storage via an add-on to the http protocol, and it can be secured with TLS/SSL like webpages. We call the secured version WebDAVS. Newer versions of Microsoft Windows, Mac OSX and Linux integrate WebDAVS, so you can safely access the remote storage without installing new programs. It is relatively easy to use WebDAVS, but it has some limitations: it is not particularly efficient if you are working with large amounts of data, nor is it robust in terms of network outages. We recommend an SFTP-based option if you want capacity and stability.
Open WebDAVS under ERDA Setup and configure how you want to identify yourself on our server. Choose a password for login and click Save WebDAVS Settings.
NB: your login details – including your automatic username – will be displayed in the same place.
![[Translate to English:] Image shows ERDA Setup page](/fileadmin/ingen_mappe_valgt/ERDA_Setup_pic.png)
You can find the URL you need to establish the connection under Host. The automatic username is the email you use to log in.
Windows file management
In Windows, you can open WebDAVS remote folders from Files. The appearance changes slightly between the different versions, and you can also use other commercial solutions. Here we show how to use Tilknyt netværksdrev in Windows 10.
Click on Computer and Tilknyt netværksdrev to start the guide
Choose a letter for your network drive (e.g. Z:), copy paste the server URL from ERDA and click Udfør.
Log in using your username and the password you selected in the WebDAVS tab and click OK.
If your login is successful, you will see your ERDA files under the drive name you selected.
As long as you are online, you can work on the files in the same way as those on your PC. The next time you start your device, you only need to open the network drive. When you have finished working on the files, right-click on the drive and select Disconnect to close the connection.
Adjust the size limit for Windows WebDAVS
Unfortunately, Microsoft has set a low limit on the size of the files you can download through WebDAVS. This means that you will receive an error message if you try to download files of around 50MB or more.
You can increase the limit to 4GB through the Registry Editor. We will go through how you do this, but the solution is also described here: FIX: Error 0x800700DF The file size exceeds the limit allowed and cannot be saved in SharePoint & WebDAV. - wintips.org - Windows Tips & How-tos.
Search for Regedit on your computer and run the command.
Select the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, folder, open SYSTEM, and open CurrentControlSet.
Open Services, WebClient and Parameters. This will take you to FilesizeLimitinBytes, where you can change the value to, for example, 4294967295 in Decimal base.
You can now transfer files of up to 4GB.
If you work with large amounts of data, we recommend that you use SSHFS instead of WebDAVS.
Mac OSX file management
On Mac OSX, use Finder to open WebDAVS folders. Select Connect to Server under Go and enter the server URL from ERDA’s WebDAVS tab under Server Address. Click Connect.
Log in with the username and code you selected on the WebDAVS tab.
If your login is successful, you will see your SIF folder on your device.
Linux file management
On most modern Linux distributions, you can open WebDAVS folders with file manager, regardless of whether it is Nautilus, Konqueror, Dolphin, Thunar or a fifth. Click Go and select Open Location.
Enter the server URL from WebDAVS (if it doesn’t work, replace https with davs in the URL) and click Connect.
Log in with the username and password from the WebDAVS tab.
If you manage to login, you will see the remote content in your system.
SFTP
SFTP is a secure and efficient protocol for file transfers, a little like the old FTPprotocol, but with built-in security. SFTP builds on the OpenSSH security infrastructure and is supported by a number of clients on the popular platforms. Some of them integrate the functionality in their file management, so you do not need to download apps.
Open the SFTP tab under Setup and configure how you want to identify yourself on our server. Either copy-paste one or more SSH public keys or choose a password and click Save SFTP Settings.
NB: your login details – including your username – will be displayed in the same place.
You can use one of the clients below, which we know all work with ERDA, but other clients should also work.
WinSCP
WinSCP is another FTP/FTPS/SFTP client for Windows, and is also available as a portable version. It also has a semi-automatic sync function that makes it easier to synchronise files between your device and ERDA.
Find more information on the project's own website: https://winscp.net/
PuTTY SFTP
PuTTY is an SSH client developed for Windows, but it is now also available on other platforms. It includes an SFTP client command line that can be used with ERDA.
NB: for security reasons, you must use version 0.67 or later versions to connect to our SFTP service. Older versions (at least until 0.64) will refuse to connect, with the error message "Couldn't agree a key exchange algorithm: available...". PuTTY Changes lists several security fixes, which is a sufficient reason to upgrade to version 0.68 or later.
Find more information on the project's own website: www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/
Linux file management
On most modern Linux distributions, you can access SFTP remote folders with the file Manager. The procedure is similar to WebDAVS, but you need to change the URL to point to SFTP.
Enter server details from SFTP under setup and click Connect. Replace sftp with ssh in the address if it fails. In our example, we only need to enter sftp://sif-io.erda.dk, as port 22 is implicit.
The rest of the setup is like for WebDAVS, but with login details from your SFTP Setup.
SSHFS
On Mac OSX and Linux you can map remote directories locally with SSHFS, so you can use the content as if it were a local folder, and now Windows also has a well-functioning client. SSHFS uses an SSH/SFTP connection and has inherited its capacity and robustness. You can use it directly with ERDA SFTP.
Install SSHFS on Windows by downloading and running WinFsp and SSHFS-Win from Win-SSHFS. Now your ordinary file management can support map drive via SFTP – more or less as described under WebDAVS for Windows, but without the difficult additional system adjustments.
A short guide with a practical example and a video is available on the Win-SSHFS page, and there you can see that you need to use the form \\sshfs\ BRUGERNAVN@SERVER in connection with map drive. Write USER NAME and SERVER as described under SFTP, with the login you chose in ERDA.
On Mac OSX, you can install SSHFS by downloading and opening FUSE For OS X and SSHFS packages from OSXFuse SSHFS or through the MacPorts/Brew commands. With FUSE, you can also use MacFusion, which integrates your SSHFS as an image instead of using terminal commands.
On Linux, you must install SSHFS via Software Center or the APT/YUM commands. Here, the name of the package is sshfs. In addition to the example from the ERDA SFTP tab, there are several guides online to help you if you get stuck. You can also use Linux's built-in SFTP support from Filhåndteringen if you do not want to install sshfs and familiarise yourself with how to use it from the command line.
Windows mount with WSL (v2) and SSHFS
In this powerpoint, our coordinator for Nat, Jesper Lykkegaard Karlsen, shows how to mount ERDA as a windows drive with WSL (v2) and SSHFS.
MacOS mount with SSHFS
In this powerpoint, our coordinator at Nat, Jesper Lykkegaard Karlsen, shows how you can mount ERDA on MacOS with SSHFS.
WebDAVS/SFTP access to Share Links
Provided they have read- and write- access, you can combine ERDA Share Links with efficient file access from WebDAVS and SFTP. With these, you can map share links, provided the link has both read and write access, to your PC as a network drive. In this way, you can exchange files with collaboration partners who do not have an ERDA account.
You can also share a folder as a type of shared drive with share links if you want to avoid logging on to ERDA. In this way, you can share your own folders and folders from a group.
Previously, we went through how you map folders from different platforms, and here the procedure is the same. The only difference is that you must use the share link ID of 10 characters both as your username and code. You can share the share link with ID gBf51LXf4T by connecting to WebDAVS/SFTP with gBf51LXf4T as both username and code.
Support
- erda-info.it@au.dk
- Opening hours: Mon-Thurs 9-4.30, Fri 9-4
To get help with 2-factor authentication and mouting, contact your local IT-support