CS101 - Set up your H: drive

When logged onto computers in the BCC labs, in addition to the normal Windows C: drive, you should see several network drives. One, called P:, is read-only and contains additional programs and materials used in various courses throughout the university. The other network drive, known as your H: drive, is private disk space that you will use to store your personal files. It is, in fact, part of the university-wide Unix file space shared by all undergraduate students. This allows you to access your files from any machine on campus, and to create web pages that the whole world can see!

Important Notes:

Lab computers will only allow you to save files to:
- your H: drive,
- a USB drive (whose name may vary),
- your local user folder on C:
  (the contents of which may not be there when you log in again!)
- and to C:\temp
  (the contents of which are automatically deleted when you log out).
Whilst computer hardware is very reliable nowadays, you should never completely trust any computer storage system! Always make sure you have several copies (backups) of your work, such that you can recover most/all of it should anything unforeseen happen.
The fact that all undergraduate student accounts occupy space on the same Unix file system, opens up the possibility that others may gain access to your files. Providing you do not change the initial (default) security settings, however, you should be safe!

Set up your folder structure now so that you know where to put things in advance. It is a good idea to get into the habit of organising your work because it will be easier to find, saving you time and frustration later. CS101 students should create the following default folder setup now. It provides places for you to make public webpages as well as private places for each lab assignment you will undertake this semester. Obviously, you can create additional folders for other courses as necessary.

Default folder setup required for CS101:

H:\
  \public_html  		( folder for your public webpages )
  \private       		( folder definitely for your eyes only! )
          \cs101 		( sub folder for the CS101 course )
                \lab01 		(   - with subfolders for each lab assignment )  
  		\lab02
  		   :
  		\lab12

Create this folder hierarchy USING WINDOWS EXPLORER

Create a new folder in your H: drive called "private"
(files and folders within this folder will be readable and changeable by you only.)
In this "private" folder, create a sub-folder called "cs101"
Then inside the cs101 folder, create sub-folders named "lab01", "lab02", and so on up to "lab12"
Create another new folder in the root of your H: drive called "public_html"
(everyone will be able to read files placed in this folder, but only you can change them.)
You will place your WebPages here, since this is where the webserver looks for them.

Important: If you already have folders and files on your H:\ drive, you can move them into your new "private" folder to ensure that they really do remain private (BUT do not move the "profileXXX" folders or any files beginning with a dot character)!

Finally, the tricky bit. You have to ensure everyone has access to the root and public_html folders in your account, but cannot access anything in your private folder! The default security settings for new ug student accounts should normally give appropriate access rights to any files and folders you create, however, it is a good idea to be sure. You can view/change the access rights in one of two ways; the easy way (which probably won't work in BCC labs) using Windows Explorer or the slightly more difficult way using Unix and Putty.

Using Windows Explorer

Right click on the private folder and choose “properties”. Then choose the “security” tab. In that panel, "Remove" all users except you. Finally click "OK". This process will make your private folder private!

You might also like to check that the public_html folder has "Everybody" in its list.

or Using Unix and Putty

Find and Run Putty from the Windows Start menu

In Putty, enter nar.ug.bcc.bilkent.edu.tr as the Host name

and select the telnet option

After a while, the remote machine should respond with the login: prompt. Enter your username and press the enter key. Note: your Windows username and password are also valid for Unix.

The machine should then ask for your password. Type it and again press the Enter key.

All being well you should see the Unix system prompt.

Type the commands below (pressing Enter after each line!)
chmod 700 private
chmod 711 public_html

Type “exit” and press Enter to close the connection.