As part of the migration from Netware-based services to Windows, we need to replace the current PCFTP service. The replacement provides equivalent functionality, but there are some visible differences.
The changeover from the old server to the new one will take place on Monday 18th August, starting from 2pm. Machines on campus should notice the change within minutes, machines off campus may take longer depending on details at their ISP.
If you only use PCFTP to access your MWS home filestore, then you need take no action. The new server will work exactly as the old one did, and any saved FTP settings or scripts will continue to work unchanged.
If you use PCFTP to access filestore other than your MWS home filestore (e.g. departmental filestore, or the filestore of another user who has granted permissions to your username), then the way in which you access that filestore will change, and any saved session information (such as a predefined remote folder) or scripts that refer to that storage will need to be changed as described below. You may also wish to test things prior to the changeover, again, details are below.
With the old server, you were presented with your home filestore by default, and could issue CD commands to move "up" out of it and access other storage to which you had permissions.
With the new server, you again see your home filestore by default, but it forms the "top" or "root" of what is visible. To access other storage, you will find an extra folder inside your filestore called "!VirtualFolders". Inside this you will find further folders corresponding to commonly accessed network locations - all the departmental filestores, staff filestores, and the web server filestore. Inside each you will see only what your username has rights to see, as always.
This virtual folder structure is not really on your M: drive - it is something that the FTP server adds to the list. The leading "!" is so that it is likely to end up at the top when sorted alphabetically.
For example, if you were previously accessing the departmental filestore "mydepartment" by FTP, you might have issued the command:
CD //nwcdept/vol1/mydepartment
To access this location once the new FTP server is live, you would issue the command:
CD /!VirtualFolders/nwcdept_vol1/mydepartment
If using an FTP client with a "Change Directory" button, or a place to type the remote folder name, you would omit the "CD ".
If you wish to test scripts in advance of the changeover, connect to mwsftp.liv.ac.uk rather than pcftp. However, do not store the mwsftp name in scripts or elsewhere - "pcftp" is the offical name of the service, and the name of the underlying server that provides it may change without notice.
Some users may find that they do not see their current home filestore when testing. This is because we are still in the process of updating the necessary attributes by which the FTP server knows where your home filestore is. This process should be completed by the end of today (13th August). As it is only scripts that need to make use of the virtual folder system that need changing, and therefore testing, not seeing your home filestore should make no difference - the virtual folders appear whether the home filestore does or not.
If there is something you currently access via pcftp, but for which you cannot find the virtual folder, let us know and we can add it.
The new server supports secure FTP using SSL. In CoreFTP, for example, you would enable the AuthSSL and OpenSSL settings. Unlike the old server, the new one has a proper certificate in the pcftp.liv.ac.uk name.
The documentation on accessing your filestore remotely - http://www.liv.ac.uk/csd/mobile/myfilestore - will be updated in the near future to cover the new pcftp service, and will be kept up to date with subsequent changes to it (as virtual folders for the new filestore are added, and those for the existing filestore are taken out of service).