On Solaris/Linux:

fs lq
shows quota of the current directory volume

quota
displays user's quota from anywhere in AFS (quota is aliased to fs lq ~)

On Windows:
Right-click K: drive (or any folder) and select AFS -> Volume/Partition -> Properties

See also User Space and Quota

Protect Your Quota!

Do not share your quota by giving someone your password. You can share your account space in other ways (see AFS Permissions). However, be aware that you are giving up quota for someone else's use.

Mail Storage Requirements

Most user mail is stored on IMAP servers in a 10MB quota (20MB for faculty) that is separate from the individual's 50MB AFS quota. However, if you are on POP mail, your mail is downloaded to your account space and shares your 50MB AFS quota (see Mail).

Additional IMAP quota can be purchased up to 250MB.

Deleting Files to Recover Space

On Solaris/Linux:

On Windows:

Drag file/folder to Recycle Bin, or select file/folder and File -> Delete. Empty the Recycle Bin to recover the space that these files took. Right-click Recycle Bin -> Empty

All user volumes (home directories) are backed up nightly on campus servers. However, because every user's disk space is a limited resource (300MB), users should get rid of files they don't need and routinely back up files of importance on a removable storage medium.

Preserving files that are important (an end-of-the-semester project, dissertation, important research, etc.) is ultimately the responsibility of the users who create them. However, if you happen to lose a file, there are procedures in place to help you restore from backup.

All lab workstations come with floppy drives; some also have 250MB zip and CD/RW drives (see Labs). The three platforms have different utilities and software for making backups and conserving space, which are described below.

Windows Platform

You can store files only temporarily on the local C: drive of Windows lab computers, which is cleaned after each logout. Permanent storage is in your AFS space. Backup storage is on external media.

To check your quota (K: drive):

Right-click the K: drive and select AFS -> Volume/Partition -> Properties.

To free up quota:

1. Copy files to disk. Press the Shift key and drag and drop files from the K: drive to floppy disk (drive A:), CD/RW disk (drive D:), or zip disk (drive Z:). This action "moves" files, that is, it deletes them from the first drive (source) and places them on the second (target). Drag and drop without Shift copies files (preserves them in both places) and does not free up any disk space. If you need to format a disk first, place the disk in the drive. Select the drive in My Computer and File -> Format.
2. Delete files. Use Start -> Find -> Files or Folders in Windows Explorer and locate files that may be candidates for deletion, e.g., temporary files (*.tmp), files larger than a certain size, files created before/after certain dates, etc. Make sure that the K: drive appears in the Look in: field. Select file (to select more than one file, hold down the Shift or Ctrl key) and File -> Delete.
   
3. Empty the Recycle Bin. Files you delete go in the Recycle Bin on the desktop. Right-click the Recycle Bin and select Empty Recycle Bin. You can also delete individual files in the Recycle Bin by opening it, selecting the file(s), and File ->Delete.
4. Compress files. Use the PowerArchiver program in Unity Applications of the Novell Application Launcher to zip (archive) and compress files. For help, select Help -> Brief Tutorial

Solaris and Linux Platforms

To check your quota on Solaris/Linux, type quota at the command line. To remove files from your space, see commands in the margin at the left. To copy files to disk, you will need to use mtools.

Using mtools

External drives and media on the Solaris and Linux workstations can only be accessed with the mtools utilities. mtools is a public-domain collection of programs that enables Unix computers to read, write, and manipulate files on MS-DOS file systems. All Solaris/Linux workstations have floppy drives. Some Linux machines (Dells) also have zip drives, but there are no zip drives on the Suns (see also Use of Removable Disks in Labs).

Any pre-formatted 3.5-inch high-density (HD) 1.44MB diskette will work. However, if you need to format a diskette, you can do so on a UNIX/Linux workstation. At the prompt:

fdformat /dev/fd0

The /dev/fd0 is needed to make the diskette work on Linux as well as Solaris workstations. Next, add a minimal MS-DOS file system to the diskette with mformat:

mformat a:

To list the contents of the diskette in drive A:

mdir

The command mdir reads the a: drive by default (to specify another drive, type the drive name after mdir, e.g., mdir z:).

To copy a file from your UNIX computer to the diskette in A:

mcopy oddsends a:

This action copies the file using the same name. To give the file a different name:

mcopy oddsends a:newname

To reverse-copy a file with the same name from the floppy diskette in A: to the current directory you are in on UNIX:

mcopy a:oddsends

This command copies to your current working directory on UNIX by default. Or, specify a path, if necessary. To specify a new name for the "destination" file:

mcopy a:oddsends newname

Make sure that there is no space between the a: and the source file. However, be sure to put a space between the source and destination files.

You can also use the wildcard * to copy files from one place to another. To copy all of the files in your current directory to the diskette in drive A:

mcopy * a:

To copy to disk only those files in the directory with the .html extension:

mcopy *.html a:

Consult the man page on mtools (man mtools) to learn other mtools commands. There are also man pages on the individual commands, e.g., man mdir, man mcopy.

Tar and Compress Files

The GNU tar command (tape archive) takes multiple files and archives them as a single file, which can then be further compressed in size with GNU zip. tar also works in reverse to extract files from a "tarfile" and restore them to their original state. The following instructions show how to archive/extract files to/from a single tarfile.

To tar and gnuzip the work directory and its files:

1. Put files to be archived in a subdirectory, e.g., work
   
2. add gnu (Solaris only; GNU tar is default for Linux)
   
3. Make a single compressed file from the files in work:
   tar zcvf file.tgz work
   (the z flag does the gnuzip step to compress the file)
4. Move tarfile (mv file.tgz) to other media and remove the work directory and its contents, \rm -rf work

To restore the work directory and its files:

1. Copy file.tgz back to your AFS space
2. add gnu
3. Extract the work subdirectory and its files:
   tar zxvf file.tgz
   
4. Check to see that the work directory and files are restored and then remove the tarfile, rm file.tgz

Related Resources

Use of Removable Disks in Labs

Restore from Backup

Purchasing Additional File Space

Service Rates

Storage and Backup (in Guide, PDF)

Information Technology and Engineering Computer Services (ITECS)
College of Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695
Comments to eoshelp@ncsu.edu. URL: http://www.eos.ncsu.edu/

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