Depending on your laptop there are a few clients that can be installed.
Please note that RCIC does not provide Windows OS or macOS support for the campus.
If there is an operating system related issue, RCIC will refer you to you get support
to address your systems issue first before installing CRSP Desktop.
Supported Protocols for Accessing CRSP
The following underlying data transfer protocols are supported for clients accessing CRSP:
In July 2024, Campus DUO multifactor authentication
became mandatory for all CRSP desktop clients. The push response of DUO can become very tiresome.
On some clients, DUO can make CRSP unusable because every file transfer requires another
DUO push. RCIC cannot “turn off DUO”.
However, ssh keys with strong passwords is a secure method to to provide a different
second factor of authentication. SSH keys managed properly do not require DUO after initial setup but still maintain
strong security.
Quick Start
You should follow the guide to Generate SSH keys for different platforms.
Remember:
Never copy an ssh private key file!
All ssh keys that you generate MUST have a strong password.
Passwordless keys are a security violation.
DO NOT COPY ssh keys from one laptop to another. Every different physical
device should have a different ssh key pair.
We highly recommend that your private key file is in
PEM format and has a .pem file extension.
The CRSP desktop clients recognize PEM-formatted keys more reliably.
Learn how to use SSH Agent on your desktop/laptop. On Windows,
you can also use Putty’s pageant.
SSH agents securely store a private key in memory so that you only have to type the key’s passphrase once.
You must either be on the campus network or connected to the
UCI campus VPN to download the installers.
UCI pays a per-seat license for CRSP Desktop.
Please do not share your downloaded copy of CRSP Desktop Installer with anyone.
If you have a different (previous or newer) version of the
CRSP Desktop (or Mountain Duck), you need to uninstall it.
Download Step 1:
Using your choice of the web browser open URL CRSP File Browser
and login using your UCInetID and password (left image below). Once you
see a request for a Duo push (right image below) respond to it with your phone’s Duo app.
You should see three items on screen: a .pkg file for Mac clients, a .exe file for Windows,
and older-versions folder. To toggle the between list and icon view click on the Layout
icon outlined in green.
For the Mac, simply click on the file with .pkg ending:
You should then see a screen with a download button on it and the full name of the file that will be downloaded
to your local computer. Click Download:
First time the application is started, it will automatically open a template
window where you can configure your connection. The template bookmark is labeled panteater.
You will edit this bookmark with your specific information.
Configure Step 2
The most common share to access is a lab share, owned by a UCI’s PI.
Information needed to connect to CRSP:
Your UCInetID
The UCInetID of the CRSP lab owner:
It is our UCInetID if you own CRSP Lab
It is the UCInetID of your PI, If you are a graduate student/post-doctoral researcher.
In the following example configuration, we are going to use the
information for user npw to access the ppapadop lab:
UCInetID - npw
UCInetID of the CRSP lab owner - ppapadop
You will edit 5 fields in the default bookmark (left image below):
Nickname - we recommend to change it to something like: CRSP LAb - <pi> lab
Username - your UCInetID
SSH Private Key - use an SSH key name that you generated when following the
Quick Start procedure for working effectively with DUO.
The corresponding public key should have also been copied to CRSP
into ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file.
Path - only the last part (highlighted below) that represents CRSP Lab Owner’s UCINetID
should be edited. The /mmfs1/crsp/lab must remain unchanged.
Connect Mode - change to Online. This keeps all files on CRSP
and reduces local cache space. If you use CRSP from multiple clients, this the most reliable
mechanism for keeping all data in sync.
The URL is created automatically from the information you type in other fields,
you don’t directly change it. This URL is for using the SFTP protocol to access
CRSP and is an end-to-end encrypted connection.
After editing the bookmark, your screen should look similar to the one below (right image) but with your
specific information in place. Click Connect to save the updated bookmark and to connect to the share.
After editing, if you click on the CRSP Desktop Notification Icon (top bar),
you should see your bookmarks. Click on the bookmark of your choice (there
may be one or a few), then click on Connect:
The snapshots folder is hidden. To view hidden files/folders in Finder window
press Command + Shift + . (period) to make the hidden files appear
(they will have a slightly translucent in appearance).
macOS: Password+DUO vs. Passphrase
You have two authentication options when connecting to CRSP:
Option 1: SSH Key with Passphrase
We highly recommend that you use ssh keys with a passphrase as described in the
Quick Start guide. Assuming you did that,
when you click connect in the macOS Connect to Lab Share section, you should see a pop-up
window similar to the following (with your ssh key info):
Notice that a passphrase for the ssh private key (a local file ~/.ssh/crsp-npw)
is requested. You can optionally save the passphrase in your Keychain Access app.
Assuming that the public key for the private key has been properly installed on CRSP, you should be connected
without a DUO prompt.
Option 2: UCInetID + password + DUO Push
If you do not install an ssh key, you will be prompted for your UCInetID password and a DUO push. Even if you have
the CRSP Desktop remember your password, the DUO Push will be required each and every time the desktop
reconnects to CRSP.
Step 1 Enter your password, similar to the following:
Fig. 5.15 Enter the password associated with YOUR UCInetID
Usually, you would enter 1 in the box, click on Continue and you will receive a DUO push on your phone.
If your phone isn’t available, then you can enter one of your DUO backup codes that
you set up when you enrolled in DUO through the UCI Office of Information Technology.
macOS: Add New Shares
You are not limited to just a single, mapped, space. To create a new share,
click Open Connection to create a new template and edit it
per the directions in macOS Configure Lab Share.
You must either be on the campus network or connected to the
UCI campus VPN to download the installers.
UCI pays a per-seat license for CRSP Desktop.
Please do not share your downloaded copy of CRSP Desktop Installer with anyone.
If you have a different (previous or newer) version of the
CRSP Desktop (or Mountain Duck), you need to uninstall it.
Download Step 1:
Using your choice of the web browser open URL CRSP File Browser
and login using your UCInetID and password (left image below). Once you
see a request for a Duo push (right image below) respond to it with your phone’s Duo app.
You should see three items on screen: a .pkg file for Mac clients, a .exe file for Windows,
and older-versions folder. To toggle the between list and icon view click on the Layout
icon outlined in green.
For the Windows, simply click on the file with .exe ending.
You should then see a screen with a download button on it and the full name of the file that will be downloaded
to your local computer. Click Download and save the file to your local computer:
By default, the file is downloaded in your Downloads folder. Find the downloaded file,
double-click on it to launch the installation of the licensed version of CRSP Desktop.
Install Step 2
In the opened window click Install to Install the CRSP Desktop on your laptop.
CRSP Desktop shows in the Windows
Notification Area
(also known as system tray). You can left-click or right-click on the CRSP Desktop icon to open it (left image).
Once opened in a set of bookmarks choose a template bookmark labeled panteater (right image):
The most common share to access is a lab share, owned by a UCI’s PI.
Information needed to connect to CRSP:
Your UCInetID
The UCInetID of the CRSP lab owner:
It is our UCInetID if you own CRSP Lab
It is the UCInetID of your PI, If you are a graduate student/post-doctoral researcher.
In the following example configuration, we are going to use the
information for user nppapadop to access the npw lab:
UCInetID - ppapadop
UCInetID of the CRSP lab owner - npw
You will edit 5 fields in the default bookmark (left image below):
Nickname - we recommend to change it to something like: CRSP LAb - <pi> lab
Username - your UCInetID
SSH Private Key - use an SSH key name that you generated when following the
Quick Start procedure for working effectively with DUO.
The corresponding public key should have also been copied to CRSP
into ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file.
Path - only the last part (highlighted below) that represents CRSP Lab Owner’s UCINetID
should be edited. The /mmfs1/crsp/lab must remain unchanged.
Connect Mode - change to Online. This keeps all files on CRSP
and reduces local cache space. If you use CRSP from multiple clients, this the most reliable
mechanism for keeping all data in sync.
The URL is created automatically from the information you type in other fields,
After editing the bookmark, your screen should look similar to the one below (right image) but with your
specific information in place. Click OK to save the updated bookmark.
If you are not running ssh-agent or CRSP desktop has not remembered your password, you should be asked for the
passphrase to your ssh private key file that you specified.
At this point, your lab share is connected and you can use it just like a folder or network drive.
Windows: Password + DUO vs. Passphrase
You have two authentication options when connecting to CRSP:
Option 1: SSH Key with Passphrase
We highly recommend that you use ssh keys with a passphrase as described in the
Quick Start guide.
When you click Connect in the previous step win Connect to Lab Share, you should see a pop-up
window similar to the following:
Notice that a passphrase is requested for a local file (ssh private key).
You can optionally save the passphrase. Assuming that the public key for
the private key has been properly installed on CRSP, you should be connected
without a DUO prompt.
Option 2: UCInetID + password + DUO Push
If you do NOT install an ssh key, you will be prompted for your UCInetID password and a DUO push. Even if you have
the CRSP Desktop remember your password, the DUO Push will be required each and every time the desktop
reconnects to CRSP.
Step 1 Enter your password, similar to the following:
Fig. 5.31 Enter the password associated with YOUR UCInetID
Step 2 Respond to the DUO push
Usually, you would enter 1 in the box, and you will receive a DUO push on your phone. If your phone isn’t
available, then you can enter one of your DUO backup codes that you set up when you enrolled in
DUO through the UCI Office of Information Technology
You are not limited to just a single, mapped, space. To create a new share,
click Open Connection to create a new template and edit it
following the directions above in win Configure Lab Share.
Here is an example with multiple connections configured and active:
Using your choice of the web browser open URL CRSP File Browser
and login using your UCInetID and password (left image below). Once you
see a request for a Duo push (right image below) respond to it with your phone’s Duo app.
Once logged in, you will be presented with the CRSP top level screen. You can
follow the tab My-labs to your Lab shared areas or the tab My-Home
to your HOME private area.
Nothing can be stored in HOME area, it is used for for files associated with the account
and for storing quota info file. It is a completely private area, only you have access.
All work on CRSP must be done in your lab area.
Lab areas are flexible for sharing. You can be granted access to multiple Lab areas.
To see your labs, Click on My-Labs, then click on CONNECT.
You will see a screen similar to the image below. In this example a user npw
has an access to 4 labs:
The File Browser is fairly easy to navigate, with some very basic sets of functions.
Create folders (directories)
Click on desired folders to navigate to a location where you want to create a
new folder. Click on NEW FOLDER and on a newly opened line type
desired folder name:
Click on desired folders to navigate to a location where you want to create a
file then click on NEW FILE and on a newly opened line type
desired file name:
Then follow your local laptop file finder application that will let you
choose file or multiple files for upload.
Once uploaded the CRSP browser will show a confirmation similar to
the one below showing your uploaded file name:
On your laptop you will need super user (sudo) rights to install SSHFS.
For CentOS based laptop
$ yum-yinstallsshfs
For Ubuntu/Debian based systems
$ apt-get-yinstallsshfs
Mount CRSP shares
SSHFS will Map CRSP Lab Share as a folder on your laptop.
Important
You must either be on the campus network or connected to the
UCI campus VPN.
Information needed to connect to CRSP:
Your UCInetID
The UCInetID of the CRSP lab owner:
It is our UCInetID if you own CRSP Lab
It is the UCInetID of your PI, If you are a graduate student/post-doctoral researcher.
From your desktop or laptop, execute the following command
replacing username and labname with the appropriate UCInetID(s):
$ cd~
$ mkdircrsp_mount
$ sshfs-ossh_command='ssh -A -X -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no'\-oidmap=userusername@access.crsp.uci.edu:/mmfs1/crsp/lab/labname\~/crsp_mount
As a result, sshfs mounts CRSP Lab share under ~/crsp_mount
directory. Use any name of your choice in place of crsp_mount.
Sshfs will not automatically map all your remote UID and GID from all of your CRSP groups
into your local Linux system, it will only present your primary UID/GID.
Note in the command above the use of -o idmap=user option.
As the campus does not have a centralized directory service to manage every system, options
to keep your local system and CRSP accounts synced are very limited.
Unmount CRSP shares
To unmount the share that was mounted in the above example:
$ fusermount-u~/crsp_mount
Using SSHFS
Copy a file from your local system to your SSHFS mounted drive
$ cp~/dir1/file.tar.gz~/crsp_mount/share/
Recursively copy a directory from local system to mounted CRSP share using rsync
HOME area for all users accounts. All HOME snapshots are in /share/crsp/home/.snapshots
with read only access. Users can only access their own HOME area.
lab:
Lab area for all users accounts. Each LAB directory has snapshots in .snapshots/
for read-only access by LAB members.
CRSP HOME
User CRSP HOME area is /share/crsp/home/UCInetID:
it is a placeholder for login related files.
it is different from your HPC3 account’s $HOME
Do not store anything in your CRSP HOME
file quotas.txt is placed automatically in your CRSP HOME area
and provides information about quotas. Please see Quotas for details.
CRSP LAB
LAB area is your primary storage area. It is /share/crsp/lab/UCInetID
or any other LAB directories you have access for.
If you are a PI and it’s your lab
USERNAME
LABNAME
Mounted location
Read/write access
your
UCInetID
your
UCInetID
/share/crsp/lab/LABNAME
you can create any directories and files
/share/crsp/lab/LABNAME/USERNAME
your personal space
If you are added to a PI lab e.g., you are a student/postdoc in the lab
USERNAME
LABNAME
Mounted location
Read/write access
your
UCInetID
your PI
UCInetID
/share/crsp/lab/LABNAME/USERNAME
you and PI
/share/crsp/lab/LABNAME/share
all lab members
The following example shows the directory structure and permissions
for a PI panteater who has a lab and added 2 students:
