Linux is a fantastic alternative to Windows and Mac, especially on older PCs. Linux has some amazing advantages, such as a robust library of free and open source software, extensive community support. It’s fast, takes up very little hard drive space and can be used on a huge array of modern and older equipment.
We love Linux at Exomeridian. So much so we use it every day for our workstation systems. Our distribution of choice is Debian, but any Linux distribution based off of Debian will work the same.
If you are like us and use Linux as your daily computer, chances are good that you’re familiar with mount points and the command line. Below are two options on how to access cloud storage with Linux. As with all flavors of Linux, there are hundreds of different ways to do things, so if you are trying something and don’t see it here, let us know.
Setting up Gnome Files to connect to your shared WebDAV storage
Very simply, open up the Files program under “Applications”>Accessories menu.
At the bottom of the window you’ll see a connect box
Simply enter the following in that line (as in the picture) and click “Connect”
davs://c01.exomeridian.com/<username>The next screen will prompt you for the password and ask you whether you wish to save it until you log out or for all future connections. Make your selection and you’re done!
Setting up a permanent mount for your WebDAV shared storage
This method is a bit more technical, but it allows you to access cloud storage with Linux as if it was just another folder on your computer. This allows that mount point to survive after you’ve logged out and is a great way to do it if you are scripting file transfers or performing backups.
The first thing you want to do is make a determination where you’d like the mount point to be. Many Linux systems will use /mnt. So we’ll create a folder under that location.
Open your terminal program and enter:
$ sudo mkdir /mnt/<username>Next you’ll want to edit the /etc/fstab file
$ sudo vi /etc/fstabAdd the following line to the bottom of the file
https://c01.exomeridian.com/<username>/ /mnt/<username> davfs _netdev,user,noauto 0 0This line indicates:
- what location you want to mount
- where you want to mount it in the file system
- the file system type that is being mounted
- the file system is a network file system so delay mounting it until the network is up
- any user can mount this file system
- not automatically mount the file system on boot
- whether to dump the file system or not
- whether to check the file system on startup and if so what order
Once you’re done, save the /etc/fstab file and mount the shared storage folder.
$ sudo mount /mnt/<username>It’ll prompt you for a username and password, so enter those. When done you’ll be able to navigate to /mnt/<username> and all the folders underneath that.
Check out more of our How-To’s for additional great tips like this one.