Windows

In the search or query field, type the path to your share. You can access this search field directly from the Windows toolbar or in File Explorer.

The pattern for SMB (Windows) shares is \\files.cornell.edu\My-OU\My-Share-Name. For example, if you are in the department VM and need to access the school-archives share, you'd type in

\\files.cornell.edu\VM\school-archives

If you don't know the exact path to your share, just type \\files.cornell.edu\ and look through the folders for the share you need.

Mac OS

In a Finder window, press command-k (hold the command key down and press the letter “k” on your keyboard). In the box that appears with the “Connect to Server:” prompt, type the name of your share. On the Mac, an SMB (Windows) share will take the form:

smb://files.cornell.edu/My-OU/My-Share-Name

If you don't know the full path to your share, just type smb://files.cornell.edu/ and look through the list for your share.

Direct Path

The UNCs listed above are DFS links. DFS or Distributed File System is Microsoft’s method of organizing shares into a systematized tree.

From a Windows endpoint, you can view the underlying path by right-clicking on the folder that points to the share; selecting Properties; and then selecting the DFS tab. In this tab, you will see a direct path to the share.

There may be times when it is not possible to use DFS. For example, iOS cannot follow the DFS tree and needs a direct path to the share. The easiest way to remember this pointer is to use the share-name in both the host and share portion of the UNC. For example, if my share is named Work and is in the CIT OU (organization unit), the UNC path would be:

\\cit-work.files.cornell.edu/cit-work

or

smb://cit-work.files.cornell.edu/cit-work

Switch User on Mac OS

If you need to switch user (use different credentials) to connect to the desired CIFS share see Using Different Credentials on MacOS.