Making the move to ZFS

So you've been told that you must move your Web pages and other files from the Cal Poly Pomona Intranet to something called "ZFS". We won't tell you that it's easy, but here are some suggestions to make it a lot less painful.

First steps

Check your ZFS quota

Go to My Control Panel and log in. On the summary page, you will see "Directory Quota (Intranet)" and "Directory Quota (ZFS)". Make sure that the first number (the amount used) of your Intranet quota is smaller than the second number (total quota) of your ZFS quota. If it is not (this is very uncommon), you will not have space to move all your files. Contact the Cal Poly Pomona Help Desk to have your ZFS quota increased. Log into Web Help Desk (WHD) and submit a Help Desk ticket to the Cal Poly Pomona Help Desk (you will need to know your BroncoName and BroncoPassword). If you can't log into WHD, use the help request form.

Assess your files

Moving to ZFS is a good time for housekeeping. Anything you are not using can be either deleted from the Intranet or left on the Intranet uncopied, so that it will go away when the system does (and of course you can copy any of it to your local computer)

There are two specific areas where housekeeping is essential:

Files that contain Social Security numbers, grades or any other protected information (whether they are public or private) — All files containing SSNs should be deleted from your Intranet space, not copied to ZFS, and not copied to your local hard disk. Unless you ave been instructed to do so by your manager and provided with proper safeguards, you should never store SSNs on any computer system. It is understandable that faculty will keep assignment grades for current-quarter classes easily available, but past-quarter grades should normally be archived in a secure manner (please see your College or Department tech for details).
Web pages that do not meet Sect. 508 criteria for accessibility to users with disabilities — Old Web pages that contain outdated information can be deleted, archived to your local computer or copied to the private area of ZFS. Current Web pages can be copied to the private area of ZFS until they are made accessible, at which point they can be moved into your public Web space. For assistance with accessibility, email accessibility@csupomona.edu.

The easy way

I&IT Web Development has created a Web application called DZcopy to make the move easier for average users. DZcopy shows you all your Intranet folders, with their included files, and allows you to designate each folder as "public", "private" and "do not copy". Public folders and their files will be copied to your ZFS /www folder, where all your Web pages go. Private folders and their files will be copied to a /dfs folder, and will be only visible to you (and never through a Web browser). If you select "do not copy", the Intranet files will go away when the Intranet does.

You can only use DZcopy for yourself (it doesn't work with group web pages, and it can't be used on behalf of another user). A few users shouldn't use DZcopy at all.

Special cases

I have lots of files

DZcopy works extremely slowly for users with thousands of files. It's slow for you to select the files, and it's slow for the program to copy them. A better solution is to connect to both the Intranet and ZFS as network shares, and copy the files manually.

I use Spinneret

Spinneret is an application that lets you create a set of navigable, empty Web pages (using the Cal Poly Pomona templates) to which you can add content with Adobe Contribute. Because of the way Spinneret builds your Web pages from components that live outside your user directory, it doesn't work "out of the box" on ZFS. We're working to fix that, and hope to be able to move Spinneret pages by late October, 2009.

I use "user CGIs"

ZFS does not support user or group CGIs. Once you move to ZFS, your CGIs will no longer work. Some widely used CGIs (e.g., cppformmail) will be available on ZFS, but if you have custom CGIs, please contact Curtis Clark at jcclark@csupomona.edu to discuss alternatives.

What about groups?

Group Web pages (such as eHelp) are similar to user Web pages, with a couple of exceptions:

Groups are not automatically assigned file and Web space in ZFS — Because not all groups are used for file and Web space (some are used only for email or authentication), assigning ZFS space is a manual activity, carried out by the Cal Poly Pomona Help Desk or I&IT Web Development. If your group has never had Web pages or group files storage, or if you did in the past but no longer do, you need do nothing. Your group will be unchanged by the move to ZFS, except that it will no longer have file space. If your group will need ZFS file space, and you're not sure whether it has been assigned, go to Group Control Panel; if you see "Directory Quota (ZFS) N/A", there is no space assigned. To get space, please contact the Cal Poly Pomona Help Desk or I&IT Web Development.
DZcopy doesn't work for groups — Sorry.

I need help

If you still have questions, contact the Cal Poly Pomona Help Desk. Log into Web Help Desk (WHD) and submit a Help Desk ticket to the Cal Poly Pomona Help Desk (you will need to know your BroncoName and BroncoPassword). If you can't log into WHD, use the help request form.

This page was last updated on August 18, 2009.