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| maccloudtools [2020_07_28 13:16] – jim | maccloudtools [2020_07_28 13:38] – jim |
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| # Mac Tools Cloud Apps | # Mac Apps |
| ##### Last updated on March 12, 2020 ##### | ##### Last updated on March 12, 2020 ##### |
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| The File Fabric Cloud Apps provide a suite of tools that can be used as a means of interacting with one or more cloud storage providers directly from Mac OSX. User can choose to use the entire suite or choose which of the tools fit their working patter. The Apps include: | The File Fabric Cloud Apps provide a suite of tools that can be used as a means of interacting with one or more cloud storage providers directly from Mac OSX. User can choose to use the entire suite or choose which of the tools fit their working patter. The Apps include: |
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| - A 'Cloud Drive' directly accessible from Finder which provide a 'view' and download on demand of remote files. | - A 'Cloud Drive' directly accessible from Finder which provide a 'view' and download on demand of remote files. \\ \\ |
| - A local-to-remote folder mapping App to sync files off-line. | - A local-to-remote folder mapping App to sync files off-line. \\ \\ |
| - An OSX menu bar 'Search App' that functions like a cloud spotlight search for quickly finding / sharing / downloading remote cloud files. | - An OSX menu bar 'Search App' that functions like a cloud spotlight search for quickly finding / sharing / downloading remote cloud files. \\ \\ |
| - An OSX Mail plug-in that enables secure file links to be added to Mac Mail. (a similar toolbar option is provided for those who use Outlook or other Mac email providers). | - An OSX Mail plug-in that enables secure file links to be added to Mac Mail. (a similar toolbar option is provided for those who use Outlook or other Mac email providers). \\ \\ |
| - Finder integration for file sharing and other actions. | - Finder integration for file sharing and other actions. \\ \\ |
| The virtual drive feature makes use of a technology known as OSXFuse which is installed as part of the setup. This is seamless unless you have MacFuse already installed. If this is the case then may be prompted to upgrade MacFuse before installing the Mac Cloud Apps. If you are using an existing App with MacFuse then be sure to choose to use the compatibility layer and remove the existing MacFuse installation. You can also check for later versions from the SME advanced tab accessible using System Preferences. | The virtual drive feature makes use of a technology known as OSXFuse which is installed as part of the setup. This is seamless unless you have MacFuse already installed. If this is the case then may be prompted to upgrade MacFuse before installing the Mac Cloud Apps. If you are using an existing App with MacFuse then be sure to choose to use the compatibility layer and remove the existing MacFuse installation. You can also check for later versions from the SME advanced tab accessible using System Preferences. \\ \\ |
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| What is OSXFuse ? | What is OSXFuse ? |
| Once installed you will see a new System Preferences option called SME. The pane will auto-launch on first install. | Once installed you will see a new System Preferences option called SME. The pane will auto-launch on first install. |
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| ===== 4 Preferences Configurations Screen ===== | ===== 4 Preferences Configuration Screen ===== |
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| {{:/maccloudtools:steps:sme_4_perferences_configur.png}} | {{:/maccloudtools:steps:sme_4_perferences_configur.png}} |
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| A [[http://StorageMadeEasy.com|Storage Made Easy]] account is needed to use the Mac Apps. When launched proceed to login using a SME username and password. Once logged in configuration options are available. | A [[http://StorageMadeEasy.com|Storage Made Easy]] account is needed to use the Mac Apps. When launched proceed to login using a File Fabric username and password. Once logged in configuration options are available. |
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| The default provider lets users set the Primary (default) cloud provider for the cloud drive. Synchronization can be enabled if offline folders are required. | The default provider lets users set the Primary (default) cloud provider for the cloud drive. Synchronization can be enabled if offline folders are required. |
| {{:/maccloudtools:steps:sme_5_advanced_options.png}} | {{:/maccloudtools:steps:sme_5_advanced_options.png}} |
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| The Advanced option tab enables you to:\\ \\ 1. if files are encrypted on remote Cloud(s) a decryption password can be entered to automatically decrypt on download.\\ 2. For a secure connection to the SME Cloud Platform please ensure "run over https" is checked.\\ 3. The API endpoint should never be changed unless instructed by SME Support.\\ 4. Decide how want to handle file deletions on sync. There are three choices.\\ 5. Decide which hidden files or extensions you wish to ignore on Sync\\ 6. The 'clear virtual drive cache' resets the virtual drive cache. This can be useful if there are any 'ghost' entries or to reset the view. \\ The '**//Check Fuse Installation//**' button is a way to check and upgrade to the latest version of OSXFuse.\\ \\ 8. The "**//Stop all Tools//**" button forces all running tools and services to stop. | The Advanced option tab enables you to:\\ \\ 1. if files are encrypted on remote Cloud(s) a decryption password can be entered to automatically decrypt on download.\\ 2. For a secure connection to the File Fabric please ensure "run over https" is checked.\\ 3. The API endpoint should never be changed unless instructed by SME Support.\\ 4. Decide how want to handle file deletions on sync. There are three choices.\\ 5. Decide which hidden files or extensions you wish to ignore on Sync\\ 6. The 'clear virtual drive cache' resets the virtual drive cache. This can be useful if there are any 'ghost' entries or to reset the view. \\ The '**//Check Fuse Installation//**' button is a way to check and upgrade to the latest version of OSXFuse.\\ \\ 8. The "**//Stop all Tools//**" button forces all running tools and services to stop. |
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| {{:/maccloudtools:steps:sme_14_cloud_drive_mounting.png}} | {{:/maccloudtools:steps:sme_14_cloud_drive_mounting.png}} |
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| When the preferences panel is "On" and then closed, the drive is mounted if automatic mounting is checked. Otherwise the drive need to be mounted manually from the toolbar.\\ \\ The drive will initialise and then mount and the status of this will be displayed to the user.\\ \\ Once mounted a new finder window that displays the drive, and the drive may appear on the Finder sidebar depending on the version of OSX. If it does not appear on the sidebar you can simply drag it to devices and a shortcut is created.\\ \\ The first time you access a cloud directory, especially if there are many files in a directory then **it can take time** to create the initial view.After this the view is cached and navigation should be fairly instant.\\ \\ You can also access the drive directly from Terminal: cd /Volumes/SME\_VDrive\\ \\ **Note:** The Mac OS also treat files that have "." in their name differently. It does some extra parsing to check whether they are applications or not which can take some extra time.\\ \\ **Note:** The Finder can request that some files are downloaded as it needs more information to do its indexing. This is outside of the control of SME and such files are then cached locally.\\ \\ **Note:** If you have files you have encrypted on SME the same decryption password will be used for the drive as is used for the sync which you can set in the preferences panel.\\ | When the preferences panel is "On" and then closed, the drive is mounted if automatic mounting is checked. Otherwise the drive need to be mounted manually from the toolbar.\\ \\ The drive will initialise and then mount and the status of this will be displayed to the user.\\ \\ Once mounted a new finder window that displays the drive, and the drive may appear on the Finder sidebar depending on the version of OSX. If it does not appear on the sidebar you can simply drag it to devices and a shortcut is created.\\ \\ The first time you access a cloud directory, especially if there are many files in a directory then **it can take time** to create the initial view.After this the view is cached and navigation should be fairly instant.\\ \\ You can also access the drive directly from Terminal: cd /Volumes/SME\_VDrive\\ \\ **Note:** The Mac OS also treat files that have "." in their name differently. It does some extra parsing to check whether they are applications or not which can take some extra time.\\ \\ **Note:** The Finder can request that some files are downloaded as it needs more information to do its indexing. This is outside of the control of SME and such files are then cached locally.\\ \\ **Note:** If you have files you have encrypted on the File Fabric the same decryption password will be used for the drive as is used for the sync which you can set in the preferences panel.\\ |
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| ===== 15 SME Drive toolbar options ===== | ===== 15 Drive toolbar options ===== |
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| {{:/maccloudtools:steps:sme_15_sme_drive_toolbar_op.png}} | {{:/maccloudtools:steps:sme_15_sme_drive_toolbar_op.png}} |
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| There are a number of options that you can access from the toolbar for the Cloud Drive. You can choose to:\\ \\ - **//Hide Progress Dialog: //** Hides the dialog you see on uploads etc\\ - **//Open SME Drive in Finder://** Takes the user to the drive within Finder\\ //-// **Refresh drive view:** Refreshes the meta data on SME with the underlying primary Cloud. You should not really need to use this as SME will automatically do this every 10 minutes.\\ - **//View Console://** Launches the Drive console which provides more details on operations\\ - **//Stop/ Start Drive: //** Stops or Starts the Drive\\ - **Real-Time update**: Rather than using caching it turns on real-time updates which means each data stream is pulled in real-time from the end provider for each call. This will be significantly slower than using the drive in normal mode.\\ - **Move file to trash when deleted:** Lets you decide whether files you delete are instantly deleted on your mapped cloud or moved to the SME Trash folder, in which case they are not removed from the underlying cloud until the Trash folder is emptied. | There are a number of options that you can access from the toolbar for the Cloud Drive. You can choose to:\\ \\ - **//Hide Progress Dialog: //** Hides the dialog you see on uploads etc\\ - **//Open Drive in Finder://** Takes the user to the drive within Finder\\ //-// **Refresh drive view:** Refreshes the meta data on the Fiel Fabric with the underlying primary Cloud. You should not really need to use this as the File Fabric will automatically do this every 10 minutes.\\ - **//View Console://** Launches the Drive console which provides more details on operations\\ - **//Stop/ Start Drive: //** Stops or Starts the Drive\\ - **Real-Time update**: Rather than using caching it turns on real-time updates which means each data stream is pulled in real-time from the end provider for each call. This will be significantly slower than using the drive in normal mode.\\ - **Move file to trash when deleted:** Lets you decide whether files you delete are instantly deleted on your mapped cloud or moved to the File Fasbric's Trash folder, in which case they are not removed from the underlying cloud until the Trash folder is emptied. |
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| {{:/maccloudtools:steps:sme_22_editing_files_in_rea.png}} | {{:/maccloudtools:steps:sme_22_editing_files_in_rea.png}} |
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| Many users want to treat the Cloud Drive as they would any other drive. That means choosing to preview files, and double click to edit files for example. This is fine, you can do this and, for example, when you preview a file the file will be downloaded and cached locally.\\ \\ Editing documents should also work in most cases. Applications like MS Office on Mac, for example, have to be explicitly coded for as they implement locks and temporary files that don't naturally fit well with offline Cloud Storage. If you do come across an App that you have issues with, please [[mailto:%20support@smestorage.com|contact us]] and we'll do our best to support it.\\ \\ **Note:** For Omnigraffle files saved directly to the drive users must select to the file as a flat file as by default the Omnigraffle file is save as a folder structure which works fine on local Mac Drive's but not on remote networks. | Many users want to treat the Cloud Drive as they would any other drive. That means choosing to preview files, and double click to edit files for example. This is fine, you can do this and, for example, when you preview a file the file will be downloaded and cached locally.\\ \\ Editing documents should also work in most cases. Applications like MS Office on Mac, for example, have to be explicitly coded for as they implement locks and temporary files that don't naturally fit well with offline Cloud Storage. If you do come across an App that you have issues with, please [[mailto:%20support@storagemadeeasy.com|contact us]] and we'll do our best to support it.\\ \\ **Note:** For Omnigraffle files saved directly to the drive users must select to the file as a flat file as by default the Omnigraffle file is save as a folder structure which works fine on local Mac Drive's but not on remote networks. |
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| {{:/maccloudtools:steps:sme_25_note.png}} | {{:/maccloudtools:steps:sme_25_note.png}} |
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| For certain providers we are unable to get the file size after the first cloud sync. This is because they either do not provide file sizes, such as OneDrive, or they store files in internal formats so the file size is unknown, such as Google. The Mac OS cannot handle zero file sizes so for files such as this they are given a special file type which is that of a web location or .webloc. These files, when you try and download or copy will launch a web browser and download the file. This will only happen once. On the first download the file size is known so the next time \\ \\ Many Clouds have policies around character support in filenames. If your files contain any of the following characters: \\ \\ ? [ ] / \ = + < > : ; " , * | \\ \\ Then the files may not be uploaded. Many Clouds actually don't give a rejection response in their API for such files so although they may appear to upload they will not be uploaded. Please ensure you don't use such characters in filenames that you wish to store on the Cloud.\\ \\ **Warning:** If you are in icon view rather than list view Finder pulls down data to build the icons. This can take longer to view the file lists until this caching is done.\\ \\ Also note that Finder may download some file types on demand if it requires further information about them. This is an idiosyncracy of the Finder in Mac and it affects very few file types, but if you have this problem you can zip the files in question to prevent this occurring.\\ \\ **OSXFuse:** It is not unknown for OSXFFuse to crash. If you experience this problem you can stop and restart the tools. You should also check whether you are running the recommended version of OSXFuse and also whether you are running the latest version of the Cloud Tools.\\ \\ **Anti-Virus:** If you are using anti-virus software with the Mac please make sure to exempt the SME Mac Drive location otherwise the performance will be slow and in some cases this may cause crashes. The drive provides a virtual view, there are no real files there and so the anti-virus makes remote network requests to try and access and dowlnoad the files for virus scanning which negates the whole purpose of having such a cloud drive.\\ \\ **Other FUSE Based Apps** If you use any other FUSE based Apps that use a different version or different FUSE bases subsystem then this may conflict with the Drive. \\ \\ Any file you move from the drive to a local location can be scanned still if only the drive is exempted from any anti-virus software.\\ \\ | For certain providers we are unable to get the file size after the first cloud sync. This is because they either do not provide file sizes, such as OneDrive, or they store files in internal formats so the file size is unknown, such as Google. The Mac OS cannot handle zero file sizes so for files such as this they are given a special file type which is that of a web location or .webloc. These files, when you try and download or copy will launch a web browser and download the file. This will only happen once. On the first download the file size is known so the next time \\ \\ Many Clouds have policies around character support in filenames. If your files contain any of the following characters: \\ \\ ? [ ] / \ = + < > : ; " , * | \\ \\ Then the files may not be uploaded. Many Clouds actually don't give a rejection response in their API for such files so although they may appear to upload they will not be uploaded. Please ensure you don't use such characters in filenames that you wish to store on the Cloud.\\ \\ **Warning:** If you are in icon view rather than list view Finder pulls down data to build the icons. This can take longer to view the file lists until this caching is done.\\ \\ Also note that Finder may download some file types on demand if it requires further information about them. This is an idiosyncracy of the Finder in Mac and it affects very few file types, but if you have this problem you can zip the files in question to prevent this occurring.\\ \\ **OSXFuse:** It is not unknown for OSXFFuse to crash. If you experience this problem you can stop and restart the tools. You should also check whether you are running the recommended version of OSXFuse and also whether you are running the latest version of the Cloud Tools.\\ \\ **Anti-Virus:** If you are using anti-virus software with the Mac please make sure to exempt the Mac Drive location otherwise the performance will be slow and in some cases this may cause crashes. The drive provides a virtual view, there are no real files there and so the anti-virus makes remote network requests to try and access and dowlnoad the files for virus scanning which negates the whole purpose of having such a cloud drive.\\ \\ **Other FUSE Based Apps** If you use any other FUSE based Apps that use a different version or different FUSE bases subsystem then this may conflict with the Drive. \\ \\ Any file you move from the drive to a local location can be scanned still if only the drive is exempted from any anti-virus software.\\ \\ |
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