Accessing the classFiles Folder

Owned by Giang Rudderham
Last updated: Jan 04, 2024 by Cody Johnson
3 min read

In this page:


Introduction

Upon the instructor's request, we can automatically distribute the contents of a public Git repository into each student's IDAS home drive. Once this feature is set up, every time a student logs in to IDAS, contents of the Git repository will be pulled into a folder named "classFiles". This article describes how students can access and copy files from the "classFiles" folder.

Locating the "classFiles" Folder

  • After logging in to IDAS, you will see a folder called "classFiles".
  • For example, if your course uses Jupyter Lab, you will see the "classFiles" folder on your Jupyter Lab page:

The "classFiles" folder is a shared folder that is viewable by all students enrolled in the class, so it is recommended that you copy the contents of "classFiles" to your personal IDAS home drive. 

The next section describes how to copy the contents of "classFiles" to your personal IDAS home drive. After that, you can edit these files in your IDAS home drive (instead of in the "classFiles" folder).


Copying Files from the "classFiles" Folder to Your IDAS Home Drive

1. Log in to the IDAS instance for your course.

2. Start a Terminal session. If your course uses Jupyter Lab, click the "Terminal" tile under "Other" in your Jupyter Lab page:


3. A tab called "Terminal" will open in your Jupyter Lab page:


4. To copy everything in the "classFiles" folder to your IDAS home drive, type the following command in Terminal:

cp -ur $HOME/classFiles/* $HOME

This command will not return any output in Terminal. But after a few seconds, you will see files appearing in the left panel of your Jupyter Lab page. The image below is an example. The actual contents of your class might vary:

More details about the "cp" command:

a. The "cp" command copies files and directories. 

b. The "-u" option indicates copying only new and missing files to the destination, and the "-r" option indicates drilling down through the directory structure. For more information on "cp", please type in Terminal: "cp --help".

c. $HOME is the path to your IDAS home directory, which is "/home/your_hawkid" on IDAS.

5. You have just created a copy of the contents from "classFiles". You can click on the files and folders outside of "classFiles" to open and edit them.

Please avoid editing files inside the "classFiles" folder. If you modify the contents in "classFiles", it will cause a conflict and prevent you from logging into IDAS later.

Other Support Articles

Contact

If you have any questions or comments, please contact ITS - Research Services at research-computing@uiowa.edu.