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 / 5.4. Managing Windows Files
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Managing Windows Files

With your openSUSE machine being an Active Directory client as described in Chapter Active Directory Support (↑Security Guide), you can browse, view, and manipulate data located on Windows servers. The following examples are just the most prominent ones:

Browsing Windows Files with Dolphin

Use Dolphin's smb:/ browsing option to browse your Windows data.

Viewing Windows Data with Dolphin

Use Dolphin to display the contents of your Windows user folder just as you would for displaying a Linux directory. Create new files and folders on the Windows server.

Manipulating Windows Data with KDE Applications

KDE applications, such as the Kate text editor, allow you to open files on the Windows server, manipulate them, and save them to the Windows server.

Single-Sign-On

KDE applications, including Dolphin, support Single-Sign-On, which means that to access other Windows resources, such as Web servers, proxy servers, or groupware servers like MS Exchange, you do not need to reauthenticate. Authentication against all these is handled silently in the background once you provided your username and password on login.

To access your Windows data using Dolphin, proceed as follows:

  1. Press Alt+F2 and enter smb://

    This opens a Dolphin window displaying all Samba workgroups and domains that could be found in your network.

  2. Click the icon of the workgroup or domain of your AD server.

    Figure 5.5. Browsing Data on the AD Server

    Browsing Data on the AD Server

  3. Click the Users folder and select your personal user folder icon. The contents of your My Documents folder are displayed.

To create folders in your Windows user folder using Dolphin, proceed as you would when creating a Linux folder:

  1. Right-click the background of the Dolphin folder view to open the menu.

  2. Select Create New+Folder.

  3. Enter the new folder's name when prompted to do so.

To create a file on the AD server, proceed as described in the following example for the Kate text editor.

  1. Press Alt+F2 and enter kate.

  2. Enter your text.

    Figure 5.6. Editing a Text File with Kate

    Editing a Text File with Kate

  3. To save the newly created text, select Save as.

  4. Click the Network Folders icon to the left and select SMB Shares.

    Figure 5.7. Saving a File to a Remote Windows Folder

    Saving a File to a Remote Windows Folder

  5. Navigate to your Windows folder.

  6. Enter the filename and click Save.

    The file is saved on the Windows server.

Make use of Dolphin's Single-Sign-On support, as in the following example—Web access to your MS Exchange mailbox:

  1. Make sure that you have a valid MS Exchange account under your current Windows user identity.

  2. Request the Exchange server's address from your system administrator.

  3. Press Alt+F2 and enter dolphinhttp://address_exchange_server.

    You are logged in to your Exchange account without having to reauthenticate.

    Figure 5.8. Accessing MS Exchange through Dolphin

    Accessing MS Exchange through Dolphin

  4. Write or read your e-mails and log out as usual.

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