Purpose
This article seeks to assist users in understanding and addressing concerns regarding personal directory migrations. Home directories may change whenever students, faculty, or staff change schools, majors, or positions. User data is automatically migrated between one of the servers listed below.
Linux Servers (Responsible Team)
- Mars (OIT SSIA Infrastructure & Storage Services)
- Regex (OIT SSIA Infrastructure & Storage Services)
- Axon (OIT SSIA Infrastructure & Storage Services)
- Malthus (OIT SSIA Infrastructure & Storage Services)
- Engstor (Engineering Tech Support)
- Hopper (Computer Science Tech Support)
- UU (High-Performance Compute Team)
Process
- User role is updated in PeopleSoft (Orion/Gemini) - synced to Microsoft Information Management system (MIM).
- MIM automatically determines if a home directory migration needs to occur.
- MIM contacts the Linux team's back-end server to schedule the migration.
- The user is notified 5 days before migration via assist@utdallas.edu.
- The user is notified 1 day before migration via assist@utdallas.edu.
- The user receives notification that the migration has been completed.
- If the migration fails, the user will be notified. They must manually migrate the data they wish to keep.
Q&A
What Does This Email Mean?
Due to a status change (sponsorship, major, department) in PeopleSoft (Orion/Gemini), a rule has been triggered to automatically relocate your Unix home directory. There is no action needed from you at this time.
How Does This Affect Me?
Each home directory system has different storage quotas, so the amount of storage space allocated to you may change, depending on the system you are moving from/to. If you are currently storing more data in your home directory than the new directory will allow, you will receive an email asking you to manually migrate the data you wish to keep. For more information on home directory quotas, see this article.
What Do I Need to Do to Stop This?
If you believe there has been a mistake, please contact the OIT Helpdesk for assistance.
Will It Map Automatically? Will It Map to Multiple Machines?
Your Unix drive will automatically map on campus-managed Unix/Linux systems, and your Windows drive will map automatically on campus-managed Windows machines.
How Do I Map the New Drive?
To map the new drive on a personal computer, follow the instructions here. Replace \\mars with the system you are moving to.
What Happens to My Data?
Your data is copied over to the new system during the window specified in the email. If the migration fails, the data will remain on the old system for at least two weeks until a cleanup routine removes it. This gives you plenty of time to manually copy any important information if the migration is unable to move all of it.
For any additional questions/concerns regarding home directories, please contact the OIT Helpdesk.