Computing facilities for societies and how to apply for them

University Information Services (UIS) provides some computing resources to University Societies. 

Mailing Lists 

UIS provides SYMPA mailing lists. Mailing lists are a convenient and efficient way of sending the same message to many people. As an example, the name of a mailing list of the Sports Society might be sports-society@lists.cam.ac.uk.

For further information on managing a mailing list and how to apply for them, see Getting started with Mailing Lists

Websites

If a Registered Society has a website they should contact societies-admin@uis.cam.ac.uk so that the site link can be added to their entry on the official list of Registered Societies. UIS does not provide web space for societies, if this is required contact the Student-Run Computing Facility (SRCF) who are able to provide this.

MS Teams Site 

Registered Societies, can apply for an MS Teams site in order to run their society business. Societies will be asked to suggest a name (between 5 and 7 characters) which will be used for the site and on all other UIS systems. 

Further information on creating and joining Teams can be found on the University’s Teams help site. 

Group DS filespace on the MCS 

In addition to an MS Teams site, societies can apply for a group Desktop Services (DS) filespace to store their society files and run their society business. To apply for a Desktop Services group filespace, the person who intends to manage it should complete the web form.  

Further help on using UIS's Desktop Services can be found at Introduction to Desktop Services.

Locating your DS filespace at an MCS workstation

Log on to a Managed Cluster Service workstation in the usual way with your CRsid and password.

• Using Windows: Click on the Start menu. Click on File Explorer then scroll down and click on ux \\Filestore (X:) then the groups directory and locate the society's filespace.
• Using a Macintosh: Open a Finder window, select UX from the sidebar. Double-click on groups and locate the society's filespace.
• Using Linux: Click on Activities in the top-right corner of the screen and choose Files(the filing cabinet icon). Click on Other Locations in the sidebar and then Computer, then double-click on ux, groups and locate the society's filespace.

Locating your DS filespace remotely 

The DS filespace can be accessed remotely in several ways. It can often be easier to work on files on a local PC and then transfer them to the DS filespace. 

• CIFS access mounts the group filespace on the desktop. The web pages at https://help.uis.cam.ac.uk/service/desktop-services/ds-filestore/cifs give instructions, depending on the operating system of the computer. 
• sftp access is by logging in to sftp.ds.cam.ac.uk, using a DS username and password. Initially you will be logged into your personal filespace. To get to the group directories, go to /ux/groups/ 
• ssh access to the Remote Linux service is by ssh to linux.ds.cam.ac.uk and cd to /ux/groups/

Access rights to your DS filespace 

Access rights to a group DS filespace will be assigned to a manager when the space is initially set up. Additional managers can be assigned access rights by contacting societies-admin@uis.cam.ac.uk.  If the manager of a filespace is due to leave the University, they should contact societies-admin@uis.cam.ac.uk with the name of their successor manager.