This guide provides detailed instructions for connecting an external storage device to your system, setting up the network drive, configuring the neoCatalog folder to use the volume for both MacOS and Windows and setting up folder locations.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Installation and Configuration
  • 1) Hardware Installation
  • 2) Connecting the Network Drive and automatic mounting
    • MacOS
    • Windows
• Set folder location
  • 1) Create a folder in the destination drive
  • 2) Locate the original neoCatalog folder
  • 3) File transfer
    • MacOS
    • Windows
  • 4) Create a Link Between the Two Folders
    • MacOS
    • Windows
  • 5) Switch to new destination

Installation and Configuration

1) Hardware Installation

You may check the NAS manufacturer user guide to install the device. This process may include the following steps:

• Install the Hard Drives.
• Connecting to Network/Power.
• Operating System/Firmware Configuration.

2) Connecting the Network Drive and automatic mounting

MacOS

1. In OSX Finder/Navigator on the top Menu click on "Go" → "Connect to Server..." or use the key combination "⌘+K".
   
   
2. Connect to the server using the correct protocol (smb, afp...).
3. Choose Guest or for a specific user check the box next to “Remember this password in my keychain” – you must select to remember the password otherwise the automatic login event can not happen without logging into the network drive.
   
   
4. Go to System Preferences → Users & Groups.
   
   
5. Select your user name from the list and then click the “Login Items” tab.
   
   
6. Drag & drop a mounted network drive into the login items list.
   
   
7. Optional: check the “Hide” box to keep the drive window from opening on each login and boot.

Windows

We have used Windows 10 as an example.

1. Go to "Computer" –> "Map Network Drive".
2. Specify the drive letter and the network location of the Drive.
   
   
3. Select "Reconnect at sign-in" to connect the drive each time the system starts. Click Finish. 
4. Enter the credentials to connect to the drive. Check "Remember my credentials".
5. Once you have set that up, click “Finish” and the network drive will be mapped on your device.

   
   

6. In the Folder box, type the path of the folder or computer, or select Browse to find the folder or computer.

Set folder location

To change the folder location we need to create a link in the original folder pointing to the new destination:

1) Create a folder in the destination drive

This is the folder where neoCatalog files will be stored after the location change.

2) Locate the original neoCatalog folder

• MacOS: The original folder in MacOS is located in /Users/<userName>/Documents/neoCatalogs/<neoCatalogName>
• Windows: The original folder in Windows is located in C:\Users\<userName>\Documents\neoCatalogs\<neoCatalogName>

3) File transfer

MacOS

If the neoCatalog folder we are moving is not new and already contains files, we might want to copy these original files to the new destination. The command rsync -avP in a terminal initiates a file synchronization or file transfer process using rsync with specific options enabled. The basic command to synchronize two folders that can be on the same disk, on different disks, or even on two connected computers is:

rsync -avP /Path-to-source-folder/ /Path-to-destination-folder

Note that the source folder ends with a / but the destination folder does not.

Step-by-Step

1. Create new folders on the destination (e.g., Photos, Design)

2. Start sync simulation: Run the command to simulate the transfer:

rsync -avP --dry-run /Path-to-source-folder/ /Path-to-destination-folder/

The command rsync -avP --dry-run is used in a terminal to perform a "dry run" of the rsync command. This means it will simulate the file transfer process without actually copying any files, allowing you to see what changes would be made without making any actual changes.

3. Start Sync: Run the following command to begin synchronization:

rsync -avP /Path-to-source-folder/ /Path-to-destination-folder/

You can abort the sync at any time by pressing Control + C. To resume the sync, simply rerun the command until completed.

4. Create a Link Between the Two Folders:

• Navigate to the neoCatalog folder: cd /Library/WebServer/Documents/neoCatalog
• Create the symbolic link: ln -s /Volumes/[Volume-name]/neoCatalog neoCatalog

Windows

Copy the files from the old folder to the new destination

The optional process to get the files to the destination is copy-paste. To do this, copy all directories from the original neoCatalog folder and place them inside the folder created in the first step.

4) Create a Link Between the Two Folders

MacOS

Open the Terminal application and type the following:

• Navigate to the neoCatalog folder:  cd /Library/WebServer/Documents/neoCatalog
• Create the symbolic link: ln -s /Volumes/[Volume-name]/neoCatalog neoCatalog

Windows

Open the Command Prompt as Administrator (right click → Run as Administrator) and type:

mklink /D <networkDriveName>/<newCreatedFolder>  <newCreatedFolder>

mklink /D neoCatalog  E:\neoCatalog

Symlink folders in Windows

neoCatalog folder to the network folder.

For example:

New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path “Link” -Target “Target”

5) Switch to new destination

1. Before renaming the folders, run rsync again to ensure all files are up to date.
2. Rename Folders:
   1. Rename the local storage folder to .old: mv /Path-to-local-folder /Path-to-local-folder.old
   2. Rename the link folder to the original folder name: mv /Volumes/[Volume-name]/neoCatalog /Library/WebServer/Documents/neoCatalog
3. Verify neoCatalog: Log in to neoCatalog and verify that you can view, import, and download files.

Related articles:

Access neoCatalog from an external network (Internet Access)