Please note, as of Filespace format 2.2 the legacy term “Shares” has been changed to “Permissions.”

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction
  • Purpose
  • Overview - LucidLink Filespaces
• Admin Guide
  • Installing the LucidLink app
  • Creating your Filespace
  • Connecting to a Filespace
  • Connecting to additional Filespaces
  • Disconnecting from a Filespace
  • Start using your Filespace
  • Save a local copy from the cloud
  • Accessing the Control Panel
  • Managing your Filespace users
    
    • Creating a user
    • Deleting a user
    • Changing a user’s password
  • Managing your Filespace groups
    
    • Creating a group
    • Adding a user to a group
    • Removing a user from a group
    • Deleting a group
  • Managing your Filespace shares
    
    • Adding a share
    • Editing a share
    • Deleting a share
  • Managing your Filespace settings
  • Contact LucidLink support
• User guide

Introduction

 

Purpose

Welcome. As the administrator for the LucidLink solution, you now have access to some of the essential functionality. This guide covers installation instructions, configuration detail, and other topics designed to enable the safe use of LucidLink for administrators. We continually work with customers and partners to raise security awareness and provide guidance on using our solutions effectively and efficiently. Our partner’s success is vital to us, so please reach out if you have any questions about this content. We want to ensure the right balance of security and ease of use.

 

Overview - LucidLink Filespaces

LucidLink Filespaces is a secure, high-performance file service that enables users to access, edit, and share data files, from anywhere, like a local drive. This cloud-based SaaS solution will make your workflows feel as if you are working off your local NAS or disk drive, but your files are actually in the cloud. This solution provides you with fast access to file assets and you will no longer have to wait to download or sync an entire file before you begin working on it.  

 

 

You can use any computer and any major operating system, macOS, Windows, or Linux. LucidLink enables you to use common industry-standard tools and applications.

 

Admin Guide

Installing the LucidLink app

To start using LucidLink you need to download and install the LucidLink app. You can read more about the installation process on macOS, Windows, and Linux. 

macOS (and Apple Silicon) may require a unique process to enable the download.  

 

Creating your Filespace

To start using the LucidLink app you need a Filespace. A LucidLink Filespace is a shared global namespace that looks like an extension of your hard drive in your file system.

 

1. Create an account.
2. Click on the “Create a new Filespace” card.
3. Choose Filespace type- Basic, Team, Enterprise, or Custom
4. Choose a Filespace name
5. Choose cloud storage region (When using Basic, Team, or Enterprise types)
6. Click on the "configure advanced settings". (If you wish to change the block size for your filespace) Choosing a LucidLink Block Size
7. Verify your choices and Click "Create".
8. Click on the “Initialize” button, after your Filespace has been set up.
9. Enter your cloud storage provider credentials in the LucidLink app (if you are using a LucidLink Custom plan for your Filespace).
10. Create a root password.

 

Due to the robust security mechanism enforced by LucidLink, there is no password recovery option. LucidLink cannot recover a root user password. The root user can change all other user passwords at any time. Read more about creating a Filespace.  

 

Connecting to a Filespace

To connect to a Filespace for the first time, you need to use your root credentials. 

1. Enter the Filespace name in the format: <filespace name>.<LucidLink domain>
2. Click Continue
3. Enter your username and password.
4. Click “Connect”.

 

Connecting to additional Filespaces

If you have files located in multiple Filespaces you can easily connect to multiple Filespaces simultaneously. The LucidLink app remembers previous connections in the side-bar and allows you to access your Filespace with just a few clicks.

 

1. Click on the LucidLink logo within the taskbar, this will open the LucidLink main window
2. On the left-hand side of the application, you can connect to additional Filespaces or switch the Main Window view to the other Filespace for administration purposes.
3. Click on a "Connect to another Filespace" to connect to an additional Filespace
4. Click on a Connected Filespace to switch to administering that Filespace.

Disconnecting from a Filespace

Disconnecting from a Filespace is very simple and can be done from the Lucid app main window.

1. Hover your cursor over the desired Filespace
2. You will see a Disconnect button appear
3. Click Disconnect

 

Start using your Filespace

LucidLink allows you to store, access, and edit your files directly from the cloud. Using all the standard file system operations, you can manage your files and start working on them right away.

 

1. Create and edit your files directly in your Filespace folder.
2. Upload your files into the respective Filespace folder with a simple drag and drop.

 

Save a local copy from the cloud

Want to keep a copy of your file on your computer? It’s easy with LucidLink’s pinning feature.

 

1. Right click on your file or folder.
2. Click on “Pin”.

 

 

Accessing the Control Panel

To administer Filespace Settings, Users, Groups and Permissions you must access the Control Panel.

1. Click the LucidLink icon in your Taskbar or Menu Bar
2. Select the Filespace you wish to administer from the Filespaces list on the left-hand side.
3. Select the "Control panel" tab
4. Enter your Lucid administrator password
5. Click "Open control panel"

Managing your Filespace users

LucidLink allows you to determine who can have access to each of your Filespaces. To provide user access to a Filespace, administrators need to create individual user accounts.   

 Before accessing a Filespace, users must download and install the LucidLink app but do not need to sign-up for an account. Each user will use the username, password, and Filespace name provided by the admin.  

 

Creating a user

1. Click on the “+” button.
2. Enter a username and password.
3. Choose their role (Standard or Administrator)
4. Choose whether the User is required to change their password on next login.
5. Click on the “Add user” button.

Deleting a user

1. Navigate to the user you would like to remove.
2. Click on the 3 vertical dots on the right.
3. Click “Delete”.
4. Confirm your choice.

Deleted users are immediately disconnected from LucidLink and any “remaining upload” data on the local machine will be lost.  

 

Changing a user’s password

1. Navigate to the user whose password you would like to reset.
2. Click on the 3 vertical dots on the right.
3. Click on “Change password”.
4. Enter a new password.
5. Confirm your choice.

 

Due to the robust security mechanism enforced by LucidLink,  there is no password recovery option. LucidLink cannot recover a root user password. The root user can change all other user passwords at any time.  

 

Managing your Filespace groups

LucidLink allows you to organize your users into groups. To add a user to a group, first you need to create a user following the instructions above. 

 

Creating a group

1. Click on the “+” button.
2. Enter the name of your group.
3. Click on the “Add group” button.

 

Adding a user to a group

1. Navigate to the group you would like to add a user.
2. Click on the “add user” tab on the right.
3. Enter the Username, you will see auto-complete options where applicable.
4. Confirm your choice by clicking the "+"
5. The User will instantly be added to the Group, they don't need to reconnect for any Permissions updates to apply.

 

Removing a user from a group

1. Navigate to the group you would like to remove a user.
2. Click on the “users” tab on the right.
3. Navigate to the user you would like to remove from the group.
4. Click on the 3 vertical dots on the right.
5. Click “Remove”.

Note that Permissions changes will apply immediately to the User.

 

Deleting a group

1. Navigate to the group you would like to remove.
2. Click on the 3 vertical vertical dots on the right.
3. Click “Delete”.
4. Confirm your choice.

Deleting a group or removing a user from a group takes effect immediately and will affect any running end-user applications that use the Filespace.  

Managing your Filespace Permissions

 

LucidLink allows you to select which folders Filespace users or groups can access, as well as determine specific access permissions. 

 

Adding a Permission

1. Click on the “+" button.
2. Using the Path box, choose a folder from your Filespace.
3. Select one of your existing users or groups.
4. Choose between “Read” or “Read, Write” access.
5. Click on the “Add permission” button.

 

Editing a Permission

If you don’t see the Permission/Folder listed click the “Refresh” button on top of the screen.  

1. Find the folder.
2. Click on the “User” or “Group” tab on the right.
3. Choose the user or group whose access you would like to edit.
4. Click on the 3 vertical dots on the right.
5. Click “Edit”.
6. Choose between “Read” or “Read, Write” access.
7. Confirm your choice by clicking the tick.

This change takes effect immediately. Reducing privileges might affect end-user applications that are using the Filespace.  

Deleting a share

1. Find the folder.
2. Click on the “User” or “Group” tab on the right.
3. Choose the user or group whose access you would like to delete.
4. Click on the 3 vertical dots on the right.
5. Click "Delete"

This change takes effect immediately. Removing access to a folder will affect any running end-user applications that use the Filespace.  

 

Managing your Filespace settings

LucidLink allows you to manage many settings such as the location where your Filespace is mounted, adjust cache size, and many more. 

1. Click on the LucidLink logo within the taskbar or menu bar.
2. Click on the Control Panel tab
3. Enter your Lucid administrator password when prmpted
4. Click on the “Settings” button in the navigation to access the Local settings panel.
5. Click on the “Global defaults” button in the navigation to access the Global defaults panel.

 

Learn more about managing your Filespace settings.  

 

Contact LucidLink support

For inquiries, administrators can find more information on LucidLink support.

https://support.lucidlink.com/hc/en-us/sections/4416957601421-Support

 

User guide

To start using LucidLink you need to download and install the LucidLink app. You can read more about the installation process on macOS, Windows, and Linux. macOS may require a unique process to enable the download.

 

Connecting to a Filespace

To connect to a Filespace, you need to use the credentials that your administrator provided. Remember to change the default password the first time you log into your Filespace.

1. Enter the Filespace name in the format: <filespace name>.<LucidLink domain>
2. Click Continue
3. Enter your username and password.
4. Click “Connect”.

 

Connecting to additional Filespaces

If you have files located in multiple Filespaces you can easily connect to multiple Filespaces simultaneously. The LucidLink app remembers previous connections in the side-bar and allows you to access your Filespace with just a few clicks.

 

1. Click on the LucidLink logo within the taskbar, this will open the LucidLink main window
2. On the left-hand side of the application, you can connect to additional Filespaces or switch the Main Window view to the other Filespace for administration purposes.
3. Click on a "Connect to another Filespace" to connect to an additional Filespace
4. Click on a Connected Filespace to switch to administering that Filespace.

Disconnecting from a Filespace

Disconnecting from a Filespace is very simple and can be done from the Lucid app main window.

1. Hover your cursor over the desired Filespace
2. You will see a Disconnect button appear
3. Click Disconnect

 

Start using your Filespace

LucidLink allows you to store, access, and edit your files directly from the cloud. Using all the standard file system operations, you can manage your files and start working on them right away.

 

 

1. Create and edit your files directly in your Filespace folder.
2. Upload your files into the respective Filespace folder with a simple drag and drop.

 

Save a local copy from the cloud

Want to keep a copy of your file on your computer? It’s easy with LucidLink’s pinning feature.

 

1. Right click on your file or folder.
2. Click on “Pin” .

 

 

Managing your Filespace settings

LucidLink allows you to manage many settings such as the location where your Filespace is mounted, adjust cache size, and many more.

 

 

1. Click on the LucidLink logo within the taskbar.
2. Click on the third tab icon and open the Control panel.

 

Learn more about managing your Filespace settings.

Management and security best practices Permission-based access Different users will have unique permissions and access to certain directories or folders, as needed. Your administrator is responsible for applying the permissions. A LucidLink Filespace is an extension of familiar file systems found on macOS, Windows, or Linux. For example, NTFS permissions are honored as well as chown, chmod, etc., on macOS and Linux. Users experience permissions and access to familiar directory and folder structures similar to what they are currently doing. LucidLink users can be created and assigned “Read-only” or “Read/Write” permissions to individual folders. Additionally, users may be assigned to groups that also have specific folder permissions.   Using external applications Files will be stored remotely, but applications can be used to access and edit them in the same manner as if they were locally stored without having to download the entire file first. LucidLink Performance Throughput vs. latency

 

In the LucidLink main window, you will notice 4 bars next to the connection quality indicator ranging from an excellent connection (green) to a poor connection (red). This status measures the latency in the path between your storage and your computer, which is not the same as your Internet bandwidth. You can have sizable bandwidth for your Internet connection and still have high latency that can adversely affect performance. If you have anything less than “excellent” or “good” status, report it to your administrator so they can work with you to optimize it. LucidLink streams on-demand The solution is designed to be used in the same manner as you would a local drive instead of older “sync-n-share” technologies or “file transfer” solutions. You will not have to copy a file to your computer to edit it. Avoid the tendency to copy a file to your local computer to edit it. Edit the file directly from the Filespace; LucidLink enables fast access to data from anywhere. Editing from the cloud will minimize the company’s cost of egress and provide great results when bandwidth and file bit-rates are appropriately matched. Team collaboration Pay attention to partially uploaded data When uploading files to LucidLink, it’s essential to know that copying a file using Finder, File Explorer, or other applications will only quickly copy the file up to your specific local cache size limit. After this, the file copy speed will match your actual upload throughput.

 

• This file copy is not the same as upload progress, and the upload may finish quite sometime after the file copy to the cache folder has finished. Finder in macOS or File Explorer in Windows may not be the most optimum means of copying and negotiating a large transfer.
• If you have a large amount of data to move to the cloud, contact your LucidLink administrator to discuss the best way to accomplish this.
• It is important to always check the remaining upload indicators before closing the laptop or disconnecting from LucidLink to ensure changes are appropriately saved. Don’t shut down your computer prematurely when uploading.

 

File and folder link sharing You can easily create a link to a file or folder to share with your team members. You can achieve this by right-clicking on a file or folder in Finder or File Explorer and selecting the “Copy link” menu.

Only users who have the LucidLink app installed will be able to use the links and must have the right privilege to access the file or folder. Optimize the bandwidth settings Bandwidth outside of norms Suppose you have bandwidth speeds that are far below or far above the average. In that case, it will be worthwhile to speak with your LucidLink administrator to make sure that all “tunable” parameters are optimized to match your connection speed or latency. Your local LucidLink cache should be optimized to accommodate the most common file sizes or data sets in which you are working. Preload data At times your connection to the cloud might be sub-optimal and not allow for actively editing content directly from the Filespace. You could utilize LucidLink preload functionality to cache the entire file or folder content in your local cache. You can achieve this by right-clicking on a file or folder in Finder or File Explorer.

It would be best if you used this functionality sporadically. Preloading will download the entire file or folder and significantly increase the company’s egress cost. Device Security Recommendations The increase in remote users and distributed workloads can pose a significant threat to Cybersecurity. To address this, LucidLink has taken an innovative approach to data confidentiality in the cloud. LucidLink minimizes the amount of trust required by all entities involved in storing, managing, and transferring data. “Zero-knowledge” encryption model With LucidLink’s “zero-knowledge” encryption model the network infrastructure, the cloud storage providers, and LucidLink know nothing about the data the customers store and transmit on their infrastructure. Only the customer can “see” the data. Full System Encryption – In flight and at rest Data is encrypted on the customer device and remains encrypted both in transit and at rest and only the customer is in possession of the encryption keys. In contrast, server-side encryption typically employed by other cloud storage services, data is encrypted at only rest, and the service providers maintain the encryption keys and therefore have full access to the content. Authenticated encryption – AES-256 in GCM mode Any malicious tampering or data integrity issues such as bit rot on the server-side are immediately detected upon access. Thanks to this robust security model, your data is as secure as possible using the default settings as long as proper user authentication and access controls are deployed in conjunction with good password hygiene. Password management A few essential security best practices provide a very good level of protection, without slowing down the user.

 

• Use unique usernames and passwords:
  • Use a password that is difficult to guess.
  • Passwords should be a minimum of 9 characters long.
  • Passwords should not be the user’s name or company’s name.
  • Try picking a favorite passage from a book, movie or song.
  • Users should periodically change their passwords, LucidLink does not prompt password changes.
  • Do not disclose passwords to others or leave them written down in visible places.
  • Do not share passwords with, or use the same passwords, as other users.
  • Consider using a password manager such as 1Password or LastPass.
• Change your password every 3 months and do not repeat old passwords.
• Disable guest accounts on Mac.
• Do not check the box for automatic logins and enable screen lock (Mac, Windows).

 

Due to the strong security mechanism enforced by LucidLink, the Filespace root user password cannot be recovered in any way!   Lost/Stolen Devices Any lost or stolen device containing production data should be reported immediately to your administrator, so they can change the delete the user. A few things to do before getting started with LucidLink Familiarize yourself with the LucidLink website and click on the support tab. Here you will find a wealth of information about using the service, there’s an FAQ, solution guides and “Tips & Tricks.” Additional information and videos can be found on the LucidLink YouTube Channel and on the LucidLink Support YouTube Channel.