(Latest Revision -- 08/30/2009)

[[ Please let me (Prof. Sarraille) know if you think something here needs to be modified or corrected. Thanks. ]]

Gaining Access to Workstations
in the
Computer Science Department Network

DIRECTIONS:

Use this document to look up ways to log on to a workstation.

THE USE OF QUOTATION MARKS:

This document may use quotes ("...") to delimit the exact characters you must type to give a particular command to the computer. Usually you are not supposed to include these quotes in what you type. In the very few cases where you are supposed to type the quotes, the directions will say so explicitly.

THE USE OF THE WORD ENTER:

If you are supposed to press the Enter key after typing a command, the directions will use the word enter. For example,

Enter "vt100"

means type "vt100" (without the quotes) and then press the Enter key. Commands typed while the editor JOVE is running are not usually completed by pressing the Enter key.

CS SUN ULTRA AND MACINTOSH WORKSTATIONS:

The CS Department Computer Laboratory in P-288 has seventeen workstations that can be reached from off campus and provide access to student home directories.

Eight of them are Sun Ultra Workstations: Nine of them are Macintosh workstations: There are several other Macintosh's in the lab that can provide access to home directories, but at the time of this writing they are not accessible from outside the CS Department Local Area Network.

These computers are configured so that users get the same home directory and set of files, no matter which one they log in to. (However the compilers and machine languages vary among them - so a compiled program that runs on one of the machines may not execute on another machine - or it may execute, but not correctly. When in doubt, just recompile the program on the new machine. )

You will need an account and a password to use the machines. If you are a new student, the instructor in your programming class will help you get an account.

There are two basic ways of gaining access to these computers: Procedures for logging in through the network vary depending upon the computer you are using to gain access.

LOGGING IN AT THE CONSOLE:

One very important rule is the same for all CS Department computers:

Please do not turn a computer on or (especially) off, without permission from someone in charge.

When you want to log into a computer for the first time, perhaps the best thing to do is just ask a lab assistant, instructor, or the lab administrator Julie Gorman to show you how. It's not usually complicated, but often it's not quite obvious either.

When you get your lesson on how to login, take notes on the procedure so you'll remember the next time.

LOGGING IN FROM A MAC OR WINDOWS COMPUTER IN ONE OF THE CAMPUS GENERAL STUDENT COMPUTING LABS:

Pick a name from one of the workstation lists above (e.g. babbage.csustan.edu) and ask the lab assistant how to get an ssh connection to it.

INTERNET ACCESS:

Check with your Internet service provider. Basically, you just need to use ssh or telnet to login, and sftp or ftp to transfer files to and from your computer at home. When you make a request for a connection, you will have to refer to the campus computers using their fully qualified domain names. In other words it is critical that you use the entire name of the computer (e.g. babbage.csustan.edu, not babbage).

It is often easier to give help about this sort of thing in person, and maybe with the help of a little "show and tell." If you have more questions on these topics, please have a chat with me (Professor Sarraille), or ask at the Call Center of the Office of Information Technology: (L-150, 209-667-3687, OIT_Call_Center@csustan.edu)