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Using the CS Lab and Accounts

The following FAQ answers questions about the CS lab and CS accounts. Check this page occassionally for changes in procedure and policy. If you are viewing this for the first time, please read through the entire document.
FAQs answered here:

Lab Upgrade Comments

What do I need to be aware of regarding the lab upgrade?

The University is doing much to conserve energy. Please make it a point to turn off the lab monitors when they are not in use.

The debian operating system has been upgraded on the server and the lab workstations. There are new configurations for the desktop and many other system features. Your account files were migrated to the new server 8/23-24/07.

In your account, you will find a file with the name dotfiles. This contains all the configuration (dot) files from the old setup. They can be viewed with the command ls -a dotfiles. Some of them like .bash_profile can be moved back into the upper level of your account without a problem. Please don't move any that have to do with gnome or X. These will cause a problem with your desktop. Others like .mozilla can be used to help you reconfigure your preferences. For instance, if you are going to use iceweasel (firefox), move your dotfiles/.mozilla directory into the top level of your account then open iceweasel and it will ask if you want to use your old preferences. When you have finished with the files in the dotfiles directory, please remove this directory in order to save space.

You will need to reset the preferences for your desktop. Some of these settings are in different places or have a different name. The help for setting preferences can be found in the Desktop menu on the top panel. Please set the screensaver to lock. To add a terminal icon to the panel, navigate the Applications menu to the Accessories menu then right click on Terminal. If you have questions please ask.

If you experience difficulty connecting remotely through ssh, please remove all host keys pertaining to the lab. If you are connecting from a Windows machine, you may need to remove all old lab profiles also. Then begin fresh with a new profile with a different name. Information for connecting is the same (see below). Quick connect from a Windows machine should work after removing old host keys.

The directions for using usb storage devices remains the same. Please see this info for directions.

If you have questions or suggestions, please let them be known. This is still a work in progress.



Access Comments

How do I get in to the lab?

Your Ranger card can be used to access the lab. You will need to swipe it in the card swipe and then type in your PIN number. The 4-digit PIN that you will use is the last four digits of your social security number or the number you are using in that capacity.

Before swiping your card, the light on the card reader should be green. Make sure you have the magnetic strip of your Ranger card on the right as you hold the card to swipe it. After you swipe your card, the light will flash amber. You have 5 seconds to enter the digits of your PIN. If your your card and your PIN are accepted, the light will flash green, and there will be beeping for 5 seconds. Pull the door open as this happens. You don't need to turn the handle, pull straight out. If the light flashes red, try again. If this fails repeatedly, see your instructor or the lab system administrator.

If you don't have a Ranger card, you can find the Ranger Card office on the ground floor of the Wyllie Hall.

How do I access my account in the lab?

If you qualify, you will be given an account on cs.uwp.edu. Before using the account you must fill out a UNIX Account Policy Form. This can be obtained from your instructor or the Program Assistant in MOLN 248. Logging onto a lab computer requires a user name that will be provided to you and a password.

When you first get your account, you will need to use a program called newuser to unlock it and establish your password. You have a limited time to respond to the prompts that newuser will give you. You need to know your SSN and your student id number (SID). For each of these you will enter the 9 digits without spaces or dashes or any other characters. newuser will prompt you for a password. The password you select must be a minimum of 8 characters long. At least two of these characters must NOT be letters or digits. See the "How do I choose a good password?" comment for tips. Your user (login) name will be displayed when you have successfully completed newuser.

Once you have completed the initial newuser login process, your account on cs.uwp.edu will be accessible within a minute. Your user/login name is the one displayed and your password is the one that you entered while using newuser.

How do I choose a good password?

Your password should be easy to remember so that you do not have to write it down anywhere and it should be secure so that no one else can guess it. It should not contain any public information such as address, phone number, birthday, pet name, etc that could be easy to quess. It should contain a mixture of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and other printable characters such as punctuation marks. It should be longer than 6 characters and should not be any commonly known word(s). You should use a different password for each account that you access. Your password should also be changed reqularly.

One method of choosing a password is to choose a word, replace some of the letters with numbers and then insert other characters so that the original word is not recognizable. Another method is to choose a phrase such as the first line of your favorite song, use the first letter of each word of the phrase, and insert punctuation marks and numbers. Still another method is to choose a common word, but as you type it, offset your fingers on the keyboard one or two places up, down, or sideways. The typed word will then look like gibberish.

How do I change my password?

You must change your password on the server. To do so, from a machine in the lab, enter the command 'ssh ginger' to log in to the server. Then enter the command 'passwd'. You will be asked for your current password and then the new one twice. Type the command 'exit' to return to the lab machine. Once you have changed your passwword, this password will be propogated to the lab in about a minute. You will use it the next time you log in.

If you have forgotten your password, contact Karen Larson, the system administrator, in the lab. She may ask to see some identification and your SSN. She will reset your account so that you can use newuser again to set your own password. She will not reset it for you.

How do I get a secure login from the outside world?

Please use ssh (secure shell) which replaces telnet and ftp for a secure connection. This encrypts the terminal connection including your password so that no data is transmitted in the clear. The lab machines are no longer accessible from off campus using telnet or ftp. From outside our CS subnet, you will need to ssh to lab.cs.uwp.edu.

OpenSSH (secure shell) version 2 is available on all the lab machines. To access the lab with ssh, you will need to get ssh client (workstation) software installed on the machine you want to access the lab from. This can be downloaded for Windows or UNIX from www.ssh.org. The latest version available free to students through a campus educational license is 3.2.9. A more recent commercial (not free) version can be found at http://www.ssh.com if you so desire.

To access the lab with ssh or sftp (secure ftp from the same package), from a UNIX machine, type the command 'ssh -l login lab.cs.uwp.edu' or 'sftp login@lab.cs.uwp.edu' where login is your CS user name. Supply your CS password when prompted. You do not need to use a key.

For a connection from a Windows machine, after installing ssh, set up a profile in ssh that includes lab.cs.uwp.edu as the remote machine name and your CS login as the login name to use. Supply your CS password when prompted.



Lab and Account Use Comments

What are the lab rules?
  1. Do not let anyone into the lab who does not have an account. With the exception of special 'events' in the lab preapproved by the chairperson of the department, there is to be NO ONE in this lab except those with an account.
  2. Treat the furniture well. Make sure to wipe up spills at the conference table. Keep your shoes off the furniture. Return all items to their proper place.
  3. Drinks and food are allowed at the conference table but not elsewhere.
  4. Clean up your area when you are through working at both the conference table and a workstation. Put your chair in and clean up your papers. Recycle unwanted papers including the banner pages for printing jobs in the blue recycle containers. Recycle cans and bottles in the appropriate container. Other garbage goes in the brown lined container.
  5. Do not forget to log completely off the machine when you are finished so that others can use it. If you are only going to be gone 2 or 3 minutes, lock your screen and leave your books/papers by the workstation.
  6. Do not turn off any of the computers. These are accessed from remote locations and others may be using them at the same time.
  7. If there is a problem with a machine, please notify Karen Larson, the system administrator. If the screen is black, move the mouse or press the shift key to power it up. If the screen is locked, or someone forgot to log out, press ctrl-alt-backspace to reset it to the login screen. If the computer is locked up, it can be rebooted by pressing ctrl-alt-F1 to leave the desktop and then pressing ctrl-alt-delete. Rebooting should only be done in emergencies.

NB: Offenders may lose access to the lab and/or to their account. Repeat offenders will lose access. Not keeping the lab clean and in good order could cause everyone to lose the privilege of having food and/or drink in the lab.

Can I use one of the lockers in the lab?

Anyone with access to the lab may use a locker if any are available. The lockers are assigned on a first come first served basis. In order to use one you must register your lock with Karen Larson, the system administrator, by giving her the combination or the spare key.

How can I get my email?

All CS accounts come with an email account that is different from your campus one. Your email address is login@cs.uwp.edu where 'login' is your CS user name. You can view your email through a program called pine from any of the lab computers. Pine is like the campus pine email. It is menu driven and fairly self-explanatory. Any communication made from your instructors, the system administrator, or servers like the printer server will go to your CS account. Please check it regularly.

If you prefer to get your mail elsewhere, you can forward it. To do so you will need to use an editor such as vi or emacs to create a file with the name .forward (note the dot) containing a single line with the email address you prefer to use. This file needs to be at the top level of your account.

There are some new features in CS email. Virus are scanned for and email containing them is discarded. Spam is also scanned for and the worst of it is also discarded. Unfortunately, some still gets through. Email with attachments with executable extensions are also discarded. For example, you will not be able to mail or receive any filename.exe type files.

How do I print something in the lab?

To print you need to know the command to type and you need to have enough paper in your CS printing account to print the document. To print a text file, type the command 'lpr filename'. Pages will be printed 2-up on the laser printer in the lab. To print a file 1-up, type the command 'lpr -Poneup filename'.

If nothing prints, you can check the print queue. To see the files in the print queue, type the command 'lpq' or 'lpq -Poneup'. To remove a file from the queue, type the command 'lprm job-number' or 'lprm -Poneup job-number' where job-number is the number listed when you type the 'lpq' command.

The first 100 pages of printing for a CS student are free. After that you must pay in advance for printing. Every page that you print will cost 5 cents. You will be notified by email when you have 20 pages or less left and if you do not have enough pages for a particular print job. If you run out of pages in your printing account, you cannot print until you purchase more.

To increase your printing quota, fill out a Computer Science Lab Printing form requesting to add funds to your printing account. Copies of the form are next to the printer in the lab or you can get one in the department office or from the system administrator. There is a minimum purchase of $5.00. Complete all requested information and return the form to the system administrator in the lab (Moln D120C). When your request has been processed, your printing quota will be incremented by the appropriate number of pages and you will be informed by email that your quota has benn increased. The Bursar's Office will bill you for these charges and you can pay in the Cashier's Office in Wyllie Hall.

How do I copy files to/from a floppy?

Briefly, you must log onto a lab workstation and then put your floppy in the disk drive. To copy a file called myfile from your floppy to the system, type the command 'mcopy a:myfile .'. Don't forget the dot. You can see the files on your floppy by entering the command 'mdir a:'. To copy a file called thatfile from your system account to your floppy, type the command 'mcopy thatfile a:'.

How do I use a memory stick or other usb storage device in the lab?

You must log onto a lab workstation and open a terminal window. Insert the usb storage device into the cable that is on the table to the left of the monitor you are working at. In the terminal window, type the command 'mount /media/usbstor'. This will give you access to the files on the usb device with normal Linux commands like 'cd', 'ls', etc. using a file name such as /media/usbstor/someFile where someFile is a file stored on the usb storage device.

The above command will also allow anyone else logged into the same machine to see any of your files on your usb device. For more security, instead of the above mount command, use the command 'mountusb' which will mount your usb device so only you can see and use the contents.

When you are finished using your usb storage device, unmount it with the command 'umount /media/usbstor' and then remove the device from the cable. Alternately, When you are finished, just remove it from the cable before logging out.

How do I view and print a PDF file?

You can use Acrobat Reader to read a PDF file. The command for Acrobat Reader is 'acroread filename.pdf &'. Clicking the printer icon or using the print option in the file menu will print the PDF file. The application gpdf is also available and is the default viewer in mozilla.

How do I create a Word-type document and print it?

Openoffice.org suite is installed on the lab computers. To use it type the command 'openoffice&'. It is similar to MS Office and it can display MS Office documents.

Clicking the printer icon or using the print option in the file menu will allow you to print a document 2-up. To print a document 1-up, choose the print option in the file menu then choose the printer named 'Generic Printer_1up. Click OK to start the printing.

How can I run CS lab GUIs on my Windows machine at home?

Setting up an X server along with SSH on an MS Windows machine will allow you to connect to the CS lab and have GUIs normally viewed on a lab machine display on your Windows desktop. Click here for directions on how to set this up.

How can I get some of that free software I have heard about?

The department in conjunction with the MicroSoft Development Network Academic Aliance (MSDNAA) is pleased to bring you the opportunity to get free software. For very modest amounts, some of the software media is also available for purchase. You must be enrolled in a CSCI or CIS class and have received an email with login information to take advantage of this offer. You will receive a new email each semester you are eligible. If interested, please visit our ELMS website.

What if I run into problems?

You may have a problem getting a login screen. If the screen is black, move the mouse or press the shift key to power it up. If the screen is locked, or someone forgot to log out, press ctrl-alt-backspace to reset it to the login screen. If the computer is locked up, it can be rebooted by pressing ctrl-alt-F1 to leave the desktop and then pressing ctrl-alt-delete. Rebooting should only be done in emergencies.

If you have trouble printing, check the print queue with the 'lpq' command and/or check your CS email to see if the system sent you any messages regarding its inability to print the document.

Any unresolved access or usage issues should be brought to the attention of Karen Larson, the department system administrator. Her office is in the lab area in D120C. A message could be taped to the door or put under the door if she is not there. She can also be reached by phone at extension 2450 or by email. Please do report any equipment that is not working as expected.

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