University of Wisconsin–Parkside: Computer Science

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs
- All
- Access
- CIS Program
- Contacts
- Email
- Lab Facilities
- Linux Lab Computers
- Passwords
- Printing
- Rules
- Search
- Software
- Windows Lab Computers

Return to CS Home
Return to CBEC Home

Lab Frequently Asked Questions

How do I use the card reader?

Make sure the light on the card reader is green.
Hold your Ranger Card so that the magnetic strip is on the right and swipe it through the card reader.
The light will flash amber. Enter your PIN using the numbers on the card reader.
The light will flash green and the reader will make a beeping sound for 5 seconds. Pull the door open before it stops.

If the lights flash red, try again. If trying to access the lab fails repeatedly, contact your CS instructor or the CS System Administrator.

How do I access my computer account in the CS Computer Lab?

If you qualify, you will be given an account on cs.uwp.edu.

Before using the account you must fill out and sign a UNIX Account Policy Form and do the initial setup of your account. For most people, this is done in the first lab of the CSCI 145 or 241 course. If for some reason you did not activate your account, contact the CS System Administrator for assistance.

How do I get a secure login to the CS Computer Lab from the outside world? (UNIX)

Use ssh (secure shell). Secure Shell encrypts the terminal connection including your password so no data is transmitted in clear, readable text. The lab machines are not accessible from off campus using telnet or ftp.

To access the lab with ssh, you will need to get an ssh client (workstation) software installed on the machine you want to access the lab from. It should be installed by default on a UNIX machine.

To access the lab type the command ssh -l <login> lab.cs.uwp.edu or sftp <login>@lab.cs.uwp.edu where <login> is your CS login. Supply your CS password when prompted. You do not need to use a key.

How do I get a secure login to the CS Computer Lab from the outside world? (Windows)

To access the lab with ssh from Windows, you will need to get an ssh client (workstation) software installed on the machine you want to access the lab from. This can be downloaded from here. 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.

After installing ssh, set up a profile in ssh which 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.

How do I get in to the CS Computer Lab?

You must have obtained your Ranger Card and activated it through the Ranger Card office in order to access the lab. You will need to swipe your card in the card reader on the door and then type in your PIN.

If you do not have a Ranger Card, you will find the Ranger Card Office in Student Center D111. To activate the card, follow the instructions that came with the card. If necessary, contact the CS System Administrator to make arrangements for entry into the CS Computer Lab.

What do I do if the light on the card reader is not green?

If the light is orange: push the star key and the light should turn green.

If the light is red: the card reader is not functioning. If this is the case please do one of the following:

Call 595-2592 - the CS System Administrator and report the problem.
Call 595-2314 the CS Department Office and report the problem.
Go to Moln L248 - the CS Department Office and report the problem.

How do I get SSH?

SSH is installed on all of the CS Lab machines. For your personal computer Click here to download SSH for Windows. For Mac OS X, SSH is already available via the command line in the Terminal application, but you may click here to download a GUI wrapper for SFTP. For Linux it should be available via the package manager for your distribution if it is not already installed.