Computing support, summer 2009

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I, Alan Rosenthal, |+|

You can move the provided equipment around within BA 2270, but don't remove anything from the room, even temporarily.

To use a laptop on the network in BA 2270, |+|

To use a laptop on the network in BA 2270, you need to e-mail me your ethernet address. Instructions for finding it are at http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~vargai/MACAddress.html
I need a list of people who are using that laptop, if it's not just you. |−|

Please note that your desktop computer is not being backed up. |+|

Please note that your desktop computer is not being backed up. Use source control on a remote machine which is being backed up. Other files, such as perhaps your .bashrc and so forth, should be backed up manually by you by copying them elsewhere occasionally, e.g. perhaps into a subdirectory of your CDF account. |−|

"Peer-to-peer filesharing" software (e.g. BitTorrent, Limewire) is absolutely prohibited on department networks. There's a good reason for this. Please don't do it because it causes a great hassle for us all.

To get a terminal window, |+|

To get a terminal window, select the Applications menu; Accessories submenu; Terminal. To add things (such as Terminal) to the top panel of the screen (where the menu bar is), right-click on the top panel. |−|

You have full administrative access to your desktop computer. |+|

You have full administrative access to your desktop computer. If/when you render it unuseable through configuration selections which you realize in retrospect were unwise, it can easily be reinstalled to its original state (wiping the disk), by simply doing a network boot. Details in reinstall.html. Alternatively, Alan Rosenthal might be able to help you repair your operating system installation. |−|

In the default Ubuntu configuration there is no root password; |+|

In the default Ubuntu configuration there is no root password; administrative operations are performed through "sudo". Type "sudo anything" to perform the command "anything" as root. It asks for your own password to authorize this, then stashes the authorization for a few minutes so that immediate subsequent sudo commands do not require your password. |−|

With great administrative power comes great administrative responsibility: |+|

With great administrative power comes great administrative responsibility: You will periodically see a flashing orange thing towards the right of the top panel indicating that there are OS updates to install. Some of these will be important security updates, and it's easier to install everything than to investigate in detail. When there are security or bug fixes, Ubuntu implements them as minimal changes to the existing software; these updates very rarely break anything in Ubuntu and you should not hesitate to install them unless the big demo is in five minutes. You can do other work while the updates are running, and updates very very rarely require a reboot. |−|

Printing: |+|

Printing:

There is a printer on the north island of BA 2270. Add a printer of type "LPR" and use hostname b2270-23.red.sandbox, queue f1
You can print through your CDF account, by using commands such as "ssh user@cdf.toronto.edu lpr -Pwhatever" instead of "lpr -Pwhatever".
For access to research computing printers, first ask your supervisor for permission, then ask Alan Rosenthal for configuration assistance.

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To install software on your desktop computer, |+|

To install software on your desktop computer, use the "Add/Remove" menu item at the bottom of the top-left menu. Most free software which works on linux has already been built for you by Ubuntu volunteers; you don't need to go get the tar file and configure and build it yourself. Also, if you install through Add/Remove then you will automatically get security updates in future. |−|

The terms of account usage in the last section of http://www.cs.toronto.edu/cgi-bin/acctform.cgi |+|

The terms of account usage in the last section of http://www.cs.toronto.edu/cgi-bin/acctform.cgi apply to your use of Department of Computer Science research computing facilities and networks, e.g. anything in BA 2270, even if you don't get a CSLab unix account (which I don't think most of you will). |−|

You can access your desktop machine remotely |+|

You can access your desktop machine remotely from other computers in the room by using a name of the form "b2270-##.red.sandbox". For example, if your computer says "b2270-06" on the side, you can type "ssh b2270-06.red.sandbox". (Note: Do not use the name on the monitor, or the keyboard -- they're not all paired.)
You can get into the room from the outside by logging in to b2270-01.cs.toronto.edu. Only this machine is exposed to the rest of the internet for incoming connections.
Here is how to use ssh tunnels to access other services on your desktop computer from outside. |−|