Computing Resources

HOWTOs

HOWTOs


Contents


Account

Password Policy documentaion.

Remote Connections

Shell connections
Using SSH HOWTO
Using puTTY HOWTO
GUI connections
Using xming HOWTO for GUI connections on Windows.
Using X11 HOWTO for GUI connections on OSX.
File Trasfer connections
Using sftp
Using scp
Using svn

Mail

Clients
Mozilla Thunderbird
Mozilla Seamonkey
Eudora
Outlook
Mac Mail
pine / alpine with IMAP
Filtering
Procmail

Window Managers

fluxbox
mwm
vtwm

Useful Links

Useful Links


Contents


Eclipse


Java


Python


Fun Stuff


Technical Staff

Technical Staff


James "Linus" Craig has been with the Computer Science Department since 1990, where he got started on his undergraduate degree in Computer Science. He received both BS and MS degrees in CS at RIT, and has been a full time System Administrator since 1996. Linus has always been intrigued with how systems work together and how to provide a stable environment for education in today's security minded world. In his free time, Linus is an avid gamer: from MMOs, to tabletop strategy, to pen and pencil role playing. Linus also enjoys playing soccer, biking, and reading Tarot. James Craig

James "Linus" Craig

Manager of Technical Services

Phone: +1.585.475.5254
Office: 70-3599
Sam Waters Sam Waters

Sam Waters

System Administrator

Phone: +1.585.475.4934
Office: 70-3596
Mark Stamer Mark Stamer has been a Computer Technician with Computer Science Department since 1997. He has a BS in Electrical Engineering Technology. Before joining RIT, he worked for Decision One, a company which offers hardware and software support services, as a Field Engineer. His primary accounts were Sun Micro Systems and American Airlines where he maintained a vast array of Sun workstations, desk top workstations, mission critical servers, network infrastructure, Microsoft Windows and Saber Travel Reservation applications. In his free time, Mark enjoys cooking, martial arts, hiking with his trusty black lab Misty, and is currently building a kayak in his garage. Mark Stamer

Mark Stamer

Hardware Technician

Phone: +1.585.475.5169
Office: 70-3441

 

Security

Security


Any computer that is connected to the RIT network must comply with the security standards defined by RIT's Information Security Office's. This page is designed to help you to configure your personal computer so that it is in compliance with the appropriate standards.

In order to connect your personal computer to the RIT network...
Anti-virus software must be installed, enabled, and up to date

McAfee-Antivirus software is provided free for all members of the RIT community. Instructions for downloading and installing the software can be found here.
All OS and application security patches must be up-to-date

To make this process easier we recommend that you enable automatic updates on your system. Microsoft's Windows automatic update page contains information on enabling automatic updates for Windows. The Updating your software page on Apple's support site explains how to enable automatic updates in OS X.
Memory protection (hardware and/or software) must be enabled

Data Execution Prevention must be enabled in Windows. This can be done by opening the System panel in the Control Panel, then selecting Advanced, then Performance Options, then the Data Execution Prevention tab. Select "Turn on DEP for all programs and services," and click OK.
A personal personal firewall must be installed and enabled

We recommend the basic ZoneAlarm firewall for Windows users. It is available through Check Point Software Technologies and is free for personal use. The Information Security Office provides a handout on using firewalls and demonstrations that show you how to enable the Windows XP firewall and manage ZoneAlarm alerts. Resnet provides instructions on how to configure built-in firewalls for Windows and other operating systems.
Anti-malware software must be installed, enabled, and up-to-date

We recommend that you install Spybot Search and Destroy AND one of Spyware Blaster, Ad-Aware, or Windows Defender. Instructions for downloading and installing Spybot Search and Destroy can be found here. You can find demos that show how to install some of this software here.

Software Resources

Software Resources


Microsoft Academic Alliance
Through an agreement with Microsoft, the department of Computer Science is pleased to announce that all Computer Science students can download a variety of Microsoft products free of charge. If you are interested in this opportunity visit the MSDN Academic Alliance page to get started.

Log in to the MSDNAA site using your CS email address. The initial password for your account is randomly generated by Microsoft when the account is created. If you do not know your password click the "forgot password" link on the site and your current password will be sent via email to your CS email account. Once you have logged in you can change your password by clicking on the "my profile" link.

Once you are logged in click on the "order new software" link to see what products are available for download. Select the products you wish and add them to your cart. Once you have selected the software you wish to download, click the link to view your cart. For each software product you selected click the download link. A page will be displayed that will give the serial number for the software (if required). Print this page for your records and then click the download button to download the software.

If you unable to access the site, or have problems downloading software, either stop by the CS system administration office (70-3590) or send email to msdnaa@cs.rit.edu. You must use your CS email account when requesting help so that we can verify that you are a CS student.

Documentation

Documentation

Systems Status


February 26 2013
Lab machine reboot
The CS Lab Linux boxes will be rebooted at 5am Thursday Feb 28th.

August 22 2011
Lab machine migration
The CS ICLs are being migrated to a new OS over the break. Although we will attempt to keep the interruptions down, be aware that at times there will be machines down. Ideally the work will be done before Orientation.

March 10 2011
Password change issue on Ubuntu machines
We are aware of a problem changing passwords on the ubuntu machines. Please use cspasswd on the Solaris machines to change your password.

March 2 2011
System maintenance scheduled.
Computer Science is scheduling a system upgrade on Wednesday March 2nd. Computing services will be unavailable until after noon. Lab machines may be down longer since servers will be a priority.

Sept 24 2010
ICL3 down
Until further notice the linux machines in ICL3 and glados will be offline while we work through a system problem.

May 30 2010
System maintenance scheduled.
Computer Science is scheduling a system upgrade on Sunday May30th. Computing services will be unavailable until Monday May 31st.

May 26 2010
Power outage scheduled.
RIT has a scheduled power outage from 5PM to 7AM on Wednesday May 26th. The CS Systems will be shut down starting at 3PM on Wednesday and will be restored by 10AM Thursday morning.

Apr 24 2010
Power outage scheduled.
RIT has a scheduled power outage from 3AM to 9AM on Sunday Apr 25th. The CS Systems will be shut down starting at 10PM on Saturday evening (Apr 24th), and will be restored by 10AM on Sunday morning.

Mar 5 2010
IMAP resources have been resolved. However there is a change to how IMAP folder subscriptions is done.
Users are urged to move folders they want to subscribe to into ~/mail/, and then resubscribing. If there are a LOT of them, you may get away with moving ~/.subscriptions to ~/mail/.subscriptions, but you will still need to move the files/folders to ~/mail/ for it to work.

Feb 24 2010
System Downtime and upgrades over the Spring Break.
Monday thru Wednesday
Solaris machines will be patched and restarted
Solaris machines will have firefox 3.5.6 installed
Solaris machines will have thunderbird 3.0.1 installed
OSX machines will be reimaged (patches and software updates)
OSX machines will no longer be remotely accessible via SSH
Windows machines will be reimaged (patches and software updates)
This will include the thug cluster, tardis cluster, para* machines, holly, hilly and queeg.
Tuesday
tardis cluster will be down to move hardware around server room
Thursday
Servers will be down for patching
Mailhost will have RAID replaced
Mailhost will update IMAP and POP services
Faculty machines will be patched
Friday
Anything not finished from Mon-Thur will be wrapped up

Feb 18 2010
ssh to the macs will be disabled over the spring break. It's enabling over the winter term was an oversight.
Dec 14 2009
Holly, hilly, parasite and paradise are back online.
Dec 13 2009
Due to a power failure in the server room the machines holly, hilly, parasite and paradise are off-line. Monday we will be able to determine what has happened and how long until they are back on-line.
Nov 23-27 2009

System Maintenance during break

During the break, the CS Solaris machines will be patched and updated. There will be some times where machines are unavailable. Lab computers will be patched over the course of Monday & Tuesday Nov 23rd&24th. Mail, web, and file service will be unavailable Wednesday afternoon (Nov 25th) when servers and faculty machines will be patched. Any system work that was not completed will require further outages on Friday Nov 27th.
Sept 22 2009

ICL3 closed today from 4pm until 9pm

ICL3 will be closed today from 4pm until 9pm for the ACM programming contest
Lab Schedule
Lab Time
ICL1 11:00am-3:00pm
ICL2 11:00am-3:00pm
ICL3 11:00am-3:00pm
ICL4 11:00am-3:00pm
ICL5 11:00am-3:00pm
ICL6 11:00am-3:00pm

System Admin Office
70-3590
Day Time
Monday 8:00am-5:00pm
Tuesday 8:00am-5:00pm
Wednesday 8:00am-5:00pm
Thursday 8:00am-5:00pm
Friday 8:00am-5:00pm

For help send email to: problems@cs.rit.edu

General Systems FAQ for the Department of Computer Science

Frequently Asked Questions about CS accounts and CS system resources


FAQs

FAQs


Contents


General Issues

Certificate Authority public key
The Department of Computer Science has its own Certificate Authority for use with secure connections. This will be used to authenticate the certificates used to secure https connections (such as webmail) as well as secure connections with POP and IMAP. Instructions for downloading and installing the Certificate Authority can be found here.

Account issues

What is my quota limit?
300Mb is the default quota limit.
How can I tell how much disk space I am using?
You can use the `quota -v` command to report your disk utilization and your quota allocation.
My class requires more space than I have available. How can I get my quota increased?
Talk to your Professor about your quota needs. They will request a quota increase from the System Administrators
Okay, I am in my account, and it is over quota. What do I do?
You can run findhog to see what the 20 largest files in your home directory are. Alternatively, findhog x will find the largest x files in your home directory
There is also a script called rm-junk that goes through your home directory and looks for caches and core files and asks you if you want to remove them. Just type "y" at the prompt and it will delete them for you.
I have changed some of my dot files, and now I have problems with my account.
You can get a copy of the default dot files (.bash_profile, .cshrc, .login, etc.) from /usr/local/pub/X/
Can I change my shell?
Currently you can not change your own shell, but if you want your default shell changed to bash you can contact the System Administrators (70-3590) and they can change it for you.
How do I change my password?
You can change your password with the command cspasswd. This is available on any DCS linux machine. Here is a reference document about good password practice.
My unix password does not work on the Windows machines. What do I do?
Your passwords are out of sync. You will need to see the System Administrators in room 70-3590 to get your passwords re-synced
When I run the cspasswd command it complains that it can not change my NT password. What gives?
Your passwords are out of sync. You will need to see the System Administrators in room 70-3590 to get your passwords re-synced
Help! I deleted some important files in my account! How do I get them back?/
If the files existed overnight, they can be backed up from that point in time. Send mail to problems@cs.rit.edu with the file name(s), the last time it was modified, and where the files existed in your directory.
I have a project that will take several hours of compute time, but I don't want to sit around and wait for it -- what can I do?
The best way to do this is to no-hup the process (see the nohup man page) so it continues to run after you log out, and nice the process (see the nice man page) up to 20.
Can I connect to the CS machines remotely?
You can use ssh to connect to any of the linux machines in the lab. Available tools for remote connection to the lab machines:
Can I remotely run programs that require a GUI interface?
Yes you can. Here is a series of HOWTOs for various client operating systems.
How do I copy files from my own machine to my CS account?
You can use a USB flash drive.

You can use various tools to securely connect to the CS lab machines:

Does the CS Department provide FTP access?
ftp.cs.rit.edu is available for anonymous downloads only.

Software and Configuration

Firefox won't start.
First make sure you're not already logged into another CS computer. You can only run Firefox on a single machine at a time.
If that's not the issue, then you will need to manually remove the lock file for the browser. When Firefox or Chromium crash, they will leave these files in your account which will keep you from opening them on any CS computer. The files you need to remove are:
Firefox
~/.mozilla/firefox/????????.default/.parentlock
~/.mozilla/firefox/????????.default/lock
where ???????? are random numbers and letters unique to your account (i.e. wed4pa82)

Mail

The Department of Computer Science provides mail for students taking CS courses. Many faculty and advisor messages will be sent to your CS account, and it i s assumed you are reading it.

Your mail address is username@cs.rit.edu.
What mail services are available for my Computer Science Account?
We provide webmail access, secure POP3, and secure IMAP.
Some basic configuration information:
  • pop/imap mail server: mailhost.cs.rit.edu
  • imaps (secure) port: 993 (use SSL)
  • pop3s (secure) port: 995 (use SSL)
  • outgoing smtp port: 587 (use TLS)
I want to connect to the CS Mail server, but I don't have the Signing Authority Certificate. What do I do?
You can go here and follow the instructions to include the CA to your trusted certificates.
Where do I get information on how to connect with my favorite mail client?
You can go here for a series of HowTos on mail client connections
Can I forward my email to another system?
To be able to forward your email to another account, you need the .forward file in your home directory. The .forward file should ONLY have the email address to which you are forwarding. And the .forward file should have the permission 600 otherwise the mail server will just ignore it.
Is mail filtered for spam and viruses?
Yes. Messages that contain viruses are quarantined. All other messages are ranked based on spam probability and an X-Spam-Status is added to your message headers. We will not filter it out for you.
Can I do any mail filtering?
Procmail is provided for mail filtering. In combination with Spam Assassin it makes an effective spam trap. Here is a good reference to doing this properly.

Window Managers

What is the default window manager on the CS systems?
The default window manager is Unity - it is a branch of Gnome managed by Ubuntu
What other window managers are available?
How do I set up my window manager to be something other than Unity?
Here is a series of HowTos for using window managers.

Regulations

What is contained in the Computer Science Department Code of Conduct?
Here are the security requirements for devices connecting to RIT's network.