Chapter 3 Accessing the systems 3.1 Introduction This chapter explains how and where you can access your unix account. You need to have some sort of terminal that connects you to your unix machine. Most personal computers like Mac's and PC's can run a program that will emulate such a terminal. How to run and use these programs are described in section 3.2. Section 3.4 describes how to log in and out of your account once you have connected to the machine. 3.2 Basics of logging in and out Once you have connected to the unix machine, you will see a prompt similar to login: You should now type your login name. After you've typed that, you will be prompted for your password. Note that your password will not appear on the screen while you type it (this is for security purposes). If you have typed everything correctly, you have now successfully logged into the machine. Most machines will then display a message and then ask you for the type of terminal you are using, like this: TERM was (something) TERM = You should now enter the type of terminal you are using or emulating. If you are using a Mac or IBM it will most likely be VT100. If you are using an X-terminal, then it would be xterm. Often times the computer will already know what term type you are using and display in the parenthesis above instead of the word `something'. If this is the case, then you need only to press `return'. Once you have done this you should see a system prompt with the name of the machine you are using, such as this: prism 1% If you see this prompt, you've successfully logged in. After you have finished using your unix account, you need to log out. To do this you type logout at the system prompt. If you see the line There are stopped jobs. you will need to type logout again, which will kill all the stopped jobs. Jobs are typically stopped by typing Ctrl-Z. To find out more about Jobs, see 12.6. 3.3 Logging on from the Computer labs on campus There are several different open access labs on campus that you can use to log on to your unix account: - Computer Science Lab -- Room 108 Computer Science Bldg. - Kerr Library lab -- First floor of Kerr Library - Milne Computer lab -- Rooms 201-203 Milne - Sackett Computer lab -- Basement of A wing - Bexell Computer lab -- Room 120 Bexell Hall 3.3.1 Computer Science Lab The Computer Science lab has Mac's, IBM's and X-terminals. You can log on to your unix account using any of these. - Using the Mac to log on: Open the Telnet package, and when it finishes booting, select the open connection option under the FILE menu. Then give fully qualified domain name of the machine you wish to access. For example: prism.cs.orst.edu will connect your Macintosh with the machine prism where you will see the familiar login: prompt. The default terminal type is VT100. - Using the IBM to log on: Turn the machine on and wait for it to boot. At the C prompt, type telnet fully-qualified-machine-name The default terminal type is vt100. - Using an X-terminal to log on: There are two ways to use the X-terminals in the CS lab. The first and simplest way is to use them as telnet terminals; the second, more useful way is to use them as X-terminals. - Using an X-terminal as a telnet terminal 1. The X-terminals may be used as a telnet session from which you can connect to any computer. The following steps will explain how to start up and log into a machine using telnet: There should be an XDM login window on the screen indicating the name of the X-terminal and the name of the machine hosting the X-terminal; e.g. xanth.cs.orst.edu (eros:0). If the window is missing, tell the lab consultant. Enter xtelnet for the login: prompt and press `return'. xtelnet Press `return' for the `Password:' prompt. There should now be a window in the middle of the screen with a `telnet' prompt. Now, type open machine where machine is any machine on the Internet. Examples are jacobs.cs.orst.edu, nyssa.cs.orst.edu, and mist.cs.orst.edu. When it asks for a term type, enter xterm and press ``return''. TERM was (something) TERM = xterm 2. Using an X-terminal as an X-terminal To use the terminal as a X-terminal, you must have an account on the machine that hosts the X-terminal. The host name is given in the XDM window. Enter your login name and password in the XDM login window. Now, the window manager specified in your .xsession file in your home directory will be started. For more information on starting a different window manager, or customizing your .xsession file, see Section . 3.3.2 Kerr Library, Sackett, and Milne Computer labs These computer labs have both Mac's and IBM's for you to use and using the telnet software is the same for each lab. - Using the Mac to log on: This is accomplished much the same way as in the CS lab. Open the NCSA telnet program which should be in the communications folder. Then select the open connection option under the FILE menu and type in the fully qualified domain name of the machine you wish to access. For example: prism.cs.orst.edu will connect your Macintosh with the machine prism where you will see the familiar login: prompt. The default terminal type is VT100. - Using the IBM to log on: The IBM PCs run off a menu system. When the machine finishes booting, and the Main Menu appears, select: Communications The Communications Menu will appear with the following options: telnet (h19) (Connects using h19 as the terminal type) telnet (vt100) (Connects using vt100 as the terminal type) FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Used to transfer files (see Chapter 15) Ping (Ping a host) (Test if a host is alive) Login to remote file server Login to Kerr CD-ROM Center Chat with another user For the first four options, give the machine's fully qualified domain name that you wish to connect to. For the last three options answer the questions as requested. Both telnet options accomplish the same thing, however the h19 termtype works better with the IBM PCs than vt100, but the differences will be unnoticeable to most users. 3.3.3 Bexell lab The Bexell lab has only IBM PC type computers, focused mainly on HP Vectra 386 machines. They support a wide variety of PC software, including communications software to connect to the network. The MS-DOS Window system menu is set up with a communications section. The software is set up to connect to other campus hosts. 3.4 Dialing In from Home There are many public domain packages which will allow you to utilize your Macintosh or PC as a remote terminal via modem and phone line from your home. To connect via modem, you need to make sure you have the following settings made: baud rate: 2400, 1200 or 300 (as fast as your modem can go) parity: none data bits: 8 stop bits: 1 Also, make a note of the type of terminal emulation your program is set for so when asked what term type you are using, you will know what to enter. There are two phone numbers that you can call to connect to the OSU Ethernet Terminal Service (OSUETS). For modems of baud rates up to 2400, dial 737-1511. If you would like to connect at a baud rate of 9600, then you need to dial 737-1560. Once connected, you may need to press `return' a few times to get to the OSUETS prompt. Once you see this prompt you can type `c machinename' to connect to your machine. For example, the following would connect you to the machine prism: OSUETS> c prism If you have some problems while dialing in, try the following steps: - Make sure your parity is set correctly. If it is not, your terminal will freeze up. - If your screen does freeze, try typing ctrl-q. - You can usually backspace by typing ctrl-h. - Use the fully qualified domain name. This means to use prism.cs.orst.edu instead of prism. If you have problems with dialing in you should mail a trouble report to: commtrouble@ucs.orst.edu or call 737-3473 and report the problem to the University Computing Services Network group. The next two sections were provided by UCS to help report problems. 3.5 OSU General Access Modem Pool Trouble Reporting Guide To report any trouble you may be experiencing, your report needs to have some specific information to aid in locating the offending hardware or software. Each communication system, OSUETS or Sytek, has several possible points of failure. Possible failure points are: phone line, answering modem, serial cables from modem to communications system, OSUETS and/or Sytek, communications between OSUETS or Sytek and host, or the host to which you are connected. In order to trace problems, users experiencing problems need to supply as much complete and accurate information as possible. The following is a list of information to supply when reporting problems. Examples showing how to get most of this information follows the list. Examples ========== Phone number dialed? ______________ (737-1511) OSUETS information: Did you get the "OSUETS>" prompt after the "CONNECT" response from your modem? ______________ (yes/no) What was the OSUETS number? ______________ (1 thru 6) What was the port number? ______________ (0 thru 9) Was there an error in connecting to the host? ______________ (yes/no) What was the error message? ____________________________ Could you connect to other hosts? ______________ (yes/no) Sytek information: Did you get the "CALL COMPLETE TO 1013,0" message? ______________ (yes/no) Did you get the "destination:" prompt? ______________ (yes/no) Did you get the "CALL COMPLETE TO xxxx,y" after requesting a destination? ______________ (yes/no) What was the "xxxx,y" on the "CALL COMPLETE" message? ______________ (0510,0) Port you connected to? ______________ (D241,1) (Enter break to get "#" prompt, then type 'sst' to get info) 3.6 Work arounds 1. If all you get is the message `CONNECT', you can take advantage of the modem timeout period of 30 seconds. You would dial the number, wait for the modem at the other end to attempt to establish a connection, hang up, and dial it again. This will allow you to bypass the offending modem, as it is busy trying to connect to your first call. Please report these problems as `dead connects'. 2. If you are having trouble connecting to a specific host, the host may be down. From OSUETS, the response would be HOST NOT RESPONDING. From Sytek, the response would be UNABLE TO CONNECT, ALL PORT(S) BUSY. which you will only get a portion of the message due to how Sytek does modem handshaking. 3. If you suspect that you are having a problem with the terminal server, you can check to see which OSUETS you are on, and its port by typing Ctrl-, which should give you the `OSUETS' prompt otherwise there is a failure between your machine and the answering modem. Then enter OSUETS> DO GREET to show which OSUETS and port number. 4. For users accessing Sytek, if your session is disconnected after typing in your destination, it could mean that all of the Sytek ports connecting to that particular destination are full. When this happens, you should wait a little while, then try again. 5. By trying another modem number you could determine if it is your modem that is having the problems. The best way to report a problem is with the description of what you think the problem is, followed by a log of what happened. If you are unable to get the backlog of the session and problem, then the appropriate information will be needed, i.e. phone number, port, Sytek port, etc.