Connecting
to the EECS Instructional Computers

Topics:
  • How Do I Get an Account?   [grad students]  [UCEX students]  [MEng & MASIC]
  • How Do I Find a Lab or a Logon Server?
  • How Do I Connect over the Network?
  • How Do I Copy Files Between Computers?
  • How Do I Display UNIX Graphics to My Computer?
  • How Do I Find Software?
  • How Do I Access on-line Discussions?
  • How Can I Be Sure My Password and Files are Private?
  • How Do I Set a Second Password or Password-less Access?
  • How Do I Login from Home?

    • How Do I Get an Account?

    Students in EE and CS classes can get one or more of these accounts from EECS:

    1.   Instructional "named" account:

    • Generalized account for many classes.
    • EECS and CS majors keep them until they graduate.
    2.   Instructional "class" account:

    Get them by logging in to

    If your CalNet ID does not work at WebAcct, here's how you can get an account:

    1. Ask your instructor if that class distributes the accounts from its own class WEB site, or ...
    2. ask your instructor to notify the IT staff (see WebAcct for instructions) so you can be authorized to use WebAcct, or ...
    3. print out an Account Request Form and obtain the appropriate signature, so you can be authorized to use WebAcct.

    These accounts:

    Users with pre-existing EECS research accounts should request an account using WebAcct to obtain access to the Instructional computers and printers.   Please see below for details.

    Login to WebAcct for a summary of your instructional accounts and print quotas.

     

    Users with EECS research accounts:

    Students with existing EECS research accounts need to submit a request for additional access to the Instructional computers and printers.   To add Instructional privileges to an existing account, login to WebAcct as described above.

    acct-diagram-Sp09.jpg
    Computer accounts in EECS
    (Research and Instructional accounts use different computer resources)

    EECS grad students are issued a research account, which uses computers, printers, email, WEB sites, software and wireless that are supported for research.

    The research account is your primary account.

    		  EECS grad students can also request an instructional account, which uses computers, printers, and software that are supported for classes.

    You may need the instructional account for software or computers that classes use.


    Here are some distinctions between the research and the instructional accounts:

    Windows password:
    • Instructional and research Windows computers are in same domain, so the logon names and passwords are the same.
    • Your research Windows account will work on the instructional computers, with the same password.
    UNIX password:
    • Instructional and research UNIX computers have different domains, so the passwords differ even though the login names are the same.
    • Your research UNIX account will not work on the instructional computers, but if you request an instructional UNIX account (using WebAcct), you will get one with the same login name as your research UNIX account (but with a different password...)
    home directories:
    • Instructional UNIX home dirs are on mamba.cs
    • Research UNIX home dirs are on home.cs
    • Instructional Windows home dirs are on fileservice.eecs (U:)
    • Research Windows home dirs are on home.cs (H:)
    Logon servers:
    • Instructional logon servers include cory.eecs (UNIX),   wserver2.eecs (Windows).
    • Research logon servers include login.eecs (UNIX),   winterm.eecs (Windows).
    Wireless network:
    Help:
    • Instructional support is inst@eecs (386 Cory, 333 Soda)
    • Research support is help@eecs (395 Cory)
    Please see Finding Computer Resources in EECS for additional comparisons.
    Please see microsoft.help for information about connecting to all of your home directories at the same time.

    UC Extension & Concurrent Enrollment students:

    For information about obtaining EECS computer accounts and cardkey access to the EECS labs, please see the "UC Extension & Concurrent Enrollment students" section here.

    Masters in Engineering & Master of Integrated Circuits students:

    For information about obtaining EECS computer accounts and cardkey access to the EECS labs, please see the "Masters in Engineering & Master of Integrated Circuits students" section here.

    How Do I Find a Lab or a Logon Server?

  • EECS Instructional labs:   located in Cory Hall, Soda Hall and Sutardja-Dai Hall
  • UNIX login servers:   you can login to several servers using 'ssh' or 'putty'.
  • Windows login servers:   you can login to several servers using Remote Desktop Connection.

    • How Do I Connect over the Network?
    How Do I Copy Files Between Computers?

  • bSecure VPN is REQUIRED to login to our Linux, and Windows systems from off-Campus
    Putty/WinSCP/Xming replace SSH/Exceed on Windows (July 2008)   [download free 'ssh' or 'putty' ]

    If you are not able to utilize the bSecure VPN service, you may utilize the SSH Jumphost using SSH keys: Jumphost

  • off-campus network access reduced because of attacks:   security.help

  • Connectivity software from laptops and home computers:

  • Logins and file transfers from EECS and non-EECS computers:

    if you are on an EECS UNIX or macOS computer:
    1. You can login to one of our UNIX servers using 'ssh'.   Enable X11 tunneling before you login so UNIX graphics programs can open windows on your local computer (usually 'ssh -X').   You can copy the files to other UNIX accounts using 'sftp', the SSH file transfer program, which comes with the SSH package.   See ssh.help for more information about SSH on UNIX.

      All EECS UNIX systems have 'ssh' and 'sftp'.   Sample usage (for user 'jdoe'):

        % ssh jdoe@cory.eecs.berkeley.edu
        % sftp jdoe@cory.eecs.berkeley.edu:public_html index.html-new

    2. On macOS, you can logon to one of our Windows servers using the Remote Desktop Connection client.   You can set it so that the disks on your local computer are connected to the logon session on our server. When you start your RDC program, type in the name of our Windows server, then select Options->Local Resources->Local devices and click on "disks", then on "Connect".   Your local disks will appear in the My Computer window on our server, and you can drag files to and from them.

      On other UNIX systems, you can copy files to a Windows account using the UNIX 'smbclient' command.   See samba.help for more information.   For example (for username 'jdoe'):

        % smbclient '\\fileservice\named' -U jdoe EECS

    3. If all this fails, you could use email or USB memory to copy the file.
    if you are on a non-EECS UNIX or macOS computer:
    1. You can login to one of our UNIX servers using 'ssh'.   Enable X11 tunneling before you login so UNIX graphics programs can open windows on your local computer (usually 'ssh -X').   You can copy the files to your EECS UNIX account using 'sftp', the SSH file transfer program, which comes with the SSH package.   Most Linux and macOS systems include SSH.   See ssh.help for more information about SSH on UNIX.

    2. See ftp.help for free programs that you can install at home and use to transfer files from your account on the instrcutional UNIX computers.

    3. On macOS, you can logon to one of our Windows servers using the Remote Desktop Connection client.   You can set it so that the disks on your local computer are connected to the logon session on our server. When you start your RDC program, type in the name of our Windows server, then select Options->Local Resources->Local devices and click on "disks", then on "Connect".   Your local disks will appear in the My Computer window on our server, and you can drag files to and from them.

      On other UNIX systems, there is no way to connect directly to an EECS Windows directory to access or copy files.   You cannot use 'smbclient' (see above), because the related network ports are blocked from off campus for security reasons.

    4. If all this fails, you could use email or USB memory to copy the file.
    if you are on an EECS Windows computer:
    1. You can login to one of our UNIX servers using Putty.   Enable X11 tunneling and start Xming before you login so UNIX graphics programs can open windows on your PC.   You can copy files to your EECS UNIX account using WinSCP.

      All EECS Windows systems have Putty, WinSCP and Xming.   You can locate the program from the Start\Programs menu.

    2. You can logon to one of our Windows servers using the Remote Desktop Connection client.   You can set it so that the disks on your local computer are connected to the logon session on our server. When you start your RDC program, type in the name of our Windows server, then select Options->Local Resources->Local devices and click on "disks", then on "Connect". Your local disks will appear in the My Computer window on our server, and you can drag files to and from them.

    3. You can connect to your UNIX home directory (the Instructional UNIX file server is "mamba").   If your username were 'jdoe', you would type this in the Windows Start->Run... text entry box:

        net use X: \\mamba\jdoe /user:eecs\jdoe

    4. You can connect to another EECS Windows directory (the Instructional Windows file server is "fileservice").   If your username were 'jdoe', you would type this in the Windows Start->Run... text entry box:

        net use Y: \\fileservice\named\jdoe /user:eecs\jdoe

      Here are examples of home directory paths for EECS Windows accounts:

        \\fileservice\named\jdoe   (Instructional named account)
        \\fileservice\ee20n\sp07\ee20n-ab     (Instructional class account)
        \\home\home\jdoe   (non-Instructional account)

      If you are prompted for a Username and Password, here is an example:

        Username: EECS\jdoe
        Password: [ Windows password for jdoe ]

      Note that Windows can remember only ONE user's permissions per file server, so if you try to connect to a second home directory on the same server, you will not be asked for another Username and Password.   Instead, you will be connected using the permissions of the first connection you made.   So it is likely that the second connection will not have full access permissions or will not be permitted at all.   The only way you can get full acess to the second home directory is to logout of Windows, login again and connect to that home directory first.

    5. If all this fails, you could use email or USB memory to copy the file.
    if you are on a non-EECS Windows computer:
    1. You can login to one of our UNIX servers using Putty.   Enable X11 tunneling and start Xming before you login so UNIX graphics programs can open windows on your PC.   You can copy files to your EECS UNIX account using WinSCP.

    2. See ftp.help for free programs that you can install at home and use to transfer files from your account on the instrcutional UNIX computers.

    3. You can logon to one of our Windows servers using the Remote Desktop Connection client.   You can set it so that the disks on your local computer are connected to the logon session on our server. When you start your RDC program, type in the name of our Windows server, then select Options->Local Resources->Local devices and click on "disks", then on "Connect". Your local disks will appear in the My Computer window on our server, and you can drag files to and from them.

    4. If all this fails, you could use email or USB memory to copy the file.
    Using email or removable media to transfer files:
    1. You can copy files by emailing the files to yourself as attachments and downloading them from the email server to the computer (UNIX or Windows) where you read the email.   Instuctional accounts can logon to imail.eecs.berkeley.edu to read and post email.

      See "tar.help" "man tar" and "man uuencode" for methods of bundling UNIX files for delivery by email.

    2. You can copy files to removable media such as a CD-RW or DVD-RW disk, a flash memory card or a USB memory stick.   See multimedia.help for the current location of these drives in the EECS Instructional labs.

    • How Do I Display UNIX Graphics to My Computer?

    Summary:

    1. Don't use the telnet programs that come with Exceed, X11, etc.
    2. X2Go is the easiest program for displaying the console of a remote Linux computer to your local Windows or Linux desktop.
    3. An alternative is to use the programs Putty and Xming.
    4. Use scp (UNIX, macOS) or WinSCP (Windows) to transfer files bewteen computers.

    You can login to our UNIX systems and run programs there that display their graphical output on your computer screen. To do this, you need an XWindows server running on your computer.   You can download Putty, WinSCP and Xming for this.

  • On UNIX/Linux computers, XWindows is standard software. See ssh.help for information about enabling "Forward X11" when logging in with ssh.
  • On Windows computers, we use the open source program Xming.   This replaced Exceed, which is overly complicated because of features that we don't need.
  • On macOS download the X11 kit from the from the following source http://www.xquartz.org/.  

    • To login to UNIX/Linux and run XWindows programs from a Windows computer, follow these steps:

    1. Open a 'Putty' window on the PC, enable "X11 Forwarding" and login to your UNIX account.
    2. Start 'Xming' on the PC.
    3. To verify that you have X11 working, type an XWindows command such as "xterm" at the UNIX command line in the Putty window.   A window from the UNIX system should pop up on your screen.   Note that the Xll tunneling sets the UNIX DISPLAY variable to something with "localhost" in it, and you should not change that.   You can verify that it is set right by typing "printenv DISPLAY" in the Putty window.

    Troubleshooting XWindows problems:

    incoming email server imail.eecs.berkeley.edu IMAP, requires SSL, not SPA, port 993 incoming email account name login@imail.eecs.berkeley.edu "login" = your Instructional UNIX account name outgoing mail server (ask your ISP)   * typically it's just "mail" * typically it's POP, not SSL, port 25 * outgoing email account name you choose this you configure this in your email client
    * Many ISPs block port 25 traffic to any but their own mail servers, to cut down on spam delivery. Alternatively, EECS faculty, grad students and staff with funded EECS accounts can login to "gateway.eecs.berkeley.edu" via port 587 for outgoing email service. See the EECS email page for details.
    Where is my email stored? Email that is delivered to imail.eecs.berkeley.edu is stored in "folders" (UNIX files, really) in one of these places in your EECS Instructional UNIX account:

    1. ~yourlogin/mbox, if that file exists
    2. ~yourlogin/Mail, if you have our standard .procmailrc file
    3. somewhere else, if you configure it in your .procmailrc file
    Empty INBOX? Your email is on http://imail.eecs.berkeley.edu.   In October 2006, we stopped exporting /var/mail to our UNIX computers. If you use pine on UNIX and find that your INBOX is empty on the Instructional computers, you probably need to update the way you read email.   You can simply logon at http://imail.eecs.berkeley.edu to read and send email via the EECS Instructional email server. Bothered by spam? See Can I stop the spam? for instructions about setting up email filtering.

    To set up spam filtering, run this command in your UNIX account: /share/b/adm/bin/instmail.pl Email for expired accounts: Expired EECS instructional accounts can use an IMAP client to read mail from "http://imail.eecs.berkeley.edu" as long as the account has not been deleted from our disks (about a month after it expired). Forwarding your mail: You can have your email forwarded from our server to another email address by listing the other email address in one of 2 files in your UNIX home directory:


    Here are ways to do this (warning: these commands will overwrite the files):

    1. Login to your Instructional UNIX account.
    2. At the UNIX command line, type either (for example):
      (echo 'me@newaddress.edu') > .forward
      (echo ':0'; echo '! me@newaddress.edu') > .procmailrc

    We will keep forwarding your mail as long as the account has not been deleted from our disks (about a month after it expired). -->

    How Do I Find Software?

  • Software for EECS Students
  • Running UNIX programs on your PC or Mac

    • How Do I Access on-line Discussions?

    EECS classes use a variety of services for on-line discussions. Check the course WEB site or ask your instructor to find out what on-line resources are being used.   Here are the typical services that are used:

    Ed Discussion Create an account and password for yourself there, then ask your instructor for the name of the course so you can "enroll" in it there.

    An enrollment roster can't be attached to Piazza, so the students have to sign up for it themselves. Typically, the instructor will send an email to the class inviting them to register for the class in Piazza.

    bCourses This is the UC Berkeley course management system.   Login to this server using your UC Berkeley CalNet ID.   On bCourses, the Discsussions and Collaborations tools are useful for group communication.   Unlike USENET and Google Groups, this server will not receive spam.
    Google Groups This service duplicates postings from USENET news servers. The contents may not be real-time copies of the source. It is free, but some users are sceptical about the privacy of data stored where the vendor may reveal it to advertisers.
    Usenet, Supernews Fee-based USENET services.

    How Can I Be Sure My Password and Files are Private?

  • Secure password software is REQUIRED to login to our UNIX systems   [download free 'ssh' or 'putty' ]

  • Never use older programs such as ftp, telnet, rlogin, rsh, rcp for logins and file transfers.   These commands send passwords in clear-text over the network. This is true of the UNIX-based versions as well as the Exceed "ftp" command on Windows and "fetch" on macOS.

  • Login from home using the programs described in How Do I Connect over the Network? above, including: ssh, scp, Putty, Xming, WinSCP.   These programs prevent your password from being illegally "sniffed" as it crosses the network between your computer and ours.

  • References: ResComp BeSecure, ResComp infosheet

  • Please see our Security primer for more information.

    Questions about SSH: Answers:
    1. Is the "pass phrase" like the password on a UNIX account? Does it need to be long, and with nonalphabetic characters etc.? What happens if someone guesses it? 1. Passphrase is like a password, which is used to enable increased security (it is not required). "ssh-keygen" creates it. The UNIX "man ssh-keygen" command says

    "The passphrase may be empty to indicate no passphrase (host keys must have empty passphrase), or it may be a string of arbitrary length. Good passphrases are 10-30 characters long and are not simple sentences or otherwise easily guessable..."

    If someone guesses it, they can login to your account and do bad things.

    2. Suppose you work on more than two accounts (for example: my home Mac, my campus Mac, my hera account, from which I access a variety of other accounts). Will one key suffice for the various accounts that I use for initial login, or should I have different keys? 2. The SSH "key" files are stored in files in your .ssh subdirectory on UNIX, or in your UserKeys folder on Windows. The files could be unique in each account, or they could be copied (do it securely using scp!) to other accounts.
    3. Every time I login with ssh, I get the message that hera is sending a previously unknown key (or some such thing). What's going on here, and what's the proper response? 3. If you answer "yes" to the question, ssh will add the key of the remote host (ie "hera") to your ~/.ssh/known_hosts file (UNIX) and you won't be asked again, unless they change the host key on hera (or someone is pretending to be hera on the network).

    • How Do I Set an Additional Password or Password-less Access to my Account?

    We do not recommend that you cache or otherwise avoid having to type any password unless you know that it will not be left where someone else could steal it.   However, the ssh and putty commands do have ways to store your SSH passphrase so that you do not have to type it repeatedly while you are logged in.   Once you logout, this is reset.

  • On UNIX and macOS using openSSH, you can use ssh-agent to cache your SSH passphrase.   Also see 'man ssh-agent, man ssh-add'.

  • On Windows using Putty, you can use pageant to cache your Putty passphrase.