Connecting to C.S. Department Computers
What’s my username?
You have a unique “username”, or “login name”, which identifies you to
the computer. You don’t get to make one up—somebody created one for
you. It’s the same as your eID. Mine is
“applin”.
What’s my password?
Your password is your CSU ID. It’s a nine-digit number starting with 8,
with no dashes or other punctuation. You should change it. If you’ve
taken a Computer Science class recently, you may still have a login left
over from that class. If so, your password will still be whatever it
was from that class. If you’ve forgotten your password, let me know,
and we’ll get it reset to your CSU ID.
Both Must be Right
When you log in, both the username and the password have to be
right. If you get the username wrong, it doesn’t tell you “bad
username”—it still asks you for a password. Honest! This is a
security thing, so a bad guy can’t easily find out what usernames are
valid.
What computer do I use?
You don’t have to use the same computer every time.
Your files are magically on all of the CS Department computers at once.
How do I actually get to one of these computers?
- Computer Lab
- The simplest way is to walk to the Linux Lab in the
first floor of the Computer Science building.
It’s a room full of computers—sit down and log into one.
You need a RamCard keycard
to get into this room.
- Connecting from a home computer
-
You may connect to one of the CS Department Linux computers from your
home computer, and do your work from home. However, it is your
responsibility to get your homework done. If your internet connection
fails, or if your home computer breaks, that’s your problem—you have
to walk to the Linux Lab in the
Computer Science building, as described above.
You need to do your homework on one of the
Computer Science Department computers.
From that list, select a machine where its OS is
Linux or Linux(64), and its USE is general.
Don’t pick the first computer in the list, because everybody is going
to pick that one. Pick one whose name has some meaning to you—I use
one whose name reminds me of my favorite comic-book character.
When you refer to a computer from that list, you must use its full
name. For example, if the computer’s name is
corn, you must refer
to it as corn.cs.colostate.edu.
How do I log in?
- Walk up to an unused computer, and wiggle the mouse.
- There will be a box in the middle of the screen.
- Type your username, all small letters, followed by the Enter key.
- Another box will ask for your password.
Type it, followed by the Enter key.
- If you succeed, not much will change, except that your
name will appear in the upper-right corner of the screen.
How do I create a shell (terminal) window?
To create a shell window:
- Alt-F2
gnome-terminal enter
Alt is like the shift key. Hold down the Alt key, to the left
of the space bar, and press F2, which is way high up, above
the 3 key. Then let go of both keys.
To get rid of the shell window:
- Type
exit or click on the × in the upper-right corner.
How do I get a browser?
How do I log out?
- Click on your name in the upper-right corner.
- Click on “Log Out”.
- A box will appear in the center of screen. Click on “Log Out” again.
Changing your password
Once you log in, you should change your password using the
passwd command. Get a terminal window, then change your password like this:
passwd
