Computer Science | Vassar College

logging_out_of_a_desktop_or_remote_desktop

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2023-01-26T15:53:22+00:00

Logging out of the Computer Science Computers Leaving files open in editors such as pluma and emacs, or leaving applications running can lead to corrupt files and loss of your work because your files are not local to any computer. Your files are shared from a central server. Therefore, if you leave an application open on one computer and then go to another computer, you have several devices trying to access your files. Applications don’t like this. Firefox, for example, won’t allow you to star…

priority

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-06-27T18:51:07+00:00

System Priorities Priorities of programs are something to be aware of. PS The first thing to do is to get to know your processes. The ps command lists out the processes you have running on the system. By using ps -l, an extended listing of your processes is provided. The fields of the most interest to this topic are the PID, NI, and COMMAND fields. The COMMAND field lists the name of the command that started your process. So, if you're looking for your runaway c++ program, a.out is the one yo…

keyring_issues

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2022-11-10T16:19:51+00:00

Keyring Issues If you are using an application, e.g. GitHub, and you get an error because of your “keyring” then a quick workaround is to find that keyring and push it out of the way. Open a terminal and use the find command as such: $ cd $ find . -type f -name "*ring" ./.local/share/keyrings/login.keyring

vnc

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2020-07-04T21:02:46+00:00

Using VNC What is VNC? NOTE: VNC is deprecated. For all remote desktop access, we ask that you use X2Go (found here). VNC is a system for interacting with a computer display remotely, over a network. This technology was developed by AT&T Laboratories, and is now available for free over the internet (distributed under the GNU General Public License. Visit the

frozen

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-06-27T18:46:14+00:00

Frozen Machine! If you have a process, a window, or a machine that seems to have “frozen” while you were working on it, became “stuck,” is not responding to the keyboard or mouse, or is spewing out garbage into a window here is what you can try. If the steps below don't work, please get more help! Either ask a coach, an instructor or find or write me.

apple

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2021-03-04T00:22:24+00:00

X2Go macOS Installation may * Step 1: ” target=“blank”>Click here for the latest version to go to the download page for X2Go. ” target=“blank”>Click here for the previous versions.

kill_a_process

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2010-12-06T15:30:28+00:00

Monitoring and Killing Processes Any process you own you can kill (this is not a moral judgment, just a fact of life in Unix and Linux). Killing an offending process graphically If the machine itself is still responsive (but one or more windows perhaps aren't) you can try one of the Graphical Process Managers on our system.$$xfce4-taskmanager$$````````$$gnome-system-monitor$$````````

using_htaccess

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2010-10-29T19:16:06+00:00

Using htaccess for web pages Please note: htaccess is for pages served from OUTSIDE THE WIKI in users directories. The wiki has similar ability, but it is set up differently -Greg Web Access Restriction by user/password This can be used in many ways, the user and password are not related to our system users and passwords, so you can use anything you like, however, there is no mechanism for the web users to maintain or reset their htaccess password so it can become a maintenance nightmare qui…

windows

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2021-02-11T14:53:34+00:00

X2Go Windows Installation * Step 1: ” target=“blank”>Click here for the latest version to go to the download page for x2go. ” target=“blank”>Click here for the previous versions.

linux

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2016-09-29T18:34:13+00:00

X2Go Ubuntu Installation * Step 1: Open a shell (Note: on most systems, you can to this by typing in Ctrl-Alt-t). * Step 2: Type in sudo apt-get install x2goclient. Hit Enter. * You will be prompted for your password. Type it, then hit enter. Note that as you type your password, the screen won't change (no *s will appear). This is normal; the computer is still registering your typing.

using_dbc

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2010-02-01T19:26:49+00:00

Using the script /usr/local/sbin/dbc Dropbox check script Description This script is used to look at information from file names created by the submit script used by the digital drop box. It assumes English month names (January, February, etc.) and cannot deal with spaces. It prints out the encrypted information in a readable format.

acm_jar_applets

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2010-11-24T23:10:16+00:00

Using acm.jar The ACM Java Task Force (JTF) created an API framework for Java programs which is distributed in the file acm.jar. Programs using acm.jar may be compiled and executed from the command line, or within your favorite Java IDE (e.g., Netbeans, DrJava). It is also possible to run your JTF programs as an applet within a browser or via the appletviewer. ````````````````````````````````````

x2go

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2020-07-04T21:04:42+00:00

X2Go -- Remote Desktop Access About X2Go is a program that lets you use your account's desktop remotely. Imagine that you want to do work using DrRacket (or DrScheme, Netbeans, etc.) from your home computer but don't want to deal with the fuss of copying your work onto your CS account afterwards.

access

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-09-30T20:21:28+00:00

Remote Access If you want to connect to CS machines from your dorm room or home, use a web browser or an SSH client. SSH encrypts all communications, so connections are secure. CS systems are normally accessible only from campus networks; for off‑campus access the supported method is Citrix. Citrix works best via the `ssh acl215`

sshkeysmswindows

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2022-08-31T12:49:58+00:00

SSH Keys on Microsoft Windows using the PuTTY Utility SSH keys are what you will use to establish an encrypted connection over the network, e.g. the internet, between your system and a remote machine. The default type of key to generate is RSA which is good for most purposes. RSA is universally supported among SSH clients. Note that EdDSA performs much faster and provides the same level of security with significantly smaller keys. In general, though, for what you need to do, RSA encryption is …

ssh

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2024-03-27T13:08:06+00:00

Accessing CS Systems The easiest way to gain access the Computer Science Dept. Linux machines outside of the Asprey computer lab. This gives you terminal access to the command line inside the department, and it allows you to send files back and forth to your home directory. Since it has no remote

crmonitor

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2022-09-06T15:39:31+00:00

SP105 * The default is monitor is Display 1 and overhead is display 2 SP307 * The system near the server room has an output connection to the CRESTRON. There is no projector but there is a flat panel TV mounted on the wall in this room. SP309

filecopy

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2020-07-04T20:59:05+00:00

Secure Shell on macOS, Unix, and Linux Installation Any modern Unix-like operating systems should come with secure shell client utilities already installed. This is true for macOS, Ubuntu, Fedora, Mandrake Linux, FreeBSD and many others. If, however, you need a ssh client, you can download one from the openssh website:

emacs_tips

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2015-08-27T14:16:13+00:00

Emacs Tips Emacs Command Shorthand From the emacs built in tutorial Emacs commands generally involve the CONTROL key (sometimes labeled CTRL or CTL) or the META key (sometimes labeled EDIT or ALT). Rather than write that in full each time, we'll use the following abbreviations: C- means hold the CONTROL key while typing the character Thus, C-f would be: hold the CONTROL key and type f. M- means hold the META or EDIT or ALT key down while typing . …

command_please_not_found

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2023-02-20T17:02:22+00:00

Command 'Please' not found If you see this when you use SSH to log into a system Command 'Please' not found, did you mean: command 'please' from deb pleaser (0.5.1-4ubuntu0.22.04.1) Try: apt install and each time you enter a command, this error message is displayed, then something is not right. This means you are logged into a system you should not be logging into but only using as a proxy or gateway. What is likely causing this is that you have some software configu…

backups

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2015-08-26T20:52:53+00:00

FIXME update, convert to wiki, add link to isohome Backup With Tar ---------- * Overview * Creating a tar file of your entire directory * Copying the file to another location * Tar Documentation ---------- Overview While I make regular backups of the home directories on the Computer Science Unix machines, there are times when you want to have your own copy of your account. There are several relatively painless ways to accomplish this task. I will describe one of them here. If you n…

svn_use

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2015-08-26T21:24:38+00:00

SVN quick reference The following is modified from an email sent by Prof. Smith on the use of the command line svn program under linux here at CS To checkout (co) repository for first time * cd on your local machine to where you want your project working directory to be created````````````````````````````````

possible_issues_with_remote_webui

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2023-04-06T14:19:45+00:00

Possible Issues when using the Remote WebUI 1. Why do I get bumped off after 4 - 5 hours? There is a time limit on the connection because several people have forgotten to log out and left their user home account files open and tied to remote system. Therefore a timer will kick you off after four or five hours to close all of your applications and files for you so that your files are not corrupted. Save your work often! Close all of your applications and disconnect or logout when you are done o…

password

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-09-30T20:45:21+00:00

First Time Login The first time you log into a CS workstation with a temporary password, the login page will help you reset your password. First, enter your username (this will be the same as your Vassar email address, before the @-symbol): Enter your temporary password, which should have been given to you by your professor or sysadmin:

using_the_pickup_script

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2011-05-05T19:17:27+00:00

Using the pickup script with your course What it is The pickup script is a companion to the submit script. Pickup allows you to place files for pickup in your course directories such that those files cannot be read by your students until they run this script. At that time an entry is logged showing the date, time, user and directory that was picked up. If your students attempt to kill the script (say, after it copies the files and before it logs that it has) that attempt will also be logged…