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FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Category:
Windows Support Page
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How to I configure my Windows PC to use CDS services?
Submitted by: mpotter
Submitted on: September 9, 2004
CDS: Windows Support
Windows Support Page
This page contains information on using PCs (running Windows) and
laptops within CDS. This applies both to PCs and laptops administered
by the CDS sysadmins, as well as personal computers or laptops and PCs
administered by other people. If you administer or use a PC/laptop
within CDS, please read the following information.
The email address for the CDS system administrators is help@cds.caltech.edu. Let
us know if you have any problems or questions.
Read me first
If you use a CDS department owned laptop or PC, you should be aware of certain
legal and ehtical obligations. You are NOT permitted to install any software
without a license explicitly for that instance of the installation. This means
that if CDS has a site license, you are welcome to install that software (see instructions for mounting \\pcfiles.cds.caltech.edu\software below). If there is a software package that you need and CDS does not have a license explicitly for that instance (e.g. Visual Studio on your CDS laptop), you MUST purchase the software (license included) to not
incriminate our departement legally. In that case, please contact the sysadmins before you purchase the software.
If you use a CDS department laptop, you are naturally expected to configure and maintain the laptop. Recommendations for configuring your laptop and instructions for obtaining commonly requested software are provided below.
PCs in CDS
Laptops in CDS
Common to PCs and laptops
To use one of the CDS PCs or laptops in room 133 or elsewhere, login as cdsuser with password cds. Please remember to logout after you have finished using the computer.
Recommendations for configuring a new CDS laptop are given below. If you are inheriting a laptop, it is likely much of this has been done.
Using SSH
This section explains why you should use SSH (instead of telnet) and where to find an implementation for Win32 platforms:
SSH is a high-security protocol. It uses strong
cryptography to protect your connection against
eavesdropping, hijacking and other attacks. Telnet and Rlogin are both older protocols offering minimal security. Telnet allows you to pass some settings on to the server, such as environment variables, but this has been a constant source of security problems.
- PuTTY
is a free implementation of Telnet and SSH for Win32 platforms, along with an xterm terminal emulator. Again, we STRONGLY recommend that when you connect to another CDS machine, do so with the SSH protocol (click the SSH button in the PuTTY Configuration window when opening a session).
- WinSCP is a secure copy client with a user-friendly interface much like graphical FTP clients.
Rather than storing your files on the local PC hard drive (which isn't backed up and might be lost at any time), you can mount your Linux home directory on the Windows machine and use it as storage.
On a PC open up Explorer and choose Tools -> Map Network Drive. Give the drive path as \\pcfiles.cds.caltech.edu\username (replace username with your linux login name) and click OK. In the dialog box enter your unix login name and password, and then the contents of your ~/pc directory will appear as a mounted network drive. Once you have finished using it you should remove it by choosing Tools -> Unmap Network Drive.
Changing your password (either by running passwd in linux or via the web interface - see Editing your information or changing your password) will automatically synchronize the password with windows clients.
Information regarding mail, printing, time synchronization for your PC or laptop is contained in this section. If you need a fixed IP address, one must be assigned to you from a system administrator. Help regarding connecting to the Network from a fixed IP is also given below.
Mail servers
The outgoing mail servers are mail.cds.caltech.edu OR smtp.cds.caltech.edu. The incoming mail servers are pop.cds.caltech.edu or imap.cds.caltech.edu.
Printing
To add a printer under Windows, the network name is of the form \\printers.cds.caltech.edu\sequoia (similarly for the other printers). The printers are only accessible from IP addresses within CDS. More information including the list of printers can be found here.
Connect with a fixed assigned IP address
To access the CDS network via non-DHCP (e.g. if need to access your machine from another machine on the network) you will need to complete the following steps: obtain a fixed IP address from a sysadmin (131.215.42.XXX), enter the list of DNS servers 131.215.(42.28, 254.99, 139.100), subnet mask 255.255.255.0 and router/gateway 131.215.42.254.
The software that CDS has a site license for can be found by mounting \\pcfiles.cds.caltech.edu\software. At the root level is the file Instructions.txt, listing each package and details on how to install them. If the software you want is not there, contact the system administrators help@cds.caltech.edu with a request.
Page maintained by:
system@cds.caltech.edu
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