Keck Lab Workstation Guidelines

Here are some guidelines for using the workstations inside the Keck lab. These tips pertain to the physical machines themselves—you can access this Wiki from anywhere, on any machine that has a modern Web browser and an Internet connection.

Linux Workstations

• Use your Keck lab username and password directly when logging in to a Linux workstation.
• The Linux workstations use the X-Window System as their GUI environment, which will probably feel (understandably) very unfamiliar to some of you; as a quick tip, right-click on the desktop to see the programs that you can run.

Macs and Windows PCs

The Macs and Windows PCs have shared local accounts; login as "Keck Lab User" and enter "keck" as the password. The instructions below apply both to any Macs and Windows PCs in the Keck lab as well as any other Mac or Windows PC with an Internet connection.

• To connect to the Keck lab network from a Mac:
  1. Run the Terminal application
  2. Run this command on the command line that appears, substituting <username> for your Keck lab username (you will then be asked for your Keck lab password):

ssh -X <username>@keck.cs.lmu.edu

• To connect to the Keck lab network from a Windows PC:
  1. Run the PuTTY application (downloadable from http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html — you want putty.exe)
  2. Open an ssh connection to the host keck.cs.lmu.edu
  3. Under the X11 section of the Configuration window, check on "Enable X11 forwarding."
• Once connected, the commands you run in the command window will actually be invoked on the Keck lab network (and the folders/files that are stored there).
• To run GUI programs on the Keck lab network, you should know its command-line equivalent (e.g. firefox, gimp, openoffice). Type that command into the Terminal window; the program's windows should then appear on the Mac mini and you can use them normally.
• To end your connection to the Keck lab network, type this command into the Terminal:

logout

• For in-lab Macs and Windows PCs: Because the "Keck Lab User" accounts are shared, the files that you save on them cannot be guaranteed to remain there between logins. We highly recommend that you bring a flash drive with you so that you can copy your work there whenever your session is done. Alternatively, you can copy your files to your home folder on the Keck lab network. Ask a TA or Dr. Dionisio for help with that.