How to: Connect to Campus Computing Resources Remotely Connecting Remotely Quicktip Students taking an Engineering or Computer Sciencee class often find themselves having to physically trek to a computer lab across campus. This quicktip will show studentss how to connect to the resources they need from any computer. In this tutorial, learn how to: Accesss CS files Remotee into CS Unix Machines Remotely access Unix and Windows CAE machines Accesss key campus computer resources off campus Updated by Eric N. Harris (March 2009)
Quick Tips for Remote Login CONTENTS Getting Files from Computer Science (Windows or Unix Files)... 3 Getting the right software... 3 Connecting with Windows... 3 Connecting to Computer Science Unix Machines... 6 Opening SSH (Windows)... 7 Running Programs Remotely with VNC (Windows)... 9 Connecting and Running Programs Remotely under OS X... 12 Connecting to CAE (College of Engineering)... 13 VPN Connection Required............ 13 Remote Windows Access... 13 (From Windows)... 13 Remote Windows Access... 15 (From OS X)... 15 Remote Unix Access... 15 Other Services... 15 WiscVPN... 15 COPYRIGHTS "Screen shot(s) reprinted by permission from Microsoft Corporation and Apple. Icons courtesy of the Crystal Project <http://everaldo.com/crystal/> 2
GETTING FILES FROM COMPUTER SCIENCE (WINDOWS OR UNIX FILES) GETTING THE RIGHT SOFTWARE Before you go through the rest of this section you need to have an SFTP Client installed on your machine. Many campus Windows machines already have SecureFX installed which will work great and is what these instructions are tailored to. As a UW Student you can get SecureFX for free: http://techstore.doit.wisc.edu/product.asp?login=p&itemnum=sv10233 If you have an Apple Computer you can download the SFTP client of your choice. Steps should be similar. CONNECTING WITH WINDOWS Once you have SecureFX installed, start it by going to Start>Programs>SecureFx (may vary from machine to machine) New Session Button Once you have SecureFX started up you will be presented with something like this. Click the New Session button. 3
Choose the SFTP Option and hit Next Use route66.cs.wisc.edu as the Hostname and 22 for the port. You can leave username blank for now. Hit Next and then hit Finish. Select the route66.cs.wisc.edu you just added and press Connect 4
If you get a warning hit Accept Once Enter your CS username in the box and press ok. When prompted, enter your password as well. Two windows: one local, one remote You should now see a screen like this. Note there are two inner windows. Drag one window away from the other. One window is the remote file-list and one window is your local computer. 5
Drag and drop files to and from the CS file servers You can now drag and drop files from between your local machine and the CS servers. You can navigate using the local window to where your files are coming from/going to on the computer you are on and the server window to find where you want them to go/come from in your CS files. When you are done click the Disconnect button at the top of the window (fourth button from the left on the toolbar). You are all set! CONNECTING TO COMPUTER SCIENCE UNIX MACHINES With the CS Unix/Linux machines you can connect to them remotely and get the terminal (command-line). For things that require more than a terminal, VNC is the best option for Windows users. The software required to connect from Windows to a CS machine is called an SSH client. Putty and SecureCRT are common ones. Since UW Madison suggests SecureCRT that is what this guide will use. Windows users can download it at: https://techstore.doit.wisc.edu/product.asp?login=p&itemnum=sv10215 For those running OS X on their Mac, the software to SSH is already installed. 6
OPENING SSH (WINDOWS) Once SecureCRT is installed start it up by going to Start> Programs> SecureCRT New Session Button Upon starting you should see a window like this. Click New Session. On the screen that pops up you should change the drop-down to SSH2. 7
On the next screen you can leave Username blank and leave Port at 22. For hostname you can either choose a specific machine, or the best available computer in a specified lab. best-emperor.cs.wisc.edu is usually a good starting point but you could also use emperor11.cs.wisc.edu for example to connect to a specific machine. You must have activated your CS Unix Login for this to work. Hit Next. If it asks about SFTP you can choose None (not all computers will have such a prompt). You should click Next then Finish. You should now see your connection list: Choose the connection you just made and press Connect. 8
If you see the dialog above click Accept Once Enter your username and password for your CS account when prompted. You should now have a terminal window. You can now do everything you normally could with a terminal window. However, if you wish to launch a program, say matlab for example, from the terminal and see the user interface, you must use VNC. See the instructions below. When you are finished make sure to type logout to log you out of the session. RUNNING PROGRAMS REMOTELY WITH VNC (WINDOWS) To run programs remotely on a Windows machines (where the remote computer is a Unix machine) you can use something called VNC. There are tons of different software options for VNC viewers and you will need to have one installed. The tutorial here is for RealVNC Viewer (you do not want server version) which is a free download from: <http://www.realvnc.com/products/free/4.1/winvncviewer.html> 9
Once you have your VNC viewer started you need to follow the instructions above to start an SSH session with SecureCRT or similar program. Type the command vncserver and press enter: Pay attention to the number listed after the colon (3 in the picture above). You will need this later. Type the command vncpasswd and set a password. Do not use your normal password because this password will be transmitted unencrypted so everyone who knows how to can see it. In your vnc client you need to connect to the specific machine you are ssh ed into. At the end add a colon and the number you remembered from above. This is not best-emperor but will be a specific machine like emperor09.cs.wisc.edu. Start the VNC Viewer and open a connection to the exact machine. When prompted enter just the password in the password field and leave the username blank. Now you have a terminal that, when programs are started, the windows will pop up. For example, the screenshot below shows Matlab running (started with the command matlab ). 10
When you are done make sure to bring back up the SSH window and kill the vncserver. (You may have to reconnect to the specific machine you were on if the SSH session).to do that type vncserver kill :# where # is the number you remembered from above. You are done. Type logout in the SSH session and you are set. 11
CONNECTING AND RUNNING PROGRAMS REMOTELY UNDER OS X For those running OS X, connecting to the CS machines and seeing the windows is easier than from Windows. To start open the application Terminal Type in ssh X username@best-emperor.cs.wisc.edu wheree username is your username for the CS machines and best-emperor is the computer you are connecting to (see Windows instructions for more information). Note that the X is a capital X. Press Enter. Now you have the terminal for the remote machine. You can start programs from the command line. Typing matlab for example starts matlab. 12
CONNECTING TO CAE (COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING) VPN CONNECTION REQUIRED Make sure to close all windows and type in logout in the terminal to disconnect. Before proceeding further to the instructions below you must be either on a campus network or be connected to the campus network via WiscVPN. See the end of this guide for instructions on setting up WiscVPN if you are off-campus. REMOTE WINDOWS ACCESS (FROM WINDOWS) Once you are on a campus network. Go to Start> Programs > Accessories > Remote Desktop Connection (this may differ on your computer). 13
Type remote.cae.wisc.edu into the computer and hit Connect If a security dialog comes up click Connect The Novell Dialog should come up and you can enter your CAE username and password. 14
You should now see the Remote Desktop. Please note, anything done on the remote desktop that is processor or graphic intensive (Internet and simple Matlab calculations are usually fine) bogs down other remote users and probably should be done in person in the lab. The easiest way to transfer files is emailing or uploading them to your MyWebSpace where you can use the remote machine s internet browser to retrieve them. REMOTE WINDOWS ACCESS (FROM OS X) REMOTE UNIX ACCESS ------------------ To connect to a Windows remote desktop machine from an OS X machine you need to have Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac. It is a free download from Microsoft available at <http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/remote-desktop/default.mspx>. Once the program is launched it should work very similar to the Remote Desktop Connection program in Windows. ------------------ Remote Unix access can also be obtained to CAE. It works similar to connecting to the Computer Science machines. See that section and note that the address will be best-tux.cae.wisc.edu instead of best-.cs.wisc.edu OTHER SERVICES WISCVPN To access some on-campus computing resources from off-campus (the dorms count as on-campus) you need to VPN-in. The first thing required is that you download WiscVPN onto the machine you are connecting from. WiscVPN is offered free from DoIT <http://www.doit.wisc.edu/network/vpn/>. Once you have the appropriate version installed, start up the WiscVPN client. It may be installed as Cisco VPN Client on your computer. 15