Department of Computer Science Computer Science IT support For Research Students and Staff
Introduction This document is intended to introduce incoming research students and staff of the Computer Science Department to the computing services and support available to them. These guidelines apply to long term staff and postgraduate students ( i.e those of you who will be here for a minimum for 5-6 months. Excellent Facilities The Western Gateway building is a recently built IT building, with excellent facilities. This is no exception for Computer Science staff.. Research students and staff are housed in the postgraduate labs on the second floor of the Kane building. Generally postgraduate students are housed in room 2.08 on the second floor of the Western Gateway Building (WGB). However, some research staff/students may be housed with one of the various research groups on the 2 nd floor. Services supported by Computer Science Support Group ( which are explained in this manual) Computer Science Email setup Home directory Connection to wired network Printing services Account creation Desktop setup Access to CS software and services Services not supported by us University (gmail /umail) email accounts supported by the Computer Centre Access to University resources ie Blackboard etc (Computer Centre) Wireless connection to the UCC network ( check sit.ucc.ie for further details) PC/Laptop for your work It s the responsibility of your supervisor to providea pc/ laptop etc for the duration of your time on campus, via research grant etc..reallocation or purchase ( if deemed necessary) is usually arranged between your supervisor and the Computer Science Systems manager ( Dave O Byrne ). Access to your research space etc Your student/staff id card allows you swipe access to your room. If this is not working for any reason, email help@cs.ucc.ie, detailing your name student/staff number and the relevant room that access has been denied to. Filer Server space You are allocated a quota or fixed space on our Departmental Server. This is the maximum amount of space that you can use during the year. Once this space is used, you can no longer save any more data to your home directory, until you delete
unwanted files. To avoid space filling up rapidly, you should regularly delete unwanted files. In windows desktops( logging in onto the cs-domain, this drive is visible as Z In unix desktops( logging in via the NIS domain, this drive will be visible as /users/postgrads/<username, or /staff/<username> Email Each postgraduate student and staff member has the facility to send and receive email Your email address will be <username>@cs.ucc.ie The CS Department runs web based email called squirrelmail and roundcube for this purpose To access squirrelmail do the following: Go to http://www.cs.ucc.ie/squirrelmail And chose Neptune server Or Go to http://www.cs.ucc.ie/roundcube Login with your CS user name and password (N.B if you change your password it is your 'unix' password that you use for email). If you need to setup an email client the settings are Imap : imap.cs.ucc.ie or Pop :pop.cs.ucc.ie These are accessible both inside and outside campus (with ssl) Smtp.cs.ucc.ie for outgoing connections accessible within campus, and outside by ticking the use authentication box and with tls/ssl. Any problems/issues here may be addressed to help@cs.ucc.ie Proxy Server In order to access the internet from your pc you will need to go through the Department proxy server. In your browser settings, find the proxy settings setup and put in the following proxy server for all services: Csproxy.ucc.ie port 80 Desktop ( wired access) Our lab machines use dual boot windows 7 and kubuntu 12.04 LTS. Its possible that your desktop may be one or both of these Os, depending on your requirements.
If using windows on a WIRED connection, we have an active directory domain called cs-domain/cs.ucc.ie which you may centrally log into, and access the file server storage. If you wish to use this instead of a local login, the desktop/pc needs to be set up by us for this purpose. Similiarly we have an NIS domain csdept which needs to be set up manually on your desktop. Changing Your Password Windows: Pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete and choose 'change password' option after you log on. Note: This changes your Windows login password ONLY. Linux: Run the 'passwd' command. It can take a few minutes to take effect. Note: This will change your password for Linux, Unix, and Email access. Wired Network Access for Laptops The college network to provide access for reseach postgrads and staff with laptops. Once your laptop is patched, has a virus scanner and patching is up-to-date you can contact the Computer Science helpdesk to arrange obtaining an IP address and settings for use on the college network. Email help@cs.ucc.ie with the details (mac address, Serial number, Wallpoint, and Name room number. It normally takes 24-36 hours to fully process, so its important to include all of this information at the outset. Wireless access for Laptops wireless connections are set up and dealt with by the Computer Centre (http://www.ucc.ie/en/sit/network/wireless/) Service is restricted for security reasons. All enquiries for registration of wireless devices should be made to above link Printing
Location of Printers Most labs have a printer which is accessible from both Windows and Linux via a network print spooler csprint.ucc.ie. Printers are generally named cs<room number>ptr For example, csg20ptr is the printer in the g20 lab, The printers detailed here are all network enabled. Throughout Computer Science. It is possible that some research centre printers are shared at a local level. If so enquiries should be made directly to your colleagues in the centre/room. SSH SFTP Server The department provides gateway server csgate.ucc.ie for SSH / SFTP access For users that need to connect from outside ucc (from home or When travelling).
How to Print From Windows use Internet Explorer to connect to http://csprint. Select the appropriate printer for your current location and click Connect. This will automatically install the selected printer for the duration of your session. From Linux using the command line: lpr -Pprintername filename Note: If printing ascii text and having problems with new line codes, then use this command instead of lpr. enscript -Pprintername filename From applications the print dialogs will vary, in some cases a text field is provided for you to type in the command as used in command line method. Other applications may provide a popup menu of available printers within the page setup dialog. Printer problems? Please email help@cs.ucc.ie with a description of your problem, and the printer name/lab that you are in (printer jammed, printer not working, paper tray empty etc)
Helpdesk The Computer Science IT Support staff maintain a helpdesk in order to assist students with their IT account etc problems The helpdesk operates mainly on an email basis (help@cs.ucc.ie) and all emails sent to this address are logged to a Helpdesk system. Calls will be dealt with between 9:15am 5:00pm although emails can be sent at any time.
To log a call Email help@cs.ucc.ie ; put an informative subject line in the email (i.e. unable to login / etc, give the full detail of your problems, and your user name. We will respond as quickly as possible. What we support Account problems: logging in problems, email problems, problems with accessing resources General account and IT service problems (i.e. website, applications etc) What we don t support: Programming consultation, error debugging these queries should be directed to your lecturer/ demonstrator. General enquiries not relating to IT queries should be directed to the CS Departmental Office Frequently Asked questions: This is by far the quickest and easiest way to find an answer to a problem (www.cs.ucc.ie/helpdesk) shows frequently asked questions by students, with answers, and is up to date and informative. If I can't log in to my account how can I send an email to help@cs.ucc.ie?! If you are unable to login, you can use a special lab account to log a call from any lab in Windows only. This restricted account only permits a user to run Internet Explorer browser with Squirrelmail so that they can send an email to help-desk (help@cs.ucc.ie) Log in to windows as: User name = help Password = helpdesk This account also permits access to the FAQ web pages of Computer Science Department. http://www.cs.ucc.ie/helpdesk Failing that, if you call to the helpdesk in room 1-25, there is a self-service facility. You can use the form on the self-service PC to log a request for help. Enter your own umail address so we can reply to you (!) and enter as much detail as possible so we can help you.
Helpdesk Counter What services do we provide at the counter? Services which necessitate a person to come and meet face to face with CS IT support person For example: forgotten password you need to call to the helpdesk with your student ID card in order to prove your identity etc Collecting your account for the first time Where a query is especially difficult, and has not been solved using the help@cs.ucc.ie email route When is it open? Monday Thursday 11:00am 12:30pm and 2:30pm 4:00pm Friday 11:00am 12:30pm during Term Time These are guideline opening hours only. Because of the nature of systems administration work, staff may be called to fix problems in labs, or other duties. If the counter is unattended, a self-service workstation will be available to log your call. Again, the quickest and most consistent way to log a helpdesk call is via email to help@cs.ucc.ie Frequently asked questions on Windows/Linux, Accounts, or anything to do with helpdesk http:://www.cs.ucc.ie/helpdesk
Lab Rules In order to keep the Computer Facilities to a high standard and to be available to all, there are certain rules that must be enforced. NOTE All labs in the Western Gateway Building are monitored by CCTV. Offenses which will result in user account being disabled include: 1. Consuming food and drink in the lab. In the Western Gateway Building, there are plenty of breakout areas, and alternative areas to eat in.
There is absolutely NO eating OR drinking permitted in any computer lab. This aspect will be policed and enforced by Facilities Management, and will not be tolerated. 2. Excessive noise, which is disruptive to students trying to study. 3. Games which generate excessive network traffic or otherwise cause disruption to services or other users. 4. Not having valid student ID card. 5. Sharing swipe card or account details. 6. Connecting unauthorized equipment, particularly laptops to the college wired network. 7. Not abiding by the Acceptable Usage Policy of UCC. see http://www.ucc.ie/aup Actions to be taken following breach of Rules: The account will remain disabled until the user calls to the help-desk to discuss why their account was disabled. There will be a minimum suspend period, varying in line with the seriousness of the offense. Backups Backups are kept of home directories, and are outlined in http://www.cs.ucc.ie/helpdesk If you accidentally delete or lose data in your home directory (Z: drive in windows, or /users/postgrads/<username> in linux, please notify help@cs.ucc.ie immediately letting us know the name of the file, the location (directory) it was in, and when (date/time) you deleted. The quicker you let us know, the better chance you have of retrieving data Applications/Webserver etc More information on the above will be given to you by your supervisor. You can also look up additional information on http://www.cs.ucc.ie/helpdesk