The CSE Environment - Getting Started
Table of Contents
Logging In the First Time
This document explains how to access the CSE Unix environment --
which you will use for most of your CSE courses -- from one of the CSE lab
sites. This is a two-step process. You first need to
login to Windows on a lab PC and run a program called X-Win32.
This program gives you a single window on the PC in which you can
login to the CSE Unix environment. Logout is also a
two-step process. When you logout, you must logout of the CSE
Unix environment and also logout of Windows on the lab
PC. Please be sure not to skip one of these steps, or
someone else may inadvertently gain access to your
account!
The first step is to login to Windows on the PC, as follows:
- Find any free PC in the lab room. (You should see the
Windows logo if the last person has logged out properly.) To
login, momentarily press and hold the <control>, <alt>,
and <delete> keys simultaneously. This
will cause Windows to prompt you for your account
information.
- Click inside the "User name:" box and type the username that was
provided to you by your instructor.
- Click inside the "Password:" box and type your password.
Your default password is the last four digits of your OSU ID
number, followed by your first and last initials in lower case,
followed by an exclamation point ('!') (e.g., Jane Smith's password
would be something like 6789js!). Newer BUCK-ID cards have the OSU ID
on them; it's the shorter of the two long numbers. Or, you may get it
using BuckeyeLink (scroll
down to "Personal Information" for the link to look up your OSU ID
number).
- Make sure that "CSE" has been selected in the "Log on to:" box, then
click on the "OK" button to complete the process of login to Windows on the
PC you're sitting at.
After your Windows desktop appears, you may use the available
Windows applications if you like -- but not now! For most of
your CSE courses, including CSE 221/222/321, you will need to login to
the CSE Unix environment. Before doing so this first time,
however, change your currently insecure Windows password, as
follows:
- Momentarily press and hold the <control>, <alt>, and
<delete> keys simultaneously and a dialog box will
appear.
- Click on the "Change Password" button and do the obvious. You
should choose a password that you can remember and that no one else
will associate with you or your account. A good rule of thumb is
to make it eight or more characters in length, and to include one or
more numbers and one or more punctuation characters.
You
should see (among other things on your desktop) a desktop icon, or shortcut,
called stdsun. This is the key item for the second step of the login
process. The CSE Unix environment consists of multiple Unix compute servers, all of which are essentially indistinguishable. When your course account is created,
a directory, called your home directory, is created for you on a file server
that (along with the lab PCs and the Unix compute servers) is connected to the CSE network.
The hostname "stdsun.cse.ohio-state.edu" is an alias for all of the
Unix compute servers on the CSE network that are available for student use.
When you log on to any of these machines in the second step of login,
you are accessing the same files from your home directory. So, you
don't have to worry about which specific Unix compute server you login to
from one time to the next. The stdsun shortcut will take you to
one of the Unix compute servers if you follow these instructions:
- Double-click on the stdsun shortcut on your Windows desktop.
- In
the dialog box that appears, click in the "Please enter your user name:"
box and type the user name provided by your instructor (the same one as for
logging into Windows), then click "OK" or press the "Enter" key.
- In the dialog box that appears, click in the "Please enter your
password:" box and type the initial password for your stdsun account
(nearly the same one as for logging into Windows initially, except
that it doesn't have the exclamation point ('!') -- e.g., Jane Smith's
password would be something like 6789js; note that it will not appear
as you type it), then click on the "OK" button or press the "Enter"
key.
- The first time you login, you will be asked to change your
password. You may choose the same password as you did for
Windows, although this is not necessary. You will be prompted
to retype your new password. (If you logout and login to a
Unix server again quickly, you may need to use your old password to
login the second time.)
- Some windows will begin to appear inside the X-Win32 window on your PC's
desktop. After a few seconds the login process should be complete,
and you will see your CSE Unix environment desktop inside the X-Win32 window. This is called the "Common Desktop Environment", or CDE. At
the bottom is the front panel, in the upper left is the
Help Viewer window, and at the top right is the File Manager
window. The Help Viewer provides on-line help for basic skills such as opening,
resizing, moving, and closing windows. It also provides help with the CDE,
including help for the front panel and the File
Manager. You might wish to minimize/iconify
these windows now to avoid screen clutter.
- The
front panel can be used to launch applications. If you click on the
up arrow just above the icon of a computer monitor, a menu will pop up
from which you can launch a Terminal window.
You'll use Terminal windows (sometimes called xterms) to
enter commands and do your basic work. You'll use XEmacs (sometimes called emacs) windows
to edit files and compile and run programs. To run XEmacs, type
emacs &
in an xterm window. (Don't forget the "&" here, as it allows
you to continue using the xterm window in which you typed the
command.) Sometimes you'll also need a web browser. To run
the Firefox browser, type
firefox &
in an xterm window. These are probably the only separate programs you
will need to run for this course, as everything normally will be done
with ordinary Unix commands in an xterm window, or by doing something
in an emacs or browser window.
By the way, we have noticed from experience that some students
repeatedly quit emacs and then start new emacs windows while editing
and executing their programs. This is unnecessary and wastes
your time. Please learn how to use emacs (see the tutorial, or ask your
instructor for advice on how to operate within emacs.)
Setting Up Your Environment
Eventually you can set up your environment to suit your own personal needs
and work habits. However, you first need to set up the environment for
use with the C++ compiler in order to get your lab work done.
Set up your environment as follows:
-
Click the left mouse button on the little arrow just above the
computer-monitor icon in the front panel. From the menu that pops up,
click the left mouse button on the Terminal option.
-
A window should pop up titled Terminal. The top line of the
Terminal window will be highlighted and will say something like /home/5/your-user-name, which is your home directory.
Below this, you should see prompt sign such as %.
Next to the % prompt, type:
/class/sce/bin/getsetup
and press the "Enter" key. This command will change your
environment as needed. For these changes to take effect,
you need to logout and then login again.
Logging Out the First Time
Remember that there are two steps to the process every time you logout:
first, logout of the CSE Unix environment, and then logout of Windows on the
lab PC. To accomplish the first one, click on the tiny "EXIT" button
near the middle of the CDE front panel. After confirming that you want
to logout, wait until all the CDE windows disappear, along with the X-Win32
window that allowed you to login to the CSE Unix environment in the first
place.
Next, logout of Windows on the lab PC. Click on the "Start" button
in the lower-left corner of the screen and select "Log Off". You will
be prompted to confirm that you want to logoff. Click on "Log Off"
if you are sure.
Logging In the Second Time
Follow both steps of the process under Logging In
the First Time. In case your new Unix password has not
yet taken effect, you may need to use your old password there.
Logging Out the Second Time
Logout using the instructions under Logging Out
the First Time.
For More Information
For information about backing up your files before your CSE 221 or CSE
222 account expires at the end of the term, and restoring backed-up files
when you start the next course, see the related document on Account Setup and Backup.
For more information about advanced activities, including
customizing your CDE environment, see OSU-CSE Computer User Guide.