GettingStarted

Open Lab Introduction

The UMIACS Open Lab is built on several Sun Servers and a small number of Sun Ray Terminals. The goal of this facility is to provide a basic computing environment for communications, authoring, file sharing, and general administrative computing.

Getting an Account

To get started with a UMIACS account, fill out the form at https://intranet.umiacs.umd.edu/intranet/accountRequest/form.htm. This will establish your email account, web site, and ftp site. It will also establish an account on the UMIACS Open Lab.

To get access to additional facilities, like our clusters or our Windows-based Workstations, please send mail to mailto:staff@umiacs.umd.edu.

Logging into your Open Lab Account

You may log into your Open Lab account by using the Secure Shell (ssh) to connect to openlab.umiacs.umd.edu. Ssh is available on most modern UNIX systems, and versions for Windows and MacOSX are freely available to members of the UMIACS community. An online java-based client that is suitable for use with most web browsers is available online at https://intranet.umiacs.umd.edu/intranet/ssh.

You may also log into a machine in our AVW room 4462, this lab has a variety of machines running OSX, Red Hat Linux 4, Solaris 8, and Windows XP.

Accessing your Data

You may access your files by using a Secure File Transfer Protocol (sftp) client or through Secure Copy (scp). Sftp and scp are available on most modern UNIX system, and versions for Windows and MacOSX are freely available to members of the UMIACS community. An online java-based client that is compatible with most web browsers is available online at https://intranet.umiacs.umd.edu/sftp/.

Managing your Account

You should change your password using the `passwd` command, and you can manage your account information through the web form at https://intranet.umiacs.umd.edu/chinfo/.

Printing and Copying

You can print to any UMIACS printer using the line printer daemon commands. Publicly accessible printers are available in AVW 3142, AVW 4462, and BSB XXXX. Copiers are available in AVW 2126 and AVW 44XX.

Software

The openlab provides a variety of software for administrative and scientific computing. In addition to the set of standard programs that are installed with the Operating System, a collection of frequently used programs are available under /usr/local/bin. Additional less frequently used software packages are installed under /usr/local/stow and /opt/stow.

Acceptable Usage

The Open Lab is intended primarily for Administrative and Academic Computing. We hope you will use it as a means of accessing your email, web pages, and ftp sites. Many uses find that it is convenient as a secure terminal to our Lab Facilities and as a trusted data storage system for your reseach data.

Please note that it is not intended to support any large-scale scientific computing and that long running or demanding jobs will be killed without notice.

Getting Help

Please send mail to mailto:staff@umiacs.umd.edu to request technical support. You may also visit our Help Desk (AVW rm 3142) for technical support.