This web page enables you to log into your account on Atlas, our department's main
server, without installing any software.
That is, you don't need any software other than the web browser that you're now
using to read this page. (I assume that it's an ordinary web browser, and its java capability
has not been disabled.)
This web page may be particularly helpful if you're
traveling, and using a computer other than your own. But I wouldn't recommend
this login procedure for everyday use, because it may be a bit cumbersome and slow.
Of course, this procedure requires that you actually have an account on Atlas.
Newcomers to our department should see the
newcomers page
to learn about how to get an account.
People unaffiliated with our department will
not be able to use this web page, but you're welcome to look at the page -- the software
described on it is available for free at
http://javassh.org/.
This may take a few seconds to load :
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE TEXT TERMINAL
- You may have to wait a few seconds for the
loading of the box that says "Click here to start!" Then
click on it.
Two java boxes will start.
- First go to the java box labeled
"SSH User Authentication." (If it is hidden, you may have
to temporarily move or minimize the other java box to reveal it.)
Type in your username and password, and click on "Login."
- The authentication box will then disappear from
your computer screen. Now look at the box labeled
"Java SSH Telnet". It
will log you into your user account, much like any telnet program.
- After you have the telnet screen running, this "instructions"
web page is no longer needed, and you can redirect your web
browser to other web pages. However, don't close your web browser
program entirely; if you do, the telnet screen will close.
- You can resize the telnet screen and the font by either
of these methods:
- Pull on the telnet screen edges with your mouse cursor.
(That will also resize the font.)
- Click on the word "Terminal" at the
top of the screen, and then use one of the
font-change commands. (That will also resize the screen.)
- The word "Edit" at the top of the screen gives you access
to the Copy and Paste commands. Sorry, those commands only enable
you to copy from one part of the Java Telnet
screen to another part; they do not enable copying
between the Java Telnet screen and your local
computer's other programs.
However, the "Print" command
(under "File") will print the text that is currently displayed
on the Java Telnet screen. It will send that text to whatever
you're using for your local printer (i.e., on the computer
where you're running the web browser). If you have that
computer set to print to "Generic / Text only / Save to file",
then you'll get a file which you can copy to other programs.
- When you're done with the terminal, be sure to log off.
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR A GRAPHIC TERMINAL
After you have the text terminal running, you can use it to start up a graphic terminal as well,
if that's what you want. But it's a complicated procedure and the connection may be a
bit slow, so I don't recommend it if the text terminal suffices for your needs. Moreover, at
present I only know how to run this software-free graphic terminal on Atlas, and Atlas
can only run a maximum of two Mathematica sessions at a time, so this may
not be a good method for running Mathematica.
- On the text terminal (i.e., while logged into your Atlas account), type
the command
vncserver
That will start the
vncserver program on Atlas.
- The first time that you run vncserver on Atlas, it will ask you to choose
a password (which it will then remember on subsequent occasions when you
use vncserver on Atlas). I would recommend using the same password that
you used to log into Atlas, since that will save you the trouble of learning
a new password.
- Vncserver will then spew out one or more lines of text, ending with something like
Warning: atlas.math.vanderbilt.edu:17 is taken because of /tmp/.X11unix/X17
Remove this file if there is no X server atlas.math.vanderbilt.edu:17
Warning: atlas.math.vanderbilt.edu:18 is taken because of /tmp/.X11unix/X18
Remove this file if there is no X server atlas.math.vanderbilt.edu:18
New 'X' desktop is atlas.math.vanderbilt.edu:19
Starting applications specified in /home/schectex/.vnc/xstartup
Log file is /home/schectex/.vnc/atlas.math.vanderbilt.edu:19.log
Of course, it will have your own username instead of "schectex". And the number
you end up with may be something higher or lower than 19, depending on
how many vncserver sessions are already in use (or have been abandoned
without properly closing) by other people. The session number (19, or whatever it is)
is important; we'll be using it in a moment.
- Now open a new web browser window (or a new web browser tab,
if you prefer that and you're using a tabbed browser such as Firefox
or Mozilla or Opera). In the address location bar, type an URL like this:
http://atlas.math.vanderbilt.edu:5819/
But instead of 5819, the number to use there is 5800 plus
the session number that we got in the previous step. At the
end of that line, press the ENTER key, to make the web browser
go to that location.
- The web browser will now display a page that says
"VNC Authentication. Password: [ blank ] [OK]".
Type your password into the blank. Then click on the OK
button.
- An X-terminal display -- i.e., a graphics terminal --
should now show up inside the web browser window;
you're logged into your Atlas account on this graphics terminal.
Use it in whatever fashion you wish.
- When you're all done with the X-terminal, then:
- Log out of the graphics terminal, using the "log out" command that you'll
find in the popup menu at the lower left corner of the graphics terminal screen.
- On the text terminal that you still have running (or if you don't still
have it running, restart it), type
vncserver -kill :19
where instead of 19 you use whatever was your session number. (Note that there
is a space before the hyphen and another space before the colon.) This command
will close your vncserver session.
- If you're now done with the text terminal, log out of it too.
A VU Math web page.
Last updated
27 Oct 2005
by ES.
Your comments are welcome.
