Tips on how to access and use the eidolon linux server.
Use NXclient if you can. If you are on a newer Mac that cannot install NXclient, then use ssh. See details below.
NXclient is free software you can download
and install on your computer. It is already installed on
computers in the EOSC/ATSC computer labs. It allows your computer
to act as a terminal to a remote computer.
The first time you use NXclient, a "wizard" will guide you thru the initial set up. Here are instructions for how to tell the wizard to connect to eidolon.
When this is complete, an NX shortcut will appear on your computer
desktop to allow you connect to eidolon. (eidolon is the name of
the unix computer that we will access for these labs.)
Run the NXclient program from your local computer, and enter your lab username and password if prompted. A desktop will appear.
In the bottom grey bar/dock, click on the terminal icon.
This opens a terminal window, into which you can type unix commands to eidolon.
Assuming you now have the eidolon prompt on your NX terminal screen.
For web browsing, type: firefox &
For program writing, type: emacs &
For web authoring, type: kompozer &
Alternately, you can click on the firefox , emacs or kompozer
icons in the grey bar at the bottom of the NX window. But it is
often better to type the commands instead, because the ampersand allows
the terminal program to still be active.
First, quit any of the firefox, emacs, or kompozer programs you might have open.
Next, in your terminal window, type exit.
Finally, from the leftmost (weird-looking) icon in the bottom grey bar of NXclient, select log off from the menu list, and then close the session. (Namely, do NOT just click the close button in the upper corner of the window, because that leaves you running in eidolon without logging off.)
Finally, if you are using a PC lab computer, don't forget to log off of that computer.
If on a Macintosh running Lion (for which NX Client does't work as of Feb 2012), run the X11 program.
(It came free with your computer. If you can't find it, look in
the original installation disks, or download a copy from the Apple
website.)
First, you need to ssh login to eidolon in a way that allows eidolon to
forward the display to your computer. For macs, this means you
need to use X11 and for Windows it means you need to use a shell client
with display forwarding capabilities (like PuTTY). Next you ssh
into eidolon by typing the following into your X11 window:
ssh -X <username>@eidolon.eos.ubc.ca
The -X flag tells eidolon to allow the display to be forwarded. The username is the one that was assigned for this lab course. You can login to eidolon this way even if you do not intend to use any gui applications.
When prompted, enter your password.
X11 now works like a terminal window for you to type unix commands to eidolon.
You should now see the eidolon prompt in your X11 terminal window, such as [EOS007 eidolon home$]
(except with your own username instead of EOS007)
Assuming you now have the eidolon prompt on your X11 screen.
For web browsing, type: firefox &
For program writing, type: emacs &
For web authoring, type: kompozer &
where the ampersand & eidolon to run these program in the background. Namely, you can still access the terminal window to type command lines while these other programs are open in other windows.
First, quit any of the firefox, emacs, or kompozer programs you might have open.
Next, in your terminal window, type exit.
Then, under the File menu for X11, select Quit X11, or type command-Q.
.