portal / portal2

The remote machines we will use for this class have all the up-to-date software we will need. The hostnames of these machines are:

• portal.mathlab.stonybrook.edu

• portal2.mathlab.stonybrook.edu

You may use either or both machines, but note that they are not mirrored. So any files you put on one will not be reflected on the other.

Warning

After 3 unsuccessful login attempts, you will be locked out of the machine for an hour.

Being locked out of portal or portal2 is not an excuse for turning in homework late. Plan ahead! and don’t wait until the last minute.

Warning

portal and portal2 are not backed-up. You will want to save any important files to another machine.

Accessing the remote servers

The ssh command allows for a secure connection to a remote machine. At the terminal prompt we can do:

ssh -l <username> portal.mathlab.stonybrook.edu

where you replace <username> with your NetId. You will then be prompted for your password (the one associated with your NetId).

Note

Currently the MathLab machines are misconfigured, so we need to use the IP address directly instead of the hostname.

For portal we would do:

ssh -l <username> 129.49.76.141

and for portal2 we would do:

ssh -l <username> 129.49.76.142

Tip

Here we see that ssh takes options that after the command that modify the default behavior (sometimes we call these switches). These typically start with a - or --.

We’ll see that most Unix commands have options that we can use.

If the connection is successful, then you will should see a prompt like:

[mzingale@portal ~]$

in the terminal. This shows (the @portal) that you are connected to portal.