Shared UNIX workstations
Introduction
The centrally managed, shared UNIX workstations provide Stanford's primary academic computing services and infrastructure. This distributed network of UNIX-based computers offers free accounts, electronic mail, web resources, and other computing services to the Stanford community. Students, faculty, and staff members with a SUNet ID (see "Getting an Account," below) can use the workstations free of charge for email, coursework, or academic research. Political or commercial use is prohibited.
This document describes how to get an account, how to log on, and how to use the UNIX workstation systems most effectively.
Please read the basic policies on this page to learn the rules and principles that govern the use of the computing services.
Getting an Account
You cannot use the shared UNIX workstations without a SUNet ID. A SUNet ID proves that you are affiliated with Stanford and are eligible to use its computing services. All Stanford students, staff, and faculty members with a current University ID are eligible for a free, regular-service SUNet ID. You can request your SUNet ID on the web at:
About your new SUNetID:
Once chosen, your SUNeID cannot be changed. Remember that UNIX computers are case-sensitive; that is, they distinguish between upper and lower case letters. For example, in UNIX, Print and print are two different commands. Keep this in mind when choosing your password.
Your newly opened SUNet ID will be activated overnight, so you should be able to use your account the next day. Your SUNet ID will remain active for as long as you continue to be an eligible member of the Stanford community. For more information, see About SUNet IDs.
Note: If you need an account to use department-specific computers, your Departmental User Representative must send mail to the UNIX system administrator authorizing this use. This means that your access to the department-specific Leland computers cannot be activated until authorization is received from your Departmental User Representative. Again, this only applies to department-specific Leland computers.
Logging in to the Workstation Computers
Once your account is active, you can log in to the shared workstation computers at any time of day or night. Computers and/or workstations that you can use to connect to the workstations are located at the Tresidder and Meyer Computer clusters, and at other public computer clusters on campus. Public Computer Clusters at Stanford University lists the locations and hours of these campus computer clusters. For more information about how to log in from these clusters, see Logging In.
Logging in at the UNIX Cluster in Meyer
Sit down at any of the workstations in these clusters. The login: prompt should already be on the screen. If the screen is
dark, press the RETURN key. At the password: prompt, type your password and press the RETURN key. (For security reasons, your password will not be displayed on the screen as you type it.) If you mistype
your username or your password, you will be prompted to re-enter both items. When you see the system prompt (the name of the machine followed by an angle bracket, e.g., cardinal>, elaine34>) you are logged in.
Logging in remotely:
To login from another location, such as your desktop machine, your computer
must have a program such as LelandSSH for Mac or Secure CRT for Windows
that gives you "klogin" or "telnet" capability. For
more information about logging in remotely, see Logging
In. In general, however, remember
that when connecting to a shared workstation from a non-Stanford system,
you must use its fully-qualified computer name. For example, instead of connecting
to "elaine," you must login to "elaine.stanford.edu" (without
the quotes).
Logging out:
To end your session, first quit any program you are running. Usually,
this involves typing "q" and then pressing the RETURN key. To log out, type exit in response to the system prompt and
then press the RETURN key. If you do not see the system prompt on your screen, hold down the CONTROL key and type a lower case "c" to get it.
The Shared Workstation Computers: Overview
Electronic mail, web resources, newsgroups, and other services can be accessed from anywhere on campus. You don't have to sit down at any one particular workstation to access your account. In fact, most people login to the shared workstations remotely from their desktop computers. On the other hand, the various workstations and compute servers have different capabilities; using one may give you access to software or graphics capabilities not available on other computers. Here's some basic information about the machines.
Workstations
All shared workstations have basic software for news services and electronic
mail and run the X Window System . They all use the same file
servers, so you can get to your personal computer files no matter which
computer you log in on. Not all software is available from every
workstation.
Compute servers
Cardinal, Tree, and Junior compute servers provide additional computing
power to the Labs and Clusters; they can only be reached by remote connection. Cardinal is
best used for email, news, or Web services. Tree1, Tree2 and Junior are
used for heavy duty, memory-intensive compute jobs. GSB-Kwanza and GSB
Latinum are department-specific compute servers which, though a part
of the shared workstation system, can be used only by people affiliated
with the Graduate School of Business. Power and Wisdom are
also department-specific compute servers; they can be used only by social
science students and faculty affiliated with the departments of Communication,
Economics, Political Science, Sociology, and the School of Education.
How to use the Shared Workstation Computers
The workstation computer to use depends on what kind of computing you want to do.
General computing:
For coursework, email, news, or web services, login to any of the amy, elaine,
epic, fable, or saga workstations. To access email, news, or web services
remotely, login to the cardinal.stanford.edu compute server.
Intensive Computing:
For long-running compute jobs (25 hours or more) or memory-intensive work such as that required by large math/stat jobs, data analysis, parallel programming, etc., login to the myth workstations or the
multiprocessor tree.stanford.edu or junior.stanford.edu compute servers.
Rights and responsibilities
You can log in to the shared workstation computers as often and as long as you wish, but with certain provisos. You are responsible for managing your own disk space and using as little as possible. Disk space is your storage area for saving files. You must keep your usage under 100 MB; this allocation may change. Certain people may, with faculty sponsorship, request more disk space by filling out the Request for Additional UNIX Disk Space form.
You are ultimately responsible for the privacy of your own files. To insure that only you have access to your files, you must never, under any circumstances, share or reveal your password. Doing so constitutes a violation of University policy. Stanford will maintain the privacy of your computer files to the best of its ability. Since this assurance is not absolute, however, you should avoid storing highly sensitive materials (e.g., examination questions and answers, letters of recommendation) on any of the shared workstation computers.
Warning: If you abuse the system resources, your jobs will be killed and you will notified. If this abuse continues, your account may be suspended.
Using Your SUNet account
Learning UNIX
In addition to learning how to use Leland System services, you may also be interested in learning how to navigate UNIX, or in finding out more about UNIX per se. A good source for basic, introductory information about how
to get around in UNIX is the UNIX Command Summary.
Getting Assistance
Statistical applications support: Consultants from the Social Sciences Resource Group can help you use any of the supported statistical packages. Call these Consultants at 723-2678 or send electronic mail to consult-stat@stanford.edu.
System problems: To notify IT persnonel that a program, file server, or compute server is down, call the Stanford IT Help Desk at 725-HELP (5-4357).
Security Issues: If you are being harassed via computer, or you think someone has broken into your account, or you're receiving unsolicited email or "spam" from a Stanford email address, please report it to security@stanford.edu.
Coursework/Faculty Support: If you are a faculty member or teaching assistant who has general questions about using the Leland Systems for courses, or who wants to request additional computer resources on the Leland Systems for faculty-sponsored work, send electronic mail to courses@stanford.edu.
