FAQ

SSH

Basics

How do I connect to the school computers from home (or another lab) or transfer files?

If you are using your own computer, it must be configured so it can connect to the network. Refer to the ITS Support Center's On-line Help section for Network Access or the section on VPN Access.

You can connect from one computer to another by using ssh or scp/sftp via the command line or a graphical client. Essentially, ssh/scp/sftp opens a secure channel from the local computer to another computer. The data that passes between the computers is then encrypted . Volgenau servers are behind a firewall and to connect directly to them you must use the campus VPN gateway as shown in the the image below. See VPN for information about obtaining the required VPN client and registering for two factor authentication.

Usernames and Passwords

Volgenau Linux systems use your GMU NetID for your username. This is the same thing that you use to login to Patriotweb and it is the same as the portion before the "@' in your email address. Most of the VSE systems and services will use your standard GMU password too. Exceptions are Oracle and MySQL, these services use a special password generated by the https://access.vse.gmu.edu site. See MySQL or Oracle for more detailed information on these services.

Command-line SSH Linux, Macintosh or Windows 10 (post 2018)

Before connecting to Zeus, you must be either ON CAMPUS or CONNECTED TO THE GMU VPN.

Macintosh systems have a Terminal application, from which they may use command line ssh and scp commands. Windows users can use PowerShell, and Linux users can use the terminal of their choice. The syntax of the ssh/scp command is the same across all platforms.

Generally your local system username is not the same as the username on the remote system so make sure you specify the correct username.

Here is a command-line example connecting from Linux on a home PC. In the example the username is astudent and specified as username@hostname in the ssh command because the local system username is different than the GMU netid/username, it is not an e-mail address. 

 
 knoppix@1[knoppix]$ ssh your-gmu-userid@zeus.vse.gmu.edu
 VOLGENAU SCHOOL LABORATORIES.
 For account information see:
 http://labs.vse.gmu.edu/reference/faq_iteaccount.htm#account

 *********************** IMPORTANT NOTICE *************************
 Zeus uses the campus central password database.  If you cannot login, go 
 to password.gmu.edu and reset your password wait 10 minutes then try again.


 astudent@zeus.vse.gmu.edu's password:  (the password does not display as it is typed)
 Last login: Mon Oct  1 00:37:39 2018


 ************************* ORACLE USERS ***************************
 VSE Computing Resources has deployed a new instance of Oracle running
 version 18.3. The Zeus cluster will use this platform by default, starting
 with the Spring 2019 semester. If you are enrolled in a class using Oracle,
 visit https://access.vse.gmu.edu to create or manage your account. 
 Oracle 10.3 is currently available, but will be retired in the near future.
 If you need access to that system, issue the commands:
   $ module unload oracle/18.3
   $ module load oracle/10.2

 Use the command 'module avail' to list available modules.
 Use the command 'module add <module_name>' to use module <module_name>.
 Currently Loaded Modulefiles:
   1) dot                         6) php56                      11) CUnit                      16) libSBML/5.13.0
   2) cplex/12.6.1.0              7) python2/2.7.15             12) SimGrid/3.12               17) default-  environment
   3) clisp/2.49                  8) python3/3.7.0              13) matlab/classroom/R2018b
   4) mysql                       9) mentor_graphics/modeltech  14) gsl/2.3
   5) devtoolset-6               10) oracle/18.3                15) hdf5/1.8.18
 astudent@zeus-2:~$ exit
 Connection to zeus.vse.gmu.edu closed.
 mason> logout
 Connection to mason.gmu.edu closed.
 knoppix@1[knoppix]$

GUI SSH in Windows using PuTTY

The recommended GUI ssh client for Windows is PuTTY. Download PuTTY for Windows from the GMU ITS web site or the PuTTY web page. PuTTY also provides file transfer programs (pscp and psftp). An alternative to PuTTY is FileZilla, if file transfer is all that is required.

ssh via the command line is available on Mac computers using the Terminal applications (under the Utilities folder) and Windows 10 using the command prompt. Using these versions is similar to ssh under Linux.

To connect to Zeus with the PuTTY for Microsoft Windows, start PuTTY and press the space bar (or from the menu bar choose File - Connect). 

 Host Name: zeus.vse.gmu.edu
 Username: <your GMU NetID>

Leave the rest as defaults, e.g. Port 22, <Profile Settings>, and click Connect (or press Enter). See the message from the server: 

 UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS PROHIBITED

and click OK.

Password: <enter your GMU password>

The server will limit the amount of time for entering the password, so if you see the Disconnected: Server responded with "Connection closed" message, try again.

SFTP

The sftp (secure file transfer protocol) command allows you to securely transfer files through a ssh connection. A secure connection is created and you can perform both put and get operations through the channel using commands similar to the unencrypted ftp command.

When you transfer files, it may be in either direction:

  • put a copy of a local file (from the local machine) onto the remote machine, or
  • get a copy of a remote file to store onto the local machine.

here 'local' means the computer from where you are running the file transfer command or program, and the 'remote' computer is the one at the other end of that connection. If multiple files need to be transferred appropriate file pattern wild cards "*" and "?" may be used with put and get.

Transferring a file will overwrite any existing file of the same name in the target directory, whether the transferred copy is a newer or older version; so, be sure of which direction the transfer is going and which file you want to keep and which you want to overwrite.

Macintosh/Linux/Windows 10 SCP

Analogously to the ssh command described above, the scp command can be used from the command line to transfer files between a remote system and the VSS Zeus systems. It uses the a similar syntax as the standard unix cp command:

scp -p [source computer:][path]filename [target computer:]path

If either [source computer:] or [target computer:] or both are omitted then the local system is assumed in their place. If [path] is omitted then the current local directory or remote home directory will be assumed as either source or target location respectively.

For example, to transfer a file called myfile.ext from the VSE cluster (current directory) to your Mason cluster home directory, enter:

scp -p myfile.ext mason.gmu.edu:

To transfer a file in the other direction:

scp -p mason.gmu.edu:myfile.ext .

In this latter case the . dot is representing the current working directory on the host where the command was initiated. If you do not specify a target hostname or path you must use the . to indicate that the local current working directory is the intended target.

You may use the standard posix glob wildcard characters '*' and '?' in the file names to transfer multiple files named according to a pattern. The command:

scp -p mason.gmu.edu:myfile.* .

will transfer all files with name myfile and any extension from the user's home directory on mason.gmu.edu into the current working directory on the local system.. Care should be used to use the correct syntax convention for specifying the [path] on Windows systems.

GUI PuTTY/FileZilla etc.

PuTTY and FileZilla can both be used to transfer files on Windows systems. FileZilla is also available for Macintosh and Linux systems. The is also a GUI application called Cyberduck which is available for Macintosh.

FileZilla web site
Cyberduck web site