Student.cs environment: An Introduction
All CS 241 assignments use the Unix computers of the CSCF Student Computing Environment. These are accessed directly
from the CSCF terminal rooms on the 3rd floor of the Math & Computer Building (MC).
It is possible to access
the Unix computers from anywhere on the internet. From another Unix system,
including Linux, such remote access is easy using the ssh command.
Macs run a version of Unix underneath the GUI; simply start
Terminal to get access to Unix.
From a Windows PC, a free program named putty.exe may be downloaded
for this purpose. Cygwin, a much larger and more complicated free
software package, emulates a complete Unix environment on Windows. Better still,
install Linux on your PC. Or run it live from a CD, DVD, or USB drive.
Email, Newsgroups and the Web
You will need to use the internet in order to submit your
assignments. For assignment submission, go to http://marmoset.student.cs.uwaterloo.ca/ and log in using either your QUEST credentials, credentials given to you by a course tutor, TA, or professor, or other credentials you have set up yourself. For issues relating to Marmoset, talk to your course tutor or professor.
You will also need to read e-mail and/or use a course newsgroup for this course. The newsgroup is called uw.cs.cs241 and is accessible on Google Groups. The newsgroup can also be accessed by various e-mail applications such as PINE and Thunderbird. Due to the wide variety of e-mail clients available, an exact setup guide will not be given here, but common information you will require are likely to be:
Your e-mail address: QUESTID@uwaterloo.ca (QUESTID being your QUEST user ID)
The news server: news.uwaterloo.ca
Most of the rest of the information is customizable.
Login and command line execution
You should log in using your UW NEXUS userid and password (the same ones you use to access your NEXUS e-mail). Please see the Consultant in MC 3017
(Mon-Fri 09:00 - 17:00) if you don't know them or have any questions at all about the environment. Once you have logged in, you will
be presented with a graphical user interface. On the Linux environment it will look similar to Windows or Mac OS X. On Solaris, it will contain a number of command-line windows or "xterms." To open a command-line window in Linux, go to Applications -> System Tools -> Konsole. The last non-blank line of this window will contain a command prompt something like cpu02:~>
where cpu02 is the host name of the Unix computer that you are logged in to.
To execute a Unix command in a terminal (command-line window), first select the terminal you want to run the command in. On Solaris, position the mouse cursor over the appropriate window. On Linux, clink on the appropriate window. Then simply type the command name and press Enter.
Course-Specific Tools
Special Unix commands are required for some of your assignments.
Usage of the tools will be described with the assignments that require them.
Before using these commands you must enable them by executing the command source /u/cs241/setup.
You must re-enter this command whenever you log out and log in again. You can automate this process by using a text editor to edit the file named .cshrc and add this line at the end of the file. If you screw up this file, bad things will happen, so be careful!
Further Reading
CSCF Environment: http://www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/cscf/student/
CSCF Unix Hostnames: http://www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/cscf/student/hosts
A much larger tutorial: http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/mfcf/consultants/firstweek/
FAQ: http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/~consulta/greatest-hits/index.html