Overview

patel2.slu.edu is a department machine running a Linux operating system. Each of you has an account on the machine which will allow you remote access as well as disk space for your files. There are two ways in which you can remotely use your account on patel2. The "low tech" method offers a text-based login; the second offers a fully graphical working environment.

Terminal login

You may log into the machine via the Internet using a secure shell ("ssh"). You should be able to connect to the machine whether you are on campus or off campus.

Most machines on campus and most home machines will already have ssh software to support such a login. If not, there are many freely available versions for download.

Graphical login

We are also supporting a graphical login using Virtual Network Computing (VNC). This software allows you to have a local computing "desktop" environment on patel2, yet to view this desktop on other computers.

  • Via a web browser

  • You can initiate such a connection through the web by visiting http://patel2.slu.edu/vnc/ from your favorite (Java enabled) browser.
  • You must next select a screen size from among the choices. The bigger the screen, the nicer it will be for your eyes, but the greater potential for delays depending on the speed of your network connection.
  • You will next see a "VNC Authentication" window. There is not actually any password protection at this point; simply leave the password blank and click "OK".
  • Next you will see a screen which looks exactly as you'd expect to see if you were physically sitting in front of the patel2 machine. Please enter your personal username and then password to log in.

    If this is your first use of this graphical login, please see the comments below, "Initializing your account".

    • Please be warned: Be extra careful to save your work to disk when using this connection. If your web browser loses its connection to this software, your account is immediately logged out and programs which you were running may exit without saving any files. This loss of connection would happen if your browser exits, or even if you accidentally change away from the given URL (e.g., by hitting the "back" or "forward" button on your browser).

    • Initializing your account

    To properly initialize your account, you will likely need to follow these steps. This will allow you to customize KDE, which will be your window manager.
  • When you are at the patel2 login screen, but BEFORE you have logged in, please click on "Session" at the top right portion of the VNC screen. A popup box will allow you to select your window manager. Please select kde-3.1.2, then go ahead and enter your username and password.
  • Immediately after logging in, you will likely see a popup box asking you if you would like to make kde-3.1.2 your default setting. Click Yes.
  • The first time you log in in this fashion, there KDE will start a "setup wizard" application which will ask you a series of questions allowing you to customize the look and feel of your environment.
  • You will get an additional error message which pops up regarding the Sound Server. This is because sounds will not work for these remote sessions. Feel free to click on the choice "Do not show this message again"

    available software

  • nano is available as a text editor. It is essentially a free variant of pico.
  • We have installed BlueJ on patel2 as an integrated development environment (IDE) for Java programming. Please read our additional notes on using BlueJ for details.