Icarus and SSH

For the impatient:

 

Connecting to Icarus with SSH

  1. Obtain an SSH client:
    1. Linux/Unix: You probably already have one. Just type 'ssh' at a console.
    2. Windows: PuTTY is a good free client. Go here to download it (about 1.2MB).
    3. Additional PuTTY help and documentation can be found here.
  2. Know your Computer Science Labs login information:
    1. This is not your Wildcat E-mail or similar and is specific to the Computer Science Department.
    2. Usernames are your initials and the last 5 digits of your w#. If your name were John Doe and your w# is w01234567, your username would be jd34567.
    3. Your default password is your first name (cap first letter) followed by cs!. John Does's password would be Johncs!. While connected to icarus, we highly recommend you change your password using the command: passwd
    4. If you have trouble with your account, please use one of the contacts listed at the bottom of the page.
  3. Start a SSH session:
    1. Linux/Unix: Type 'ssh <username>@icarus.cs.weber.edu' at a console.
    2. Windows:
      1. Open PuTTY. You should see this:

      2. Type 'icarus.cs.weber.edu' or '137.190.19.20' into the Host Name box.
      3. Click the Open button.
      4. The first time you connect you will see a security alert like this one. Just click yes.

      5. Enter your username and password when prompted.

Uploading Files to Icarus with SCP or SFTP

  1. Obtain an SCP or SFTP client:
    1. Linux/Unix: Your probably already have one. Just type 'scp' at a console.
    2. Windows: WinSCP is a good free client. Go here to download it (about 1.4MB).
  2. Know your Computer Science Labs login information:
    1. This is not your Wildcat E-mail or similar and is specific to the Computer Science Department.
    2. Usernames are your initials and the last 5 digits of your w#. If your name were John Doe and your w# is w01234567, your username would be jd34567.
    3. Your default password is your first name (cap first letter) followed by cs!. John Does's password would be Johncs!. While connected to icarus, we highly recommend you change your password using the command: passwd
    4. If you have trouble with your account, please use one of the contacts listed at the bottom of the page.
  3. Start an SCP session:
    1. Linux/Unix: Type 'scp <file you want to upload> <username>@icarus.cs.weber.edu:<path, relative to home directory, to upload to>'
      Example: If my username is 'jd34567' and I want to upload index.html to a folder named 'public_html' in my home directory, then I type 'scp index.html jd34567@icarus.cs.weber.edu:public_html/'
    2. Windows:
      1. Open WinSCP. You should see this:

      2. Type 'icarus.cs.weber.edu' or '137.190.19.20' into the Host name box.
      3. Type your username into the User name box and your password into the Password box.
      4. Choose either SCP or SFTP. Both are good.
      5. Click the Login button.
      6. The first time you connect you will see a security alert like this one. Just click yes.

      7. You should now see this screen. You can drag and drop files from the local machine to icarus.

X11 Forwarding on Windows and Unix

To run graphical applications, such as Eclipse and XEmacs, you need to enable X11 display forwarding. If you're running some version of unix (like linux or solaris), then you can simply type 'ssh -X icarus.cs.weber.edu'. If you're running Windows, then you need to get an X11 display system and encryption system installed.

  1. Go to x.cygwin.com and download Cygwin X. This consists of three steps:
    1. Download the cygwin setup program
    2. Use the setup program to download the X-Org base system libraries
    3. Use the setup program to download OpenSSH
  2. Open the cygwin bash shell. The setup program should have made links to bash on your desktop and in your start menu.
  3. Type 'startx'. A new bash shell will be displayed, but this one is special because it is being rendered with the X11 display system.
  4. Type 'ssh -X icarus.cs.weber.edu' in the new bash shell. Don't forget the '-X'.
  5. When the connection to icarus is made, type 'echo $DISPLAY' at the icarus prompt. You should see 'icarus:xx' where 'xx' is a number greater than 9. (Note: The echo command is not a required step, but just a nice way to double-check that X11 forwarding is correctly configured.)

To test your X11 forwarding, try to start a simple graphical program like firefox. Be patient, X11 forwarding on Windows can be VERY SLOW.

Additional PuTTY resources

For documentation on how to generate a public-private key pair with PuTTY go here
The Pageant authentication agent is described here

Lab Tech Contact List

Any one of the following can assist you with your Computer Science account: