This page is intended for users who connect to OCF from home unix workstations or from on-campus unix computing facilities. This page is still under construction. More items will be added later. Basic usage of your OCF account from Linux or Unix:
- Logging in interactively
- Email usage
- Transferring files to and from OCF
- Running remote X11 applications on OCF
Logging in:
You can login using the unix ssh command:
akopps@alcatraz:~$ ssh ocf.berkeley.edu -l foobar foobar@ocf's password:The -l option tells ssh your login name on a remote computer. Secure Shell (ssh) protocol offers better security than telnet. Since there are free ssh clients for for unix, there is no reason why you shouldn't be using it. Download and install ssh on your home computer. If you are connecting from a unix computing facility that does not have ssh installed (highly unlikely) and where you don't have software installation privileges, ask the system administrator to install it.Using email on OCF
The easiest and the most convenient way to use OCF email from unix machines is to log in with ssh and use your mailer of choice (pine, elm, mutt, etc.) to read and send mail. If you would like to use your OCF email account (using POP, etc) from some other unix lab or a home machine, the simplest way is to use Netscape mail. If you wish to forward all of your OCF mail to some other campus account, create a .forward file in your home directory and put your other email address in it.Transferring files:
You can use standard unix commands like ftp or rcp to transfer files from OCF to your other unix account or vice-versa. However, just like in the case of telnet, their usage is discouraged. Ftp, like telnet, sends clear text passwords over the net. Rcp can be configured not to send passwords at all but it still uses a weak authentication method. Fortunately, the ssh package mentioned above provides the facility for transferring your files. It is called scp:akopps@alcatraz:~$ scp foo.html akopps@ocf.berkeley.edu: akopps@ocf.berkeley.edu's password: foo.html | 21 KB | 21.7 kB/s | ETA: 00:00:00 | 100%Running X11 applications from OCF:
You thought that you can only use text based applications when logging into OCF from a remote unix computer, right? Wrong. Running X11 based applications such as netscape, xbiff, or emacs on OCF and have them displayed on your computers display is very simple if you are connecting with ssh. To run a program simply start it as if you were running it locally:akopps@Romashka:~$ ssh ocf ..... akopps@apocalypse:~$ xbiff& # And xbiff simply pops up on your display..With a possible exception of xbiff, running X11 applications remotely requires a decently fast connection. If you are using anything slower than T1 (a modem at home for example) don't even try this.