UNIX Shell Access is currently available on the following machines:
Each server(not lab machines) is accessable via standard UNIX remote access protocols, such as SSH and Telnet. SSH is by far the prefered login method, since it provides encryption of both authentication and session content. SSH is also the only method of authentcation currently available for pre-authenticated login sessions between machines.
If you need general shell access from off campus, use SSH to log in to one of the gl machines (listed above), this will allow you to use pine, trn, or compile programs. If you are on campus, reboot an NT machine into linux to get shell access, as this will be much much faster than remotely logging in.
The machines listed above have access to a large partition set aside for temporary file storage. Space is typically limited only by the available space on the drive, however, we reserve the right to limit usage by particular users based on them being "disk hogs" and using what we may consider to be an unfair share of the space. This space also not backed up, and may be purge of old files at any time, so use with care.
Many popular software packages, both commercial and Open-Source, are available on these machines, with various levels of support. For commercial software packages, such as Matlab, problems should be reported to systems@umbc.edu, and we will pass your request on through the appropriate support channels. Please take note, that while OIT installs these software packages and tries to verify correct operation, that the system administrators that provide support on the systems@umbc.edu mailing list may not be in the position to provide instruction or "how-to" advice on the operation of these complex packages, and may only be able to point you in the direction of a manual.
To see a list of installed Open-Source packages, see this page.
Users who are familiar with UNIX systems at other sites, or possibly home UNIX systems such as Linux, may wish to note that file permissions on the AFS File System are handled quite differently than the standard UNIX chmod permissions that you may be familliar with. For further information on AFS ACLs, please see this page, or view the entire AFS Users Guide.