Contents

Connecting to Unix

Under Windows, using telnet

About this method

This is probably the easiest method, since telnet is available on all Windows computers. The drawback is that it isn't as secure as ssh, because your password is sent in plain text across the network.

  1. On the start menu, select 'Run' and type in 'command' (or 'cmd' on Windows NT, 2000 and XP).
  2. In the DOS window which appears, type 'telnet cent1.lancs.ac.uk'.
    [[Screenshot] Connecting to unix...]
  3. Log in using your unix username and password. Note that your password won't appear as you type it.
    [[Screenshot] Logging in to unix...]
  4. When it looks like this, you are logged in to the unix server. To start LuBBS, jump to the section below.
    [[Screenshot] Connected to unix.]

Under Windows, using SSH

About this method

This method is slightly more complicated than using telnet, but it has the advantage of being much more secure.

  1. Since Windows doesn't come with an SSH client installed, your first step is to download one. I recommend PuTTY, which can be downloaded from here. If you need PuTTY in the future, a search for "putty" on google should turn it up as the first link. Anyway, download PuTTY and save the file somewhere.
  2. To start connecting to the unix server, run PuTTY and you will be presented with this screen:
    [[Screenshot] PuTTY Configuration Screen]
  3. Now set the hostname field to 'cent1.lancs.ac.uk' and select 'SSH' as the protocol, as shown above. Then click on the open button.
  4. The configuration window will disappear, and eventually you will get another window, similar to the telnet one above. If this is the first time you have connected to cent1, you will get an alert like the one below:
    [[Screenshot] PuTTY Security Alert]
  5. Click 'Yes' to connect, and you will be asked for your username and password. Enter these, remembering that you will not be able to see your password as you type it.
    [[Screenshot] Logging in using PuTTY]
  6. When it looks like this, you are logged in to the unix server. To start LuBBS, jump to the section below.
    [[Screenshot] Connected to unix.]

Under Unix/Linux, using SSH

About this method

Most versions of unix will have ssh installed and ready to use. However, if you find that you can't use ssh from where you are, you can use telnet instead.

Note that although the windows on your computer may be very different from those below - you may even be trying this from the console - the contents should be very similar.

  1. Type 'ssh username@cent1.lancs.ac.uk' from a prompt to connect. If your username is the same on both computers, you don't need the 'username@' part.
    [[Screenshot] Connecting to unix...]
    Note that my username is the same on my computer as on cent1, so I don't need to type 'clarkema@cent1.lancs.ac.uk'
  2. If this is the first time you are connecting to cent1, you will be asked to confirm that this is the computer you want to connect to. Enter 'yes' to continue.
    [[Screenshot] Confirming the host key]
  3. When it looks like this, you are logged in to the unix server. To start LuBBS, jump to the section below.
    [[Screenshot] Connected to unix.]

Starting LuBBS

Because LuBBS is not supported by ISS, it is installed in an area called "homegrown". This area is set aside for unsupported software, and if you wish to use software in it you have to specifically say so, by typing 'setup_homegrown'. Just trying to type 'lubbs' like you might have done on unix[abc] will not work!

[[Screenshot] Starting LuBBS with and without homegrown support]

However, doing this every time you log on is a bit of a pain, especially since homegrown access is also required for other useful software (like Pine, a mail reader). So you don't have to do this, you can modify your .login file, which contains commands to be executed each time you log in. If you are comfortable editing .login, load your favorite editor and add the following lines to ~/.login

# Enable homegrown access - needed for things like pine, lubbs, etc.
# more info on homegrown here - /software/homegrown/doc/about_homegrown.txt
source /usr/local/homegrown/bin/setup_homegrown.csh;

If you are not comfortable with this, or don't know how to use any of the editors on unix, enter the following commands:

echo '# Enable homegrown access - needed for things like pine, lubbs, etc.' >> ~/.login
echo '# more info on homegrown here - /software/homegrown/doc/about_homegrown.txt' >> ~/.login
echo 'source /usr/local/homegrown/bin/setup_homegrown.csh;' >> ~/.login
[[Screenshot] Modifying ~/.login from the command line, so you always have homegrown access.]

Conclusion

Well, that's it. You should now be able to connect to cent1 and start lubbs, and without having to mess about with setup_homegrown every time.

If you spot any mistakes in this document, or think something else should be added to it, please e-mail me at m.a.clarke@lancaster.ac.uk