Logging on...

The Computer Science Department main computer network consists of CentOS 5.1 Linux servers. These servers reside in a locked room inside the Mathematical Sciences building and are only accessable thru the campus network. While each server has its own name, such as csx0.cs.okstate.edu, csx1.cs.okstate.edu, and so on through 9, you can if you wish access a randomly selected server through the group name csx.cs.okstate.edu.

Since no one except the system managers have physical access to the servers, users of the system must first gain access to the network thru one of the University run labs; from a personal machine in one's dorm room; or from home thru a private ISP. The public lab maintained by the Computer Science Department is MSCS 222. This lab holds Linux workstations which can be access via a Computer Science account; from there, one can use ssh to connect to the CSX servers; there is also a desktop icon to do this for convenience. From elsewhere, users will need to use an ssh client. Linux and OS X systems have ssh pre-installed; Windows users are advised to use an ssh program like the free software PuTTY.

To access the Computer Science Department's main computers, and most computers connected to the Internet, requires an account with a userid and a password. Each semester the department's network has several hundred user accounts. With a large number of potential users, one of the problems system administrators face is how to effectvely and securely hand out account infomation to all the users.

How do I obtain my userid and default password?

Our systems use the PRISM userid and default password initially. To obtain your PRISM userid and default password, please visit the O-Key system at www.okey.okstate.edu.  This system is accessible from any computer at any location.  However, you are welcome to visit any of the IT Computer Labs during their regular business hours.  To obtain IT lab locations and hours of operation, please visit the IT Labs website at www.it.okstate.edu/itdlabs.   You will login to the O-Key application using your O-Key email address and O-Key password set up when you activated your O-Key account (also used to login to the IT-operated computer lab workstations (not maintained by the Computer Science Department), your OSU email account, etc).  Once logged in, you will see your personal O-Key Profile.  On that page, you will see a sidebar link entitled "PRISM Information".  Once you follow that link, you will find your PRISM UserID and your PRISM Default Password.  You will utilize these credentials to authenticate to the csx system.  

For assistance, please contact the IT Helpdesk by calling 405-744-HELP (4357), emailing helpdesk@okstate.edu, or by visiting 113 Math Sciences (Building MSCS on your schedule).

Logging on to the Computer Science Linux Servers

When you first connect to a CSX machine, you will see some form of login prompts -- the details vary depending on from where you connect. Regardless, the procedure is very similar.

First, at the login or userid prompt, type in your login id and press the ENTER key. Next, you will see some form of password prompt. Type in your password. The first time, you must use the one that you acquired from PRISM. If you make any mistakes in typing and have to backspace, you will get an error message and you will have to retype in your login id and password again. Type in your password and press the ENTER key. The password will NOT appear on the screen.

You may change your password by reading the instructions on Changing your password on a UNIX machine.

You will then be logged on to the Computer Science Department computer network. You should see a prompt ending in $ prompt on your screen. In order to get off the machine, type in exit at the $ prompt.

Changing your password on a UNIX machine

If you want to change your password at some other time besides the first time, you can follow these instructions below. Type in:

passwd

This command allows you to change your password. When you type in "passwd", you will be prompted for your old password. It then prompts you for the new one twice.

Rules for passwords: You should make sure that it is not easy for someone else to guess your password as they could then access your account. These are some rules, many of which are enforced by the passwd program:

1. DO NOT USE a name of someone or a word from the dictionary. These are too easy for someone to guess and gain access to your account.
2. It should be at least 8 characters in length.
3. It must contain at least two alphabetic characters and at least one number or special character. Alphabetic refers to all upper and lower case letters. Do NOT USE either the @ or the # as special characters in your password.
4. Each password should differ from the user’s login name.
5. New passwords must differ from the old ones by at least three characters.

Do Not give your password to anyone. If they misuse your account, you will be responsible for any damage they may do. You can lose your account on the CS computer also.

With the warnings out of the way...

A brief history of Userids and Passwords at OSU

The first UNIX system arrived in the Computer Science Department in mid-80's. Access to this machine was very limited and it was easy to create and hand out unique userids and passwords by hand for the limited number of users.

Then, in the late-80s, the department started teaching classes on this early system and the number of users not only skyrocketed, but started drastically changing between semesters. Maintaining the growing number of users by hand quickly became prohibitive.

Therefore, the first system administrators of the department created a system to maintain userids based on course enrollment, thus automating a task they could no longer do by hand. The system worked so well other departments wanted access this information, which helped solve another problem. Before if a student had access to two machines each in different departments, most likely they had to remember two different userids. If they had access to three different machines in three different departments that could mean remembering three different userids. With the new system, Computer Science assigned and maintained a single list of userids and other departments accessed the list to generate accounts on their respective machines. This helped eliminate confusion by mapping one userid to a single person.

In the mid-90s, userid maintenance was passed to the University's central computer group ITD and evolved into what is now known as PR&SM through the PUD database and the Master Password System. The PUD database contains, among other things, userids and a randomly generated default password. The Computer Science Department has access to these userids and default passwords for it's faculty, staff, and students, and uses this information to generate accounts on it's Enterprise 3000 and v880.

More recently, ITD resources have centralized in a database called O-KEY that includes the PR&SM information as well as many other resources. However, the Computer Science department's access is still to the PR&SM (or PUD database) userids and default passwords so we continue to use those as described above.

System Administrators