Rutgers University Undergraduate Computing Account

Welcome

Welcome to Rutgers University Undergraduate Computing. This document will explain everything you need to know about your account on the computer science undergraduate machines. Please read this document carefully, you are responsible for the information contained within.

Creating an Account

Only people who are declared CS majors or people who are enrolled in CS undergraduate courses (01:198) are eligible for accounts on our machines (remus/romulus/rhea). This rule is serious and no exceptions will be made. If you are a CS major you can mail help@remus and we will establish a permanant account for you. If you are not yet declared and are taking CS classes you can create your own account. If you create an account you MUST renew it EVERY semester (accounts last through the summer). When the time comes to renew accounts we will send out announcements to everyone who needs to renew their account. The process for creating and renewing accounts are identical.

You should point your browser at http://remus.rutgers.edu/newaccount.html to get started. You will have to provide your birthdate and ssn, and tell what course you are taking. If you have problems, please send mail to help@remus.rutgers.edu.

The Machines

Once you have created an account you will be able to log into our servers (remus/ romulus/ rhea). All of these servers have (for the most part) the same software. Your personal files will be accessable from all both of the servers as well. There is no real advantage in using one server over the other. Most people like to use remus, so you might want to consider using romulus.

Disk Space

Since you are sharing the machine with about 3400 other users, you are only allowed to use a certain amount of disk space. The standard for studnts taking CS courses or students who are declared CS majors is 5 Megabytes, and that should be enough for your classes. If you use more that 5 Megabytes you will get warning messages, and if you stay over 5 Megabytes for a week you may have problems logging via X sessions. You are unable to use over 10 Megabytes at any time.

System Announcements

You will find system announcements in 3 places. The motd (message of the day) is shown every time you log in. The newsgroup ru.nb.dcs.ug.announce contains information about upcoming events on our system. The third location is the remus web page. Planned downtime, system changes, and other important messages will be announced there. You are responsible for reading the information annouced in these places. If you don't you may find yourself seriously inconvenienced. Your TA can show you how to read newsgroups if you are not sure.

Getting Help

If you are having a problem with the system you can email help@remus. Our goal is to get back to you within 48 hrs with an informative answer. If your question is homework related, chances are we will not help you. You should direct these types of questions to your TA or professor. If you have a problem which needs immediate attention you can call 445-2443 and an operator will assist you. The hours of operation are: 9a-3p, 6p-12a M-F, 10a-4p Sat. 2p-12a Sun.

Learning More

Your TA should give you an introduction to UNIX file system commands, e-mail, netscape, and newsgroups, as well as an introduction to any other software that is used in the class.

You can use the command man command to learn how to use commands. For example: 

remus% man users

Another good source of information is http://www.cs.rutgers.edu/LCSR-Computing/.

Ask other students. Many of our student know alot about the system, don't be afraid to ask for help.

A few points on policy

Your account is for your own personal use. Account sharing is strongly prohibited. You should never need to give your password to anyone, including the systems staff. Also be sure that you are completely logged out when you leave your terminal. You are responsible for anything that is done from your account.

IRC bots are not allowed.

Spamming newsgroups and propagating chain letters or pyramid schemes are prohibited.

NO COMMERCIAL WORK!

Please read the draft of the current policy document. You are responsible for what is contained within.

Miscellaneous

Your account (or any university resource for that matter) should not be used for commercial or profitable purposes. Rutgers is very serious about this policy and violators will be prosecuted.

Remus has a home page that can be found at http://remus.rutgers.edu

Some high level classes use a database package called mysql. This package is only installed on rhea. Send to help@remus for information on using mysql (or if you're taking a database course, your professor or TA will be able to give you more information.)

We backup your files onto tape on a daily basis. If you accidently remove a file that has existed for over 24 hrs there is a good chance that we can restore it for you. Mail help@remus to request a file to be restored. 

			Good luck,

			   The LCSR System Staff
Last Updated: 17 March 2002