Starting at 7pm on March 29th, users of wired MCECS networks will experience sporadic network outages as we apply a number of software updates to various devices in our networking infrastructure. This will also affect our systems in the data center. On site wifi access to external systems should not be affected. The work may [...]
[This downtime will directly affect all Linux users and Windows access to Linux-based storage. Most regular Windows operations will not be affected.] On Thursday evening, March 30th, at 7pm, we will begin patching and rebooting most Linux hosts (Ubuntu and Centos) including file servers. The work will be staggered across multiple classes of systems so [...]
CS Users! Please run resource heavy programs on babbage.cs.pdx.edu - not ada (linux.cs.pdx.edu). Some clarification of the lore about ada and babbage, the two primary multi-user Linux systems available to CS students. ada.cs.pdx.edu (aka linux.cs.pdx.edu) Used as a general workhorse. Designed to handle users going through the edit - compile - execute cycles of general [...]
The CAT has been busy preparing the computing infrastructure at MCECS for both onsite and remote users for the new academic year. Here are some of the highlights: The front page of the CAT website includes a “Back to Campus Toolkit” and updated “New (Attend Anywhere) Students” section, where you will find links to the [...]
We will be making a slight home directory permissions change for all users on our systems. The end result will lock down access to user home directories so that only the owner of the account can access the files. We expect this to only affect a very small minority of users who have specifically opened [...]
Dealing with SSH Host Key Changes The CAT periodically updates the SSH host keys on its servers for security purposes, which can result in users seeing an error message similar to below when attempting to connect with an MCECS Linux system. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @ WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED! @ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ IT IS POSSIBLE THAT [...]
If you are a user of the following Linux systems, read on: linux.cecs.pdx.edu ruby.cecs.pdx.edu rita.cecs.pdx.edu At about noon on Monday, August 2nd, 2021, we will be changing the SSH keys on the Linux computers listed above. Anyone who has been logging into these systems on a regular basis will be greeted with a verbose “host [...]
In an attempt to modernize our SSH infrastructure, we’ve made some changes to SSH keys on our Linux computers. We’ve disabled DSA host keys, and enabled new ECDSA and ED25519 host keys. This process took a few days, and during that time a few hosts had their keys changed. If you are experiencing problems trying [...]
As seen in recent headlines, institutionally targeted ransomware attacks are on the rise. The initial entry for these attackers seem to use many of the same techniques that we have seen in the past so it is becoming very important, as frequent computer users, to keep our guard up. This is particularly important for faculty, [...]
Virtual Network Computing, or VNC, allows you to create a remote graphical session on another computer . You will be able to observe a remote Linux desktop environment and interact with it using the mouse and keyboard from your own computer. Using VNC is attractive to many Linux users because you can temporarily disconnect from [...]