Starting Spring 2023, access to services running on "high ports" (ie: network ports numbered 1024 and higher) on remotely accessible MCECS Linux systems will be blocked to external users. You will still be able to ssh into those systems. However, if you are running any services (programs) on these systems that listen at high ports, [...]
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 [...]
Recently, web site maintainers in MCECS have been receiving phishing emails disguised as complaints about the misuse of copyrighted images on their sites. The emails are often submitted through a contact form or to published contact email addresses. They often have a title that looks like: You have no legal rights to use my images [...]