# Weetile's RHUL resources ## Linux CIM ### SSH Alias You can easily create an SSH alias to make it **easier** and **more convenient** to connect to the Linux servers. ๐Ÿ‘Ž Normally, you'd authenticate to the Linux servers as such: ssh USERNAME@linux.cim.rhul.ac.uk ๐Ÿ‘๐ŸŒŸ By creating an SSH alias, all you have to type in is this: ssh rhul To do this, you'll need to modify your ssh config. (`~/./ssh/config`) Make sure to create it doesn't exist, then append the following to the file, replacing USERNAME with your RHUL username (e.g: ZLAT262 or similar) ``` Host rhul User zlac218 HostName linux.cim.rhul.ac.uk ``` That's it! You can now access the Linux server by just typing in `ssh rhul` โœจ Want to be able to login without typing in your password everytime? See the next section ๐Ÿ˜œ ### SSH Authentication Using SSH public key authentication is more secure and more importantly -- means you don't have to type in your password everytime you authenticate to the CIM servers! To generate a new SSH keypair, you can run the following command on Linux: ` ssh-keygen ` Once you have your keypair saved, you can upload it to the Linux servers using the following command, replacing `USERNAME` with your username: ssh-copy-id USERNAME@linux.cim.rhul.ac.uk You can confirm the SSH key has been added by authenticating to the server. If it doesn't ask you for your password, it's all set! ### Accessing Linux server off-campus in the evening The RHUL Linux machines **aren't able to be accessed off-campus in the evening** due to security reasons. To circumvent this, you can **connect to the RHUL VPN** by following [this guide](https://intranet.royalholloway.ac.uk/students/help-support/it-services/access-off-campus/vpn/vpn.aspx). The following information in this section is copied verbatim from that guide. On **Linux**, download and install [this file](http://intranet.royalholloway.ac.uk/it/programs/pangplinux-5.2.4-c14.tgz) to connect to the VPN. On **Windows**, follow these instructions to download and install the VPN: 1. Open your web browser and visit [https://student-vpn.royalholloway.ac.uk](https://student-vpn.royalholloway.ac.uk/). Please note that you must use 'royalholloway' and not 'rhul' 2. Log in using your university username and password 3. Download and open the installer for your operating system 4. You will be guided through the process to install GlobalProtect. Leave all of the options as the default and complete the process with the installer wizard 5. Once GlobalProtect has been installed open the app 6. The app will ask you for a _Portal address._ Enter _student-vpn.royalholloway.ac.uk_ in the box and press _Connect_ 7. You will be prompted to log in. You will need to use your university email address (username@live.rhul.ac.uk format, e.g. abcd123@live.rhul.ac.uk) to access the universityโ€™s virtual private network (VPN). Enter these details, and press _Sign In_ 8. [Follow the instructions here to sign in with MFA.](https://intranet.royalholloway.ac.uk/students/help-support/it-services/multi-factor-authentication.aspx) ### Change resolution and display settings on NoMachine xfce4-display-settings ### Change default shell on the terminal On most Linux systems including the CIM servers, `bash` is used as the default shell. Normally you'd use the `chsh` command to do this, however this is locked down by CIM for security reasons. You can bypass this by modifying your `~/.profile` then relogging in. For example to change the default shell to `zsh`: ``` export SHELL=/bin/zsh exec /bin/zsh -l ``` ### Adding new fonts on NoMachine To add new fonts, for example for use on Visual Studio Code or Eclipse, you'll need to add the font (.ttf or .otf) to your `~/.local/share/fonts` directory. Then, run this command to refresh your font cache: ``` fc-cache -f -v ``` Restart the application and you should be good to go!