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Table of Contents
Frequently Asked Questions
If you can't find what you're looking for on this page, be sure to check the KeckII HOW-TOs before e-mailing keck-help@keck2.ucsd.edu.
How do I get an account on KeckII workstations?
Please see this page. The accounts are distributed by kerberos, so an account on one machine will work on all machines.
How can I access the KeckII workstations remotely?
The only way to remotely login to the KeckII workstations is to use secure shell (ssh).
Please note that direct ssh logins to KeckII computers are allowed only from a local Urey Hall network subnet or the UCSD VPN. If you are connecting from outside of these you have to log in to our gateway, balboa.ucsd.edu first (ssh your_username@balboa.ucsd.edu).
Does e-mail work on any of these machines?
No.
How do I change my password?
Use the passwd username command on balboa.ucsd.edu. After a brief delay, the password change should propagate to all of the servers. If it's been a month since your password expired and you have not changed it you will no longer be able to logon and need to reset the password in person - please contact keck-help.
What software is available?
See the available software page for a list of the software that is currently installed and some links to the software home pages.
What should I do to get a particular piece of software installed?
If it's free software, just e-mail keck-help@keck2.ucsd.edu and let us know what you need and we'll try to get it installed.
What is my disk quota on KeckII computers?
Every user has 10GB home directory quota.
If your project temporarily requires bigger disk space allocation please email keck-help with a request to increase your quota,
How can I setup an SSH tunnel to the KeckII workstations from outside of UCSD?
If you need to directly log in to one of the Keck II workstations from outside of UCSD - for example if you need to run an X-window application or copy files directly you can set up an SSH tunnel for this purpose.
On you linux or Mac machine execute the following:
ssh -f -N -L 2042:w05.keck2.ucsd.edu:22 YOUR_USERNAME@balboa.ucsd.edu ssh -p 2042 -X YOUR_USERNAME@localhost
The last command will log you in to w05.keck2.ucsd.edu where you can start your X-window application and it should display on your local machine.
An alternative and much simpler command to use is:
ssh -o 'ProxyCommand ssh user@balboa.ucsd.edu -W %h:%p' user@w01.keck2.ucsd.edu
However, this only works with OpenSSH version 5.3 and newer.
How can I ssh/scp from the KeckII workstations to outside of UCSD
All KeckII workstations are on publicly non-routable vlan so you have to use the gateway balboa.ucsd.edu to go outside of UCSD:
ssh -o 'ProxyCommand ssh balboa.ucsd.edu -W %h:%p' tg80XXXX@stampede.tacc.utexas.edu
and to use scp to transfer files to outside of UCSD:
scp -o 'ProxyCommand ssh balboa.ucsd.edu -W %h:%p' your_file tg80XXXX@stampede.tacc.utexas.edu:
If you use these commands often you might want to put the ProxyCommand option to your .ssh/config file:
# set up proxy to access stampede (outside UCSD) Host stampede Hostname stampede.tacc.utexas.edu User tg80XXXX ProxyCommand ssh -W %h:%p balboa.ucsd.edu Ciphers arcfour ClearAllForwardings yes