Frequently Asked Questsions In No Particular Order
1.0 How do I set my sun keyboard to the DVORAK layout?
On one of the prime machines, use the command
xmodmap /usr/local/share/xmodmaps/dvorak.sun
May not work correctly on the PC keyboards.
2.0 How do I print on my printer connected to my pc from Unix?
When using putty
(version 0.6) go to the Terminal category
of the configuration page. Select the name of your printer
on the window at the bottom. Then, when connected, use
the pcprint program to print the file and it will be
automatically printed on your printer.
For example, to print your Makefile on the printer your pc
know about, use the command:
pcprint Makefile
3.0 How do I remap the caps lock and control keys on the pc keyboards in the Unix labs?
Run this script:
#!/bin/sh
xmodmap - <<EOF
remove Lock = Caps_Lock
remove Control = Control_L
keysym Control_L = Caps_Lock
keysym Caps_Lock = Control_L
add Lock = Control_L
add Control = Caps_Lock
EOF
4.0 how can I use the prime machines to create a vpn?
You use ssh and port forwarding.
For Windows, use Putty.
- Open putty to the configuration screen (this should be the first screen up.) On the menu on the left.
- Go to Connection->SSH->Tunnels
- On the port forwarding screen, enter the port on your local machine that you will connect to that putty will use to forward packets through the tunnel.
- in the Destination field, enter the machine and port numbers that will
be the final target of the tunnel in the form hostname:port
- Click on Add
- To back to the session screen (click on Session at the top of the left hand pane) and enter the name of the host you will be using to forward the packets.
For example. Assume you want to access the machine bigpc.cs.ohio.edu on our network via remote desktop, but you are off campus. OIT blocks this connection as being unsafe (poor encryption on the connection.) To use ssh to create a secure VPN to OU to allow you to access the machine you would do:
- Run Putty
- go to Connection->SSH->tunnels
- Enter an entry in Source port (say 3391)
- Enter your machine:port destination in the Destination field. Since the port RPD uses is 3389, you would enter bigpc.cs.ohio.edu:3389
- Click on Add
- Return to the session screen and enter the server you want to use, such as px1.cs.ohio.edu
- click open, and logon to px1 as you usually would.
- Now run Remote Desktop, and use the address localhost:3391 as the machine to connect to.
- Log is on bigpc as you usually would.
For MacOSx or Linux or Unix, use ssh
Run ssh as you normally would with an additional option:
- -L port:host:hostport
- where port is the port on the local machine you want to use:
- host is the name of the target machine you want packets forwarded to:
- hostport is the port number to forward packets to:
For example, to use the values from the Windows example above:
- ssh -L3391:bigpc.cs.ohio.edu:3389 px1.cs.ohio.edu
- after logging into px1, connect your remote desktop client to localhost:3391
5.0 Security poblems YOU can fix:
punycode security problem ( see This article
To fix (well sort of)
- Type about:config in the Firefox address bar and hit the Enter-key.
- Confirm that you will be careful.
- Search for network.IDN_show_punycode.
- Double-click the preference to set it to true.
This forces Firefox to show Punycode when it is used.
Page update May 22, 2012