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techstaff:introduction [2020/09/24 16:47] – rdbtechstaff:introduction [2025/01/13 12:41] (current) – amcguire
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 ======Techstaff====== ======Techstaff======
 =====Who===== =====Who=====
-[[https://computerscience.uchicago.edu/people/profile/bob-bartlett1/|Bob Bartlett]], Colin Hudler, Phil Kauffman, Tom Dobes, and Carolyn Topper.+Colin Hudler\\ 
 +Justin Laughlin\\ 
 +Ashlyn Dahler\\ 
 +Andrew McGuire\\ 
 +Brent Busby\\ 
 +Bennett Hunter\\
 =====What===== =====What=====
 Techstaff supports all aspects of technical  needs for the CS department – from top to bottom.  All of us have years of experience in various aspects of technology.  The department itself has centered around Linux and Mac OSX for many years, and these are the operating systems that we currently support.  Our infrastructure consists of almost 400 linux systems (both bare metal and virtual) and about 20 Macs.  The linux systems include all of our central servers, instructional lab machines, instructional resources, and student desktops.  The Macs are used as desktops for staff, faculty, and some students. Techstaff supports all aspects of technical  needs for the CS department – from top to bottom.  All of us have years of experience in various aspects of technology.  The department itself has centered around Linux and Mac OSX for many years, and these are the operating systems that we currently support.  Our infrastructure consists of almost 400 linux systems (both bare metal and virtual) and about 20 Macs.  The linux systems include all of our central servers, instructional lab machines, instructional resources, and student desktops.  The Macs are used as desktops for staff, faculty, and some students.
 However, we also provide other assistance including printer, A/V, and just about anything that comes along.  We answer staff, student, and faculty questions and try to anticipate and address their needs. However, we also provide other assistance including printer, A/V, and just about anything that comes along.  We answer staff, student, and faculty questions and try to anticipate and address their needs.
 =====Where===== =====Where=====
-We are located in JCL 357.  Our hours are 9:00-5:30, though we are often around outside of those hours.+We can be reached virtually through instructions at [[http://howto.cs.uchicago.edu/start]].  If we are onsite, our offices are JCL 357 and JCL 364.
 =====When===== =====When=====
 Our hours are between 9:00 AM (09:00) and 5:30 PM (17:30) Central Time Our hours are between 9:00 AM (09:00) and 5:30 PM (17:30) Central Time
 =====Contact===== =====Contact=====
-Email: techstaff@cs.uchicago.edu  (this goes to our ticketing system and is emailed to all three of us)+Email: techstaff@cs.uchicago.edu  (this goes to our ticketing system and is emailed to all five of us) 
  
-Phone: 773-702-1031 (2-1031 from campus phones) 
  
  
  
 ======Resources====== ======Resources======
-All CS systems that permit logins require SSH over the standard port (22) and use your CNetID for authentication.+All CS systems that permit logins require SSH over the standard port (22) and use your CNetID for authentication.   
 + 
 +*  //ITS will begin blocking SSH to the campus on Oct 27, 2021.  SSH access will require use of ITS' VPN to access SSH within the campus network.  This will certainly affect desktops, but CS has requested exemptions for subnets with research and instructional servers.// 
 +=====Your CS Account===== 
 +Your CS account name will be the same as your CNetID, however it is a different account.  It does share the same authentication method, so the password remains the same.  You must have a CS account in order to use CS services.  If it is not automatically provisioned for you you, you can request it by contacting Techstaff. 
 + 
 +**Remember to take actions to protect your account.**  Universities are being attacked regularly and accounts compromised by having their passwords stolen.  This can occur a number of ways including: 
 + 
 +  * Access to the password -- it is written down and someone sees it. 
 +  * Exposed during a hack of a site which stores your information. 
 +  * Exists on the darkweb. 
 +  * Phishing. 
 +  * Password guessing. 
 + 
 +Please make sure that your account password is unique to the university and is not easily guessable.  It should be a minimum of 12 characters, have all 4 character classes, and should be changed regularly. 
 =====Desktops===== =====Desktops=====
 Each student other than first years is supplied with a desktop with the following general configuration: Each student other than first years is supplied with a desktop with the following general configuration:
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   * 8GB of RAM   * 8GB of RAM
   * NFS-mounted home directory which is mounted on all Techstaff administered computers.  It is backed up regularly.   * NFS-mounted home directory which is mounted on all Techstaff administered computers.  It is backed up regularly.
-  * Running Linux (Ubuntu 16.04) (These will be upgraded soon.)+  * Running Linux (Ubuntu 20.04) 
   * Large software installation (instructional and research related software)   * Large software installation (instructional and research related software)
   * Your desktops are configured and managed by Techstaff using automated build and configuration management systems which allows the systems to easily maintain current software revisions, quickly reconfigure or rebuild if required, and maintain consistency amongst CS systems to minimize differences in behavior between the systems.   * Your desktops are configured and managed by Techstaff using automated build and configuration management systems which allows the systems to easily maintain current software revisions, quickly reconfigure or rebuild if required, and maintain consistency amongst CS systems to minimize differences in behavior between the systems.
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   * 16 GB of RAM   * 16 GB of RAM
   * 512 GB SSD   * 512 GB SSD
-  * Running Ubuntu 18.04+  * Running Ubuntu 20.04
   * 27" 4K monitor   * 27" 4K monitor
   * on a non-routable private address using NAT   * on a non-routable private address using NAT
  
 Note: the new systems will be required to have Techstaff management and cannot be self-managed. Note: the new systems will be required to have Techstaff management and cannot be self-managed.
 +
 +
 +
 +
  
 =====Miscellaneous Components===== =====Miscellaneous Components=====
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 =====Services===== =====Services=====
 ====Interactive login servers==== ====Interactive login servers====
-[[techstaff:remote_access|Techstaff has 3 servers (linux1, linux2, and linux3)]] that serve as interactive login systems for instructional use.  These systems are reachable either by the canonical address or by a cname (linux.cs.uchicago.edu).  The address linux.cs.uchicago.edu is a DNS round-robin entry that will rotate between the canonical addresses.  This allows for future expansion of the service.  You should always be aware of the canonical in case you need to reconnect to a specific machine.  The canonical name is displayed in the shell prompt or can be found by typing the 'hostname' command.+[[techstaff:remote_access|Techstaff has eight servers (focal0 through focal7)]] that serve as interactive login systems for instructional use.  These systems are reachable either by the canonical address or by either the alias ''linux.cs.uchicago.edu'' or ''focal.cs.uchicago.edu''.  The address ''linux.cs.uchicago.edu'' is currently an alias for the round-robin DNS round-robin entry ''focal.cs.uchicago.edu'', which rotates through its canonical addresses.  This allows for future expansion of the service, and the ''linux'' alias may change to point to ''jammy.cs.uchicago.edu'' at some point in the future.  You should always be aware of the canonical in case you need to reconnect to a specific machine.  The canonical name is displayed in the shell prompt or can be found by typing the 'hostname' command.
 These systems are configured similarly to the desktops and lab machines and can be used interchangeably with them.  They are configured with 16 hyperthreads, 64GB of RAM, 450GB /local partition, and mount the NFS home directory. These systems are configured similarly to the desktops and lab machines and can be used interchangeably with them.  They are configured with 16 hyperthreads, 64GB of RAM, 450GB /local partition, and mount the NFS home directory.
 The purpose of these systems is to support instructional computing.   The purpose of these systems is to support instructional computing.  
 +
 +====VDesk====
 +You can access virtual machines that are configured to be used as CSIL Linux machines.  The OS is Ubuntu linux.  They mount your CS home directory.  Instructions can be found at [[techstaff:vdesk|here]].
 +
  
 ====Personal website==== ====Personal website====
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 ====Printers==== ====Printers====
-Techstaff has distributed a number of community printers around the department. There are 4 color printers distributed throughout Ryerson:+Techstaff has distributed a number of community printers around the department. There are 4 color printers distributed throughout John Crerar Library:
  
-  * sassafras.cs.uchicago.edu located in JCL 214+  * sassafras.cs.uchicago.edu located in JCL 214  (faculty only)
   * basswood.cs.uchicago.edu located in JCL 235   * basswood.cs.uchicago.edu located in JCL 235
-  * persimmon.cs.uchicago.edu located in JCL 314+  * persimmon.cs.uchicago.edu located in JCL 314  (faculty only)
   * chinkapin.cs.uchicago.edu located in 362   * chinkapin.cs.uchicago.edu located in 362
  
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 The [[techstaff:slurm|SLURM cluster]] was originally constructed to support Hank Hoffmann’s OS course.  SLURM is a job scheduling system that allows users to submit requests for resources and allows them to execute jobs using those reserved resources.   The [[techstaff:slurm|SLURM cluster]] was originally constructed to support Hank Hoffmann’s OS course.  SLURM is a job scheduling system that allows users to submit requests for resources and allows them to execute jobs using those reserved resources.  
 The cluster should be used for larger jobs, rather than than linux.cs.uchicago.edu. Additionally, we have a couple of GPUs that can be utilized on the cluster. The cluster should be used for larger jobs, rather than than linux.cs.uchicago.edu. Additionally, we have a couple of GPUs that can be utilized on the cluster.
 +
 +The department has added a research SLURM cluster.  The AI Cluster has multiple systems with high end GPUs and is strictly for research work.  Some of the nodes were purchased by individual faculty members and they and their research team have priority access to them.  Details on the configuration and operation can be found at [[techstaff:slurm:ai|AI Cluster info]].
 +
 +=====Non-CS Research Computing Resources=====
 +  * Research Computing Center [[http://rcc.uchicago.edu]]
 +  * Chameleon Cloud [[http://chameleoncloud.org]]
  
 ======Labs====== ======Labs======
-The department supports one computer labs.+The department supports one computer lab.
  
 =====CSIL===== =====CSIL=====
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 =====Getting help===== =====Getting help=====
 ====Techstaff==== ====Techstaff====
-We are here to help and will do so.  Please contact us by stopping by the office (JCL 357), writing us (techstaff@cs.uchicago.edu), or calling us (773-702-1031).+We are here to help and will do so.  Please contact us by stopping by the office (JCL 357 or JCL 364), writing us (techstaff@cs.uchicago.edu), or calling us (773-702-1031).
  
 ====http://howto.cs.uchicago.edu ==== ====http://howto.cs.uchicago.edu ====
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 ====Do I get sudo access?==== ====Do I get sudo access?====
 No.  No. 
-There are a number of reasons for this, but the primary reason is that root access gives one access to other users home directories.+There are a number of reasons for this, but the primary reason is that root access gives one access to other users home directories.  
  
 ====Best practices==== ====Best practices====
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 ====Second Monitors==== ====Second Monitors====
  
-Some students have second monitors.  These were given on a first-come, first-served basis.  Techstaff had a large number of older monitors that we felt was better used by being given to students than by sitting on a shelf.  That stash has been exhausted.  First years are getting new 27" 4K monitors that have much higher resolution than the older 1080P monitors.  +Some students have second monitors.  These were given on a first-come, first-served basis.  Techstaff had a large number of older monitors that we felt was better used by being given to students than by sitting on a shelf.  That stash has been exhausted.  All PhD students are getting new 27" 4K monitors that have much higher resolution than the older 1080P monitors.  
  
  
/var/lib/dokuwiki/data/attic/techstaff/introduction.1600984021.txt.gz · Last modified: 2020/09/24 16:47 by rdb
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