Windows Related Info

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Remote Access to CERN computing facilities

(for Windows users) All following options work under Windows Vista

Connecting to Windows Computers

Done via CERN Terminal Services (CERNTS) using Remote Desktop Connection normally available in any Windows OS. It connects you to a CMF CERN computer which has all the advantages of being correctly set up and managed by CERN IT authorities, so it enables you to connect to UNIX computers and use ROOT without having to set up your own computer.

To use the service you need to:

1. Register your account on http://www.cern.ch/win -> Terminal Services -> Register here to use the service
2. On Vista: Start -> Accessories -> Remote Desktop Connection
3. Login using your credentials
4. Enjoy!

In order to do file transfer, you need to map your disk drives to the remote connection as follows:

This grants you direct access between your computer, the files on CERN TS computer and DFS.

Notes:

• Does not work very well with wifi connection even at CERN.
• You can also connect from your browser: https://winservices.web.cern.ch/winservices/tsc/TSWeb/Cerntslb.aspx

Connecting to Unix Computers

To be able to do this with all the capabilities of CERN TS, you need to set up your computer. You will need:

• SSH client to connect to the server console, preferably PuTTY which is free and officially supported by CERN. Download here: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/
• X server to be able to view Unix applications' GUI: Hummingbird Exceed (2007 officially supported, commercial) or free ones like Cygwin/X (http://x.cygwin.com/)
• sFTP/SCP client for easy drag&drop file manipulation: WinSCP (officially supported, free), Hummingbird Conectivity Secure Shell (Hummingbird FTP which is the standard component of Hummingbird Connectivity does not work since FTP is no longer permitted at CERN)

Setting up PuTTY

• Host: <YOUR LOGIN>@lxplus.cern.ch
• Protocol: SSH
• Port: 22

In order to use X server capabilities from within PuTTY you need to enable the X11 forwarding, which can be found in the configuration menu under: Connection -> SSH -> X11

Notes:

• In order for the settings to be saved in PuTTY you need to go back to profiles, click on your profile (or Default profile) and then press the Save button.
• WinSCP? can be very well intertwined with PuTTY, check WinSCP? -> View -> Preferences -> Integration

Setting up Hummingbird Exceed

Installation requires little tuning by default. If you experience problems, visit Help for Exceed 2007 page https://winservices.web.cern.ch/winservices/Help/?kbid=060506. Then you can just connect to lxplus.cern.ch the same way you connect to CERN TS and use all graphical interface just like you were on linux. The Xsession file has been attached to the document, so you can just download it and run it: http://www-hep2.fzu.cz/twiki/pub/ATLAS/WindowsRelated/lxplus.cern.ch.ses

Exceed with PuTTY integration requires you to:

• Have X server process running
• Run a X11 forwarding enabled session (see PuTTY setup)
• Allow host access to your X server. To set this up open: Start -> Programs -> Hummingbird Connectivity 2007 -> Exceed Tools -> Xconfig -> Security, Access Control and System Administration and select Any Host and Allow Clients to Modify Host Access Control List

Notes:

• There are currently problems with running KDE using Exceed as written here: http://it-support-servicestatus.web.cern.ch/it-support-servicestatus/IncidentArchive/ProblemwithEXCEED.htm

Establishing connection

1. Start the Exceed X Server first: Start -> Programs -> Hummingbird -> Exceed -> Exceed
2. Start *PuTTY*_ Start -> Programs -> PuTTY -> PuTTY and login
3. Start the GUI applications on the remote system (via PuTTy? )

Telnet on Windows Vista

To enable telnet on Windows Vista, go to:

Control Panel -> Control Panel Home (not Classic View) -> Programs -> Turn Windows features on and off

-- MartinZeman - 24 Jul 2008