Using Supporting Applications

Please note that procedures on this page also work with Windows Vista.

Using SecureCRT

This initial setup will permit printing on Statistics printers from Laptops connected to the UWNet wireless network. Start SecureCRT and go to File->Connect. Left-click the New Session icon (third over on the top). If the setup wizard starts, select the option to NOT use the wizard, and continue on. For the "Connection" panel, you can put stat-printing in the Name box. The Protocol box should be set to the default of SSH2. Select the "SSH2" panel (from the list on the left) and enter 128.105.204.14 in the Hostname box, and your user ID in the Username box. Other setting should be good as the defaults (Port box is 22 and Firewall is None). Click on OK at the bottom to save the stat-printing entry. Open/Connect the stat-printing session. You may be asked to add this new machine name to the host key database. Select Accept and Save. Enter your password. To simplify subsequent authentication to the stat-printing network, you can select the Save password option (see WARNING below). Select OK and you will be connected to the Statistics authentication server that allows printing from your notebook.

WARNING!

You may get warning messages from packages like SecureCRT and WinSCP that you should not save passwords with these applications. Passwords saved are encrypted, but they may not be as safely kept as other sensitive system information. So there is a risk that if your system is broken into, these encrypted passwords can be recovered and subsequently cracked. You should not save passwords on shared systems. On private, one-owner systems, you will need to decide between ease of use and security. If you do not save your password, there is just one additional step when a session is started where you enter your password. You can decide your risk tolerance.

Using SecureCRT (continued)

You can now establish a SecureCRT SSH session to the host of your choice. In this example, we will connect to public01. Go to File->Connect. Left-click the New Session icon (third over on the top). Do not use the Wizard if it is offered. For the "Connection" panel, you can put public01.stat.wisc.edu in the Name box. The Protocol box should be set to the default of SSH2. Select the "SSH2" panel (from the list on the left) and enter public01.stat.wisc.edu in the Hostname box, and your user ID in the Username box. Other setting should be good as the defaults (Port box is 22 and Firewall is None). Select the "Remote/X11" panel (from the list on the left) and select Forward X11 packets. This allows Xwindowing operations on the terminal session. Click on OK at the bottom to save the entry.

To establish a connection while in the Connect window, highlight the session you want to use (in this case public01.stat.wisc.edu) and select Connect. You may be asked to add this new machine name to the host key database. Select Accept and Save. Enter your password, and if you wish to simplify subsequent authentication to this session, select the Save password option (see the WARNING above). Select OK and you will be connected to public01 with the X Windows function enabled.

Using a Virtual Desktop Manager

If you installed the Virtual Dimension desktop manager, start it from the Windows Programs menu. After it starts, Right-Click on the Virtual Dimension icon in the Windows Tray (lower right) and select Configure. Most of the default settings can be left alone. One useful change in the Settings tab is to keep the virtual desktop Always on top. You will probably want Virtual Dimension to start up automatically whenever you log in. If so, select the Start with Windows option in the Settings tab. In the Desktops tab, add additional virtual desktops with the Insert button. Four desktops is usually adequate (Desk0 through Desk3). For a linear, horizontal arrangement of virtual desktops, set Number of Columns to 4 (for this example). If you want a 2D arrangement of virtual desktops, set Number of Columns to 2. Under the Display tab, you can set a transparency level. This is particularly useful if you use the Always on top option. If virtual desktop display still gets in your way, left-click on the Virtual Dimensions icon in the Windows Tray and the display will toggle on and off.

You can use the virtual desktop to keep one set of applications separate from others but still easily accessible. For the X Windows application described next, you can start it in its own virtual desktop (example, rightmost, Desk3) and it will not interfere with access to other Windows applications that can be run in the leftmost desktop (Desk0). Virtual Dimension has many other features. You can look on the web page and experiment with it to find out its other capabilities.

Using an X Windows Manager on Windows XP (Xming)

The Xming X windows package allows graphics applications that run on a Linux computer to display with full interactive control on your Windows laptop. With the configuration information provided, you can create a desktop environment on your laptop display that looks and feels as if you were sitting at the console of a Statistics Linux workstation. In addition, it is possible to cut and paste blocks of text between Linux and Windows applications like Word, Emacs, R, SAS and MatLab. Follow the above link for configuration and usage details.

Using WinSCP

Start WinSCP and select New from the WinSCP Login window. Enter the preferred host name for this session in the Host Name box, for example, public01.stat.wisc.edu. Enter your user ID in the User Name box. If you want WinSCP to remember your password for this session, enter it in the Password box. If you don't enter your password, you will be asked for it each time you start this session. See the WARNING under Using SecureCRT. The default option of SFTP (allow SCP fallback) should be selected. Click on Save, and if you put in a password, you will get a warning that you can accept by clicking OK. Use the default name in the Save session as: box, or enter a name you prefer. You can add more sessions to other computers of interest in the same way by selecting New again.

You can now connect to a session by double-clicking on the session of interest. You may be asked to add this new machine name to the host key database. If you think everything was entered correctly, select Yes. The WinSCP window will open and you will by default be located in your My Documents directory on the local hard disk (left pane), and your remote Home directory (/afs/cs.wisc.edu/u/<ID first initial>/<ID second initial>/<ID>) (right pane).

You can now navigate to files on the remote system and, if the extension and format are compatible with applications on your MS Windows system (.doc, .xls, .ppt, .pdf, etc), you can by default double-click them in the remote pane and they will automatically open on your laptop with the appropriate MS Windows application. You can then modify them locally (for those files that can be edited), and when you File->Exit the application, and select Save, WinSCP will save the result on the remote host. Win SCP may pop up a message asking to confirm replacement of the file on the remote host, or it may replace it silently, so make sure you really want to update the version on the remote host.

You can transfer files between the remote and local systems by dragging selected files from one pane to the other. There may be advantages if you set up special default areas for managing file transfers. In the local host, you may want to create a briefcase folder under My Documents or at the C: root directory. Navigate to that directory in the Local pane. Similarly, you can create a parallel folder on the remote host. For example, to keep files in the AFS storage system for reliable backup, you can create a folder briefcase in your remote home directory. If you want to store large files and you are working with a remote host that you have exclusive access to, AND you don't need to backup the files, you might create a folder as /scratch/briefcase. Navigate to the remote host's briefcase folder. Then if you select Session->Save Session, and store the session back in it's original name, the next time you open the session, it will use the host briefcase folder and the remote briefcase folder as the defaults from the start.

If you keep parallel briefcase folders on the local and remote hosts, you can use them to maintain synchronized files between the two computers. This can be done manually with the various synchronization options available with WinSCP. Under the Commands tab, you can select Compare Directories to highlight files that are different between the two briefcases. You can select Synchronize to make the contents of one directory conform with the other, or to make the contents of both be the same. You can maintain automatic, one-way synchronization by selecting Keep Remote Directory up to Date. This will make WinSCP function primarily to make the remote system track all changes made in the local briefcase directory on your laptop. This can be handy for maintaining backups of laptop files on the remote AFS file system. There are many other options available to customize WinSCP to serve your needs. Go to the WinSCP home page for additional information.

Using OpenAFS

This topic has not yet been upated. If you need help with "Using OpenAFS", please Email lab@stat.wisc.edu to get immediate help and to increase priority for completing this topic page.

-- MikeRedmond - 28 Aug 2008