What is a NIC, exactly?

A New Internet Computer is a PC-like device which allows the user to run applications and view information hosted on other computers. Running a version of Linux under the covers, it is a low-cost way to browse the web, read and send email and connect to other computers with Kerberos, ssh or telnet. It has an X-server to allow it to display graphical applications running on other computers, and a client to enable it to connect to a Windows^tm terminal server. The NIC has no hard drive of its own.

How do I use it?

Basics

If a web browser is not already viisble, hit the "NIC" key (third from the left at the top) and one should appear.

The "Home Page" (the left-most of the two houses in the toolbar) should be configured to be the BooNE internal home page.

The printer is preconfigured to be WH10W_HP5SI_DUPLEX (for details, see the Printing section of the Computing Resources page

Getting a Kerberos ticket

After opening a browser window, click on the screwdriver button on the toolbar. Then, click on the X-Terminals folder on the right of the resulting window. You will find several appications. The one you need right now is kinit (not kinit -R: this will renew a ticket you already have). Enter your principal and password, followed by enter to close the window. For more details on Kerberos use, see the BooNE Kerberos guide or the official FNAL Strong Authentication page.

Accessing remote machines

After obtaining a ticket (necessary for logging in to machines at FNAL), you may use the SSH or telnet icons to access another machine. If you have not been told otherwise, use fnalu.fnal.gov as your FNAL host. Enter the correct information, check the push kerberos tickets box if appropriate (eg you're logging in to a lab machine), and then hit the OK button. If you have a kerberos ticket and you're logging on to a fnal.gov machine, you should not be asked for a password. If you are, your ticket is invalid for some reason: try to kinit. DO NOT TRY TO GIVE YOUR KERBEROS PASSWORD TO SSH: it will not work. See the Problems or Kerberos/AFS section of the BooNE Computing Resources page or the official FNAL Strong Authentication page for possible solutions to your problem.

Locking the screen

You may lock the screen to return to it later by starting the kxlock application in the X-Terminals folder. However, you MUST have a valid Kerberos ticket otherwise you will be unable to unlock the screen and must reboot the terminal!

Ending your Kerberos session

Double-click on the kdestroy icon in the X-Terminals folder to destroy your Kerberos tickets after you have logged out of all hosts that require it.

DO NOT FORGET TO DESTROY YOUR TICKET BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE TERMINAL!

Any lingering ticket could be used by the next person to sit at the terminal.

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Chris Green <boone-computing@fnal.gov>, 5/30/02