Accessing the CSIL Unix Prompt
from Mac on Linux

Introduction

In many Computer Science courses at UCSB, you may need to use the Unix Shell Prompt on the "CSIL" machines.

The most effective way to use the CSIL machines is to come in person to the CSIL lab in Harold Frank Hall.

However, there are times when this may not be convenient, and you might prefer to try to get some work done by connecting to CSIL over the Internet from a Mac, or a PC running Linux. (For Windows, see the page "Acccessing CSIL from Windows using PuTTY").

How to access CSIL from the Mac or Linux command prompt

If you have an internet connection, at the command line, type:

 ssh username@csil.cs.ucsb.edu

Put in your CSIL username (e.g. jsmith, chrism) in place of the word username.

If you have an XTerm on an X11 display, then you may be able to type, instead:

ssh -Y username@csil.cs.ucsb.edu

and then if you use emacs on CSIL, it will pop up a separate window, so that you can use the
mouse, menus, scrollbars, etc.

Troubleshooting tips:

1. If the ssh command says "command not found", you may need to install the ssh program on your system.
   
   With Mac ssh is usually pre-installed.
   
   For Linux distributions, use a search engine and type in "OpenSSH install Ubuntu" or "OpenSSH install CentOS", etc. (putting in the name of your Linux distribution in place of Ubunto or CentOS).
   
   
2. If you are unable to connect to csil with the ssh program, make sure that you can bring up www.cs.ucsb.edu in your web browser first.
   
   If, for example, you are using the wireless network on the UCSB campus, you must authenticate yourself in a web browser by typing in your UCSBNetID and password before you can connect to any other internet resources---this includes using ssh. Many wi-fi access points at places like coffee shops, hotels, etc. have similar setups.

 

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Last update: P. Conrad, 05/24/2009