Mod:linux

Introduction

For this Computational Chemistry Course, you have been loaned an HP 2510p Laptop. It has been installed with a copy of Windows (discussed elsewhere) and a copy of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, version 5 (RHEL5). The laptop is configured to normally boot Windows, but can be booted into Linux to access programs necessary for this course.

Several useful applications are stored in /opt/chemistry and as the course progresses, you will be asked to use some of these. These applications are also available on any of the Chemistry Lab Machines.

There is a shared Data drive configured on this laptop to enable transfer of results between Windows and Linux, but you are advised to also save any critical data in your networked Home Directory (connection details below) or on a USB device, in case of any hardware or possession related failures.

Booting Linux

The default Operating System is Linux. Unless you take action during booting, every time your laptop restarts it will be started in Linux. To boot Linux, you must take the steps described below. Click on any picture to see a larger version of that image.

Screenshot	Explanation
	After rebooting your laptop, the first screen you should see will look like this. As instructed, Press any key to enter the Menu,
	At this screen, select the top entry which should be titled Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (2.6.18-XX.X.XX.el5) and press Enter to boot Linux. After a short while, you should be able to proceed to the next stage, Logging into Linux

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Logging into Linux

Screenshot	Explanation
	Every Laptop has the same local user account created called compchem - you will need to login as this account as it is not possible to use your College Login on these laptops.
	The initial password for the compchem user is set to the Serial Number of the machine. Attached to the bottom of the laptop is a label, titled Product: HP Compaq 2510p which has a line starting s/n: and then a string of letters / numbers. An example would be CNF7493ZH5 - this is the machine serial number and also the initial password for the compchem account.
	You should enter this serial number in the password field on this screen. Note: It is case sensitive, so enter it exactly as shown on the label.
	It is really really hard to remember those silly serial numbers and we want to prevent anyone from reading your password by picking up the laptop - so we're forcing you to change it to something only you know. Just press OK on this screen.
	You now need to enter the Serial Number again as your password, this is the last time you will ever need it, I promise!
	Enter a password of your choice. You can choose the same password as your regular College Login if you prefer, but you must conform to the password rules (thus a word very similar or identical to a dictionary word will be rejected as a password, and you will have to start from the beginning!).
	Enter that new password again, just to check that you typed it correctly both times.
	You should now be logged into the Gnome Desktop. Try not to forget what you changed the password to, but if you do, take the laptop to a member of the ICT Support Team in Chemistry and they will be able to change it for you.

Introduction

Further Reading

Booting Linux

Logging into Linux