udpates for 2011

[tridge/comp8440.git] / labsetup.php

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<center>
<h1>
<font color="#931515" size="+3">COMP8440: Lab Setup (2011)</font>
</h1>
</center>

<h2>Background</h2>

The COMP8440 course will use the lab machines in N115/N115. You will
need to follow the instructions below to setup your own machine and to
regularly backup your machine using the "Backup System" link on your
desktop.

<h2>Initial Setup</h2>

<p>Each machine in the N115/N116 lab has already had its disk
  repartitioned to include the new 85GB partition as /dev/sda8 and an
  initial copy of the "master" image for FOSSD 2011, based on the
  Ubuntu Maverick (10.8) Linux distribution.</p>

<p>For the first (initial) setup, you will need to log into the
machine whilst it is booted in the normal (CSIT) lab environment. That
is the default boot environment, which can also selected using the
'net' option during bootup</p>

<p>On your desktop you should see a icon "Setup FOSSD". Click that.</p>

<p>A new terminal window should appear and you will be prompted for
your login password (to allow you "superuser" access).</p>

<p>Then you will be prompted for a passphrase for the encrypted
filesystem, twice. You can press the "Enter" key each time to use the
default FOSSD passphrase for the encrypted filesystem (written up on
the whiteboard in the lab), or you can make up a new passphrase - but
don't forget it!</p>

<p>Then you may be prompted for your login password one last time
before the system initialises the partition with the Ubuntu Karmic
image we have prepared. As a part of this initialisation, an account
will be created for you in this image.</p>

<p>When that is complete, you can reboot your machine and then select
"fossd" from the network boot prompt which will boot into the
encrypted filesystem. You will be prompted for the passphrase you have
chosen for the encrypted filesystem. It is <b>very</b> important that
you do not forget this passphrase!</p>

<p>Please try and use the same machine for all COMP8440 labwork, so
that you are least likely to disturb another students machine</p>

<h2>FOSSD Lab Environment</h2>
<p>The "standard environment" that we have prepared for each FOSSD lab machine includes the standard Ubuntu Karmic "Gnome" desktop environment with a couple of customisations:</p>
<ul>
<li>There is a "Terminal" icon in the task bar so that you can quickly get a shell (commandline) prompt</li>
<li>We have installed a number of packages including most of the common version control systems</li>
<li>There is a "Backup System" icon (see below)</li>
<li>There is a "Pidgin" Internet Relay Chat/Messenger icon to start "pidgin"</li>
<li>Firefox has some useful plugins added: Add Block Plus (ABP); Zotero and Scrapbook</li>
<li>Firefox hompage is set to our COMP8440 course page</li>
<li>under "Places" there is a link to your files on the "fossd" FOSSD course server</li>
</ul>

<h2>FOSSD Lab Server</h2>

<p>A dedicated file server has been set up for the FOSSD course for
2011. This server has the DNS name "fossd.anu.edu.au" and is
accessible from most anywhere on the Internet. You can log into this
server from anywhere using Secure SHell (ssh), your standard ANU UniID
and associated password. Please do not run large (CPU-intensive) jobs
on this machine as it will be used heavily during the course for
backups etc.</p>

<p>Also, although this server has more or less unrestricted access to
the Internet, please do not use this to run peer-to-peer applications
(unless that is a part of your chosen Open Source project) or in any
other way abuse access to this machine and it's Internet
connection.</p>

<h2>Backing up your work</h2>

<p>As a part of the Ubuntu Karmic software image we have prepared for
you, there is an icon on the desktop "Backup System". Double clicking
on that icon will backup your entire system image (including any new
packages you have installed and your home directory). You may be
prompted for your password on the FOSSD lab server.</p>

<h2>Restoring your environment</h2>

<p>In case of emergency, you can restore your system environment even when you are booted into the FOSSD system by running the following command in a terminal:</p>
<pre><b>
 sudo /comp8440/bin/restore_fossd_system
</b></pre>

<p>This should not be needed during normal operation.

<p>Make sure you have saved any work you are currently editing
  etc. and have "Backup System" your system!. After running the
  restore command, you should reboot your machine.</p>

<p>You can also restore your environment onto another system (even one
that someone else may have been using - so please be considerate and
be careful!). Boot your lab machine using the "net" image and then
follow the instructions as for an Initial Setup (above). If you change
your encrypted filesystem passphrase, you will get a fresh install,
which will take longer and will destroy any work already on the
machine (including someone elses).</p>

<h2>Changing your filesystem passphrase</h2>

If you want to change the filesystem passphrase on a running system,
use this command:
<pre><b>
 sudo /comp8440/bin/change_passphrase
</b></pre>
You will be prompted for your old passphrase.

<p>Note that if you forget your passphrase there is nothing we can do
to recover it. You will have lost all the work you have done since
your last backup.

<h2>Summary</h2>

In summary, these are the commands you need to know:

<ul>
<li>To install a FOSSD system, boot to the normal CSIT environment and
click on the "FOSSD Setup" icon
<li>To copy everything from a running FOSSD system to the server,
double click on the "Backup System" icon
<li>To restore from the server to your local FOSSD system, overwriting
all your local files, run "sudo /comp8440/bin/restore_fossd_system"
<li>To change your encrypted filesystem passphrase, use "sudo
/comp8440/bin/change_passphrase"
</ul>

<h2>Remember to Backup!!</h2>

<p>You MUST backup your work regularly (using the "Backup System" icon
on your desktop) as there is a possibility of hardware failure,
software failure, accidental deletion and someone overwriting your
encypted filesystem. You have been warned (again!).</p>

<h2>Technical Information</h2>

<p>The course will utilise the N115/N116 combined 40 place lab in the
CSIT building. This lab has 40 machines each with 3.0GHz Pentium D
CPUs, 2GB RAM, a 160GB hard disk and a 17" LCD monitor. The machines
are networked onto a single VLAN with 100MBps ethernet.</p>

<p>The machines in the lab are normally used by CS courses with a
software image based on Ubuntu Karmic (9.10) Linux (from October,
2009). The machines are set to"network boot" and obtain their software
image from a lab server. This image is not suitable for use by this
course as it does not allow students to add their own packages, nor to
gain superuser access in normal use.</p>

<p>The challenge has been to provide a lab environment where students
can "own" the software installation on "their" machine in the lab, to
be able to save that image to the course server and to be able to
quickly restore it to another machine in the event of a hardware
failure. We also need to be able to get the machines running with
their normal image in a timely fashion as other classes will need to
use the machines after the intensive part of our course is
complete.</p>

<p>To solve this requirement, we have set up an additional disk
partition on each of the lab machines and set up additional network
boot options to allow an encrypted filesystem on this partition to be
the main (root) filesystem whilst the machines are being used by this
course. The encrypted filesystem should prevent other lab users from
accidentally or deliberately interfering with each FOSSD students
setup.</p>

<p>To speed up the installation for the first lab, we have
  pre-installed Ubuntu Karmic, released in October, 2009, hence with
  release number 9.10.</p>


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