Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Academic
  3. School of Computer Science and Information Technology
  4. Incoming & Current Students
  5. Helpdesk
  6. FAQs/Getting Help

FAQs/Getting Help

Login / Account / Passwords

Visit http://www.cs.ucc.ie/reset and follow the instructions to reset your Linux, Windows and MacOS passwords.

This is the easiest and quickest way to change your password if you have forgotten your password as it will generate the same pasword for both mac/windows and linux in one go.

Please call to the CS Helpdesk.
Opening Hours: 11:00am – 12:30pm (Mon-Fri) & 2:30pm – 4:30pm (Mon-Thurs).
You will be required to produce your Student ID card.

 

Every time you log in to Windows, this information is recorded in a database. For security reasons, this record prevents you from logging in to more than one PC simultaneously.

If you do not log out of a PC correctly or if the machine crashes preventing a proper log-off, the database will still show that you are logged in. The next time you try to log in to Windows, you will be logged off again immediately without accessing the desktop.

To resolve this, you must log off from the last PC you were using.

If the PC is at a log-in prompt, e.g., it crashed and you restarted it to a login prompt, you should log in. This will log you in and automatically log you off (as per the original problem) but it will also clear your record in the database. You should then be able to log in again successfully.

In some cases, this is not possible, e.g., you cannot remember the PC or the operation does not work for you. In that case you will be automatically logged out in 15 minutes.
If still in trouble, call to the the CS Helpdesk (room 1-25 on the ground floor of the Kane Building). Opening Hours: 11:00am – 12:30pm (Mon-Fri) and 2:30pm – 4:00pm (Mon-Thurs).

You must log into Linux using your original password from your log in sheet given to your be CS helpesk.

If you change your windows password – that does not change your Linux password.

If you have lost this sheet or have forgotten your password you can easily reset it by following the instructions on our Password Reset Page.

However… If you really want to change your password to a particular one in linux AND already know your password then

SSH to csgate and log on with your username and password.At the prompt, type “yppasswd”.
You will be asked to enter your current password followed by your new password.Re-enter your new password to confirm it.The new password will be effective from your next log on.

Note: this will ONLY change your Ubuntu/Linux password.

 

Log on to Windows with your username and password.Hold down the Ctrl, Alt and Delete keys (at the same time).Click the change password option and insert your new password.This should take effect from your next login

If you have misplaced your sheet you can reset your password by following the instructions in the FAQ : ”How can I reset my password (forgot / lost password) ?”

A roaming user profile is a concept that allows users with a computer joined to a Windows Server domain to log on to any computer on the same network and access their documents and have a consistent desktop experience from computer to computer. The profile is stored on a network share (as opposed to on the local machine). A pro for this is that it automatically backs up the user data when they log out, so that the user does not have to remember to do so.

We have always followed best practice of implementing roaming profiles by enabling them but redirecting some folders. These folders which are part of the user profile are mapped to a network based location e.g //csfiler/users/2015/sor4/winprofile.V2/.V2 …. (the .V2 part is there since VistaWindows 7). Redirecting to the network location allows us to back up the network location without having to touch a user’s desktop, so that the data is more centrally controlled and managed.

The suggested cons of having roaming profiles are ‘slow login times’ and bandwidth consumption.

‘Slow-Logins’
****************

Historically the slowest login is the first login as the whole profile was only downloaded the first time, at logon. Subsequent logons would compare date/timestamp and only download files that had changed as compared to what was cached locally. This is now optimized in windows 7 as compared to XP.

Testing roaming profile issues in computer science labs by e.g. putting a user nearer to quota or giving a user a large winprofile, have not seen subsequent logins take more than 90 seconds. That is not excessive … (we do have 1GB to the desktop).

To speed up logins further a group policy setting to ‘Exclude directories in roaming profiles’ was enabled.

This setting excludes folders that are normally included in the user’s profile. As a result, these folders do not need to be stored on the network server on which the profile resides and do not follow users to other computers.

In the group policy ‘Sept2012UndergradStudentPolicy’ the following directories are prevented from roaming with the profile:

“javame-sdk;javame-sdk;.netbeans7.1.2varcache;AppDataRoamingDev-Cpp;localtemp;.netbeans7.1.2varcache;nbi;nbi;AppDataRoamingMicrosoftWindowsIECompatCache;AppDataRoamingMicrosoftWindowsThemes;AppDataRoamingMicrosoftWindowsRecent;javame-sdk/;AppDataRoamingMicrosoftWindowsIET1dCache”

This will be updated yearly at clone time and as newer versions of e.g., netbeans are installed.

By default in Windows 7 , the AppdataLocal and AppdataLocalLow folders and all their subfolders like the History, Temp, and Temporary Internet Files folders are excluded from the user’s roaming profile.
Note: In operating systems earlier than Microsoft Windows Vista, only the History, Local Settings, Temp, and Temporary Internet Files folders are excluded from the user’s roaming profile by default.

‘Bandwidth Consumption’
******************************

By redirecting a folder that is part of the roaming profile, all users will be utilizing network bandwidth throughout the logon session – but the logon / logoff will be quicker.

With large classes network bandwidth will always suffer on the hour mark at end of some practical’s run by staff who wants to have all the class in each practical.

Finally, on rare occasions a request to have no winprofile comes in. Invariably within a week the student calls back to the helpdesk asking for the winprofile to be restored as they were fed up having to ‘redo’ all types of settings if using different computers as Windows was their main used operating system.

CS Lab Software FAQ

If you changed your password, you might need to remove the keyring associated with the old password and
restart chrome

try

rm ~/.local/share/keyrings/login.keyring

Edge browser doesn’t work for student accounts as of time of writing (September 2019).

Use Internet Explorer for now.

Chrome and Firefox will also be available on the Windowns 10 Lab PCs.

Internet Explorer will work, but needs TLS settings tweaked for some sites using below procedure:

In Internet Explorer, go to the Tools Menu and select Internet Options. Click Advanced tab.

Scroll down to near bottom of settings and then check the three TLS options.

Chrome and Firefox will also be available on the Windowns 10 Lab PCs.

 

You need to set the proxy server in the “proxy settings” section in the particular browser, as follows:

Open firefox,
Click the ‘hamburger’ icon (3 horizontal parallel lines on top right)
Select Options
Select Advanced
Select Network
Select Settings
Select “Manual Proxy Configuration”

for “HTTP Proxy” enter nemoback.ucc.ie
and for port enter 80

Tick the “use for all protocols” checkbox.

In the “No Proxy For” box enter

localhost, 127.0.0.1, .ucc.ie, .cs.ucc.ie, 143.239.0.0/16

Internet Explorer in windows should work , as active directory policy sets the default proxy server.

This error indicates you are connecting to the portal via our proxy server.

This should not happen in internet explorer (we have a policy in place which forces the correct behavior in Internet Explorer).

For Firefox or Safari you need to go to your browser preferences and
configure the correct behavior.

In the proxy settings you need to add an entry
in the section “bypass proxy for local addresses”
(wording may vary slightly between browsers)

localhost, 127.0.0.1, .ucc.ie, .cs.ucc.ie, 143.239.0.0/16

If you have difficulty with the above instructions please drop us a note at help@cs.ucc.ie

CS Student Home Folders

All CS students have their home network folder on a server called csfiler. This networked home folder is available across Mac, Linux and Windows CS labs.

You have access to this home directory when logged into Windows by navigating to z:\.

On Linux you can see this folder by typing cd ~.

On MacOS it is accessed by clicking the globe in the ‘dock’ when you login to MacOS in labs 1.15, 1.16 or 1.22.

This will mount your home directory in the "Computer" section in Finder.

You will have one gigabyte of storage available here. This is the maximum amount of space that you can use during the year. Once this space is used, you can no longer save any more data to your home directory, until you delete unwanted files. To avoid space filling up rapidly, you should regularly delete unwanted files.

Personal Web site

Your home folder (described above) contains a special folder named public_html for storing your personal web pages.

Your public_html folder contains any web pages that you wish to be publicly accessible on the internet. This space is primarily for websites you will create as part of your course.

How do I add new web pages to my public_html folder?

The public_html folder can be accessed via your CS home folder on csfiler.ucc.ie. You can save html and other content here that you wish to share on the internet.

This folder can be accessed via your csfiler CS home folder detailed above, (accessible via the globe icon in the dock in MacOS labs).

How do I view a web pages that I added to my public_html folder?

The web server cs1.ucc.ie is a special server that takes the contents of your public_html folder and makes it available to users on the public internet.

You (and anyone else, for that matter) can view your web pages by opening a web browser and using the link http://cs1.ucc.ie/~YOURUSERNAME

This link will magically open the contents of the folder public_html.

http://cs1.ucc.ie/~YOURUSERNAME is your personal website.

How do I modify the permissions on html pages I saved to my public_html folder?

To allow your html pages to be opened by visitors to your website, you must give access to others to read your files within this directory.

To change these permissions, you can use the ssh command to login to CS SSH gateway server csgate.ucc.ie. This server is accesibe within UCC and also from home, so you can use these commands from anywhere, if you need to update your web pages access permissions.

In the below example you will use the ssh command (available from the command line in Windows, MacOS and Linux) to make your html file index.html readable on the internet.

i.e. ssh csgate.ucc.ie -l USERNAME

Then cd to your public_html directory, i.e. cd ~/public_html.

Use chmod give access permissions on your new html file, i.e.  chmod ugo+r index.html

Pro Tip

You can add web pages to your public_html folder when at home. See the FAQ section on “File Transfer / Remote Connection” at http://www.cs.ucc.ie/help

 

 

You may see an error “IDLE’s subprocess didn’t make a connection”

One possible cause is a clash between a python file name that
you own and with a name that clashes with a python function name.

For example, in your home directory you have a file “string.py”

The workaround is to rename that file
and then try running IDLE again.

Rename the folder:
C:UsersUSERNAME.eclipse

to

C:UsersUSERNAMEOLD.eclipse

Then log out of your computer and log back in.

See FAQ named : “Correct WorkSpace setup for Eclipse” for details on correct setup.

When you start Eclipse you will be prompted to create a WorkSpace.
Please ensure that you create this within the Z drive.
EG: Z:WorkSpace1
And Select “Set as default workspace”
You MUST NOTput this in the C drive as it will NOT be saved.

If you have incorrectly set this to the C drive, please see other FAQ: “How to reset my Eclipse WorkSpace”

It may not be obvious to you, but it is possible to copy and paste to and from a PuTTY window. This tutorial will show you how to do that

Copying and pasting in PuTTY is very easy, but different from the way it’s done in most other programs

1) You’ll need to be logged in to a PuTTY session before you begin

2) All you have to do is left click and drag to make a selection

As soon as you let go of the mouse button, the selection is instantly copied to your clipboard and ready to be pasted

3) Simply click off of the selection to deselect it

4) Now, let’s paste the selection into another window. For this tutorial, we’ll just use a Notepad window that we already have open

5) Right click, then Paste

The selection has been copied and pasted successfully

Now, let’s try copying and pasting an SSH command we’ve stored in a different Notepad window

6) Right-click and Copy

7) Return to PuTTY

8) Simply right-click to paste

9) Press Enter to execute the command

You can also select and copy a rectangular region in PuTTY. For our purpose, this is useful to copy just the filenames in this directory listing

10) Hold down ALT, then click and drag from the top left corner to the bottom right

11) Switch back to Notepad

12) Press CTRL+V to paste

From https://kb.site5.com/shell-access-ssh/putty/putty-how-to-copy-and-paste-to-and-from-a-putty-window/

To launch VScode in the CS Mac labs with pre installed extensions, run the command "code" from the terminal

Database FAQs

If you need a database as part of a class, it is possible that the database was already created for you, on the instructions of the lecturer. Details of the database name and your login password would have been emailed to you soon after the database was created.
If not then email help@cs.ucc.ie stating database request in subject line,your user name and year, and we will create one for you and email you the details.

Please email help@cs.ucc.ie if you have mislaid your database details, e.g., password. We will email the details to you.

We use MySQL to store student databases here in the School.

If you use Linux in our labs you will see the DBeaver GUI database client.

DBeaver can work with numerous database back ends, including MySQL, Postgres and MS SQL. In UCC CS we use MySQL database server. However, DBeaver does not come bundled with drivers for connecting to any of these database back ends.

Below are the steps for adding the required MySQL driver. These steps are only required the first time launch DBeaver and are not be needed subsequently.

Steps:

1. When you launch DBeaver it launches a New Connection Wizard, select “MySQL” as driver type
2. Edit driver properties and delete the existing entry
3. Click “Add file” and browse to /users/shared/dbeaver/5 and select the connector file there
4. You will now be prompted for your database details. You should have an email (from help@cs.ucc.ie) with your CS database details. Enter these values for authentication credentials and other properties required to connect to MySQL (email help@cs.ucc.ie if you have lost those details)

 

DBeaver is an application students use in linux to access
their MySQL database.

Some students encounter problems starting DBeaver.

The most common reason is a corruption of DBeaver’s settings due to a user having exceeded their disk quota and
therefore DBeaver cannot start properly (resulting is corruption of its DBeaver files). i.e. If you were over quota when you attempted to launch dbeaver then one of DBeaver’s settings folders contents may have been corrupted.

The fix:

a) Check that you are under quota. Use instructions elsewhere on this FAQ site to free up space if you are over quota.

b) Once you have freed up some space, rename folders .eclipse, .dbeaver4 and .dbeaver-drivers.

DBeaver will create a fresh copy of these folder when launching.

Once you rename it, DBeaver will recreate it on next launch.

c) Finally rename the file .dbeaver (this contains a cache of their connection settings – quote safe to remove)

restart DBeaver

and follow the DBeaver setup FAQ

There are a number of ways to access your database
from outside UCC.

The simplest way is via a browser by visiting
https://cs1.ucc.ie/phpmyadmin/

If you prefer to use a windows client like HeidiSQL then you need to
take a few more steps as below.

On your home PC or Laptop

Download and install the HeidiSQL installer from
http://www.heidisql.com/download.php

Download Putty.exe from
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

and place putty.exe in the folder containing the Heidi files

Run HeidiSQL

Select compressed client check box

Change Network Type to MYSQL (SSH Tunnel).

This then gives you a tab for the SSH tunnel, where you can enter the
hostname cs1.ucc.ie

and your Unix username and password.

For the plink.exe location select the PuTTy.exe file that you inserted in the Heidi folder above

On the Settings, tab you enter your MySQL details as you would when
connecting locally in the lab.

Note you will need BOTH sets of authentication to connect

File Transfer / Remote Connection / SSH / SFTP

We’ve implemented a dedicated ssh gateway server , called csgate.ucc.ie, which you will need to use to ssh from home or eduroam in order to access our services.

1. To access your home-directory and sftp files, do the following:

ssh to csgate.ucc.ie with your unix username and password. All your files are present on this server.

2. To connect to CS server such as cs1.ucc.ie for mysql access etc from home, you need to do the following:

ssh to csgate.ucc.ie with your unix username and password ( instead of cs1.ucc.ie as before).
Then from there ssh to cs1.ucc.ie with your unix username and password.

NB the SSH gateway server csgate blocks connections from an IP address after 5 incorrect attempts to enter your password. As csgate is an externally accessible ssh server, it is designed to
deter would-be hackers as well as allowing authenticated users in.

If you do get blocked, and are sure you have the correct password, wait for 30 minutes without attempting to connect again. This will allow the block on your IP address to clear.

If you suspect you have an incorrect password you can
easily reset it before putting it in 5 times incorrectly and locking yourself out again. If you find you need to reset your password ( for both your windows and your linux account), follow the instructions here :

http://www.cs.ucc.ie/reset/

For security and performance reasons csgate and other CS servers have maximum session limits per user, so be sure to correctly and fully logout from any server when not using it; this is most simply done via the "logout" command.

If you are accessing one server via another (e.g. ssh-ing first to csgate.ucc.ie, then onto cs1.ucc.ie) be sure to sign out of both servers.

If you do not correctly sign out, and the session is interrupted/times out, or you start a new session elsewhere, one of your available sessions will be hung and eventually you will hit your session limit and won’t be able to access the server until a member of the CSSG team can stop the associated processes for you. If this happens contact the CSSG team via help@cs.ucc.ie with your CS username and any other relevant info (name of server etc).

 

 

The server csgate.ucc.ie
supports protocol SFTP.

Use an SFTP client on your home computer to connect to this server
using your usual Linux username and password.

Lab pcs do not have external access for security reasons. However, if you ssh to csgate.ucc.ie (which has external access) with your unix username and password, you can then ssh to the server without issue

In this FAQ we will show you how to configure the free application FileZilla to upload files to Computer Science file servers via sFTP

Once you’ve installed FileZilla on your computer, connecting to your server via SFTP can be done by adding the Computer Science SFTP server csgate.ucc.ie via Site Manager.

Select “File” menu then
“Site Manager” then
“New Site”

Rename the empty site title, “School of Computer Science SFTP Server”.

You’ll see information sections to fill in here.

Host: – This is where you’ll enter csgate.ucc.ie.
Port: – This is the port for the server’s SFTP protocol address. Use port 22
Protocol: – Select SFTP – SSH File Transfer Protocol.
Logon Type: – Select “Normal” from the drop down menu.
User: – Input the username you use to login to the CS labs here
Password: – Input the password that you use to login to the CS labs here

Press the “Connect” button and it will save this settings and connect with the options set previously.

You’ve now successfully connected to the CS SFTP server
and can drag and drop files from your laptop to the server in a more user friendly way than command line SFTP

Computer Science Mailing Lists

Log an online call to the CS Helpdesk by emailing help@cs.ucc.ie.

State your user id, the problem including what year you are in now. Please tell us a time when you will not be logged on and we will resolve it for you.

 

Its possible for some reason that your email address is not included in the class mailing list. Send an email to help@cs.ucc.ie, giving your username and what class you should be in. We will check this out and fix this for you.

Space Usage / Over Disk Space Quota

As a Computer Science Student, you are allocated a quota of disk space on our School’s fileserver of 1GB. This is the maximum amount of space that you can use during the year. Once this space is used, you can no longer save any more data to your home directory, until you delete unwanted files. To avoid space filling up rapidly, you should regularly delete unwanted files.

Backups – If you accidentally delete or lose data in your home directory see the section on recovering a lost file in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the helpdesk site

NB NB: At the end of the academic year, in order to free up space, your home directories will be deleted and your account reset (Your username and password will remain unchanged). This will take place after repeat exams, and in advance of start of the next academic year. If you wish to keep any files make sure you copy them to USB key or to your Google Drive space before then.

 

ssh to csgate

you will see a login message indicating how much space you have used of your total allocation

e.g.

“You have used 848M of your disk space allowance of 1000M”

Indicates you have used 848 MB of your total allocation os 1000 MB.

Each student is allocated a limited amount of space on their home-directory(Unix) or Z drive(Windows). If you exceed your quota, you cannot write any more data until you have deleted some of your old files.

Even if you have not yet exceeded your quota but you are close to quota, you could lose valuable files. For example, if you are working on a critical assignment and exceed your quota, you will not be able to save the file. Alternatively, it may save with a size of zero meaning that you have lost the file.

To prevent this from happening, check your quota regularly. The procedure for checking your quota is detailed below

ssh to csgate.ucc.ie and log in with your Unix password

At the prompt, type:
/usr/bin/quota

The output of this command details your quota and usage. The blocks column tells you how much quota you have used.

You should then go to your home directory by typing:

cd

At the prompt, type:
du -k |sort -n

The output of this command is a list of all the files in your directory and the size of each. This should aid you in deleting large files. You may delete any files with .DCOP or .kss or .x* or .X* file extensions. You should also delete any unnecessary files that you have saved.

N.B. You should NOT delete any of the following files:

.gnome, .mozilla, your mozilla mail inbox file, etc.

To delete a file, type:
rm

If you are unable to reduce your quota and you have access to email, please help@cs.ucc.ie stating your username and the problem.

Every time you login to unix, Gnome (the software that manages logins) writes some information into your home directory. If you have no space left, then Gnome cant write the information and logs you off again.

In this case, to temporarily switch to the command line Linux login screen (so that you can free up some space to allow normal login to work again); at the login screen, press Ctl-Alt-F3 and log in with your usual Ubuntu Linux username and password.

Delete any files with .x* or .X* extensions from your home directory
Delete any unwanted files in your home directory

Press Ctrl-Alt-F1 to return to Login Screen (Gnome Desktop) and log in again.
Otherwise login to windows and delete what you dont need from your home directory

Additional Information

Lost Files

Printing

Advice on Purchasing a Laptop

Getting Help

Useful Links

Laptop Loans

Printing Services

Software You Can Purchase

Wi-Fi

Centrally Planned I.T Services

School of Computer Science and Information Technology

Umail Queries

School of Computer Science and Information Technology

Scoil na Ríomheolaíochta agus na Teicneolaíochta Faisnéise

School of Computer Science and Information Technology, Western Gateway Building, University College Cork, Western Road, Cork, Ireland

Choose areas of the website to search
Top