Remoting into DCS
Thu 13 Oct 2022Connection Address:
uXXXXXXX@remote-YY.dcs.warwick.ac.uk
where the X's are replaced by your full 7-digit university id, and the Y's by the last two digits of it.
Making a Connection:
The steps you need to follow at the start will slightly vary depending on your operating system.
Windows/Mac/Linux
- On Windows, open up the Command Prompt (cmd). Otherwise, open the Terminal app.
- Type:
ssh [connection address here]
, and hit enter/return.
Android
- Install and open Termux.
- Type:
pkg install openssl
and hit enter/return. - If asked to confirm, answer with
y
- Type:
ssh [connection address here]
, and hit enter/return.
iOS
- Install and open Shelly
- Click +
- In SSH Server Address, type out the connection address, then tap Connect.
- Tap Connect
Verification:
These steps will be similar, regardless of your device.
- If you're asked about certificates, click Yes (if you want to check, the signature can be found here).
- Enter your DCS password. This will have been emailed to you inside a
.txt
attachment in the past few days. (don't worry if you can't see anything while typing your password; this is normal) - You're in! You should see a system welcome message:
More detailed information can be found in the DCS Unix User Guide (along with how to access a desktop environment remotely). If you have any issues, please do ask for help.
Connecting with VS Code
(Note: editing this SSH config will also allow you to connect in a similar way through normal SSH) This is a more fully featured connection, and operates like VS Code on your own PC but with all files and terminals on the department servers.
- Install the
Remote-SSH
extension - Add the config to VS Code:
4.1. On your PC in VS Code, press F1, search for
Remote-SSH: Open Configuration File
- open the default file. 4.2. Add this to the file (you can changeDCSRemoteYY
to whatever name you want for the config).
Host DCSRemoteYY
HostName remote-YY.dcs.warwick.ac.uk
User uXXXXXX
Note: As before, YY is the last 2 digits of your student ID
- PC: Connect by pressing F1 again and searching for Remote-SSH: Connect to Host, then select
DCSRemoteYY
, select Linux (only prompted first time you connect)
Using an Authentication Key
To avoid having to enter your password each time, you can use some authentication keys.
- On your PC, enable/install
OpenSSH
or another ssh client and runssh-keygen
- This creates
id_rsa
(private key) andid_rsa.pub
(public key) n~/.ssh
orC:/Users/<user>/.ssh
.
- This creates
- Copy the contents of
id_rsa.pub
from your PC to~/.ssh/authorized_keys
on DCS- This file may need to be created first time, and if you want to add multiple, simply list them on separate lines.
- Some systems have a
ssh-copy-id
which makes this copying very easy
- Make the Remote-SSH configuration read, the only difference is adding the identity file:
Host DCSRemoteYY
HostName remote-YY.dcs.warwick.ac.uk
User uXXXXXX
IdentityFile C:/Users/<user>/.ssh/id_rsa
- Attempt to connect like before, if you aren't prompted for a password, your key has been setup correctly.