Cos

We have set up a server for you to develop on, with a consistent environment and all the required libraries for this course. This server is cos.itu.dk. You access the server using ssh.

SSH

Secure shell, or ssh, is a tool for remotely and securely connecting to a server. With ssh, you authenticate yourself to the server using encryption keys. You generate a key on your computer, which only you have (the private key), and a lock which you give to the server (the public key). When you use ssh to log on to the server, ssh will use your private key to unlock the lock. This only works if the server has your lock (public key).

SSH to Cos

We have made a repository with which you can upload your public key to the server. You push your public key into your assigned folder (ITU alias). The server will then automatically fetch it from there, and set it up such that you can ssh alias@cos.itu.dk to connect.

Mac & Linux: your private key should be the file id_rsa in the hidden folder ~/.ssh. It’s probably easier to find this using the terminal (~ is simply a shortcut for your home folder).

Windows: there are several options:

  • You can use putty.

  • If you’re on top of your updates Windows 10 has joined the club and added ssh support natively.

  • You can get the best of both worlds by installing Windows Subsystem for Linux - a built-in simulated linux environment on Windows. Use the manual installation steps. It is a bit annoying to set up, but really nice when you have it working. When you have this you just follow the guide for Mac and Linux.

Exercise

As a first exercise, follow the above instructions to connect to cos.itu.dk, and explore it, to get familiar with Linux.

Here are some concrete tasks you can do to get familiar with Linux:

Finally, take a look at the basics on the course website.