Workstation configuration

Network configuration

You should get a static IP from the system administrator. Your hostname will be the name of a famous scientist and the domain is ulb.ac.be. Other relevant addresses are:

Description	IP address
Gateway	164.15.10.254
DNS1	164.15.59.200

You might also need to add the following data, althoug many systems set it automatically:

Description	Value
Network	164.15.10.0
Netmask	255.255.255.0
Broadcast	164.15.10.255

Wi-Fi network configuration

At IRIDIA lab there are two wireless networks. To join any of them you should get the password from the system administrator. Relevant configuration data are:

Description	Value
Network name	Hashmal
Radio mode	802.11b/g Compatible
Channel	4
Wireless Security Mode	128bit WEP/WPA/WPA2
DNS Server	164.15.59.200

Description	Value
Network name	sbot
Radio mode	802.11b/g Compatible
Channel	6
Wireless Security Mode	128bit WEP
DNS Server	164.15.59.200
Distributed IPs	IPs are provided through DHCP from iridia.ulb.ac.be

Firewall configuration

Since the computers are available through direct connections from internet you should protect your machine with a firewall. Linux provides an integrated mechanism for accepting or rejecting incoming packets.

If you want to setup a good firewall quickly, you may use the following link : Firewall script generator

How to generate the firewall script ?

Usually, the interface to internet is eth0. You can check your available interfaces by typing (as root) :

# ifconfig -a

Most of the time, you wish to have an access to the computer, but you still want it to be secure. The best is to disable any inbound service except SSH. The SSH connections are encrypted so that you can safely access to the computer even if someone is tcpdumping your connection.

For the moment, I don't know how to use the Fireparse format. If you know about it just use it. Otherwise you'll have to take a look at the logs (/var/log/syslog) to monitor the possible network problems or attacks.

Now that you have all the necessary informations, you can generate the firewall script. Name this script iptables, give it execution rights (chmod u+x iptables) and put it under the directory /etc/init.d/.

Be aware that the script loads some iptables modules in your kernel. If you have recompiled your kernel then you should ensure that the necessary modules are present. If you have statically linked the code to the kernel then you should remove the modprobe commands in the firewall's script.

Now simply add a symbolic link in the runlevel 2 to this script by typing (as root) :

# ln -s /etc/rc2.d/S12iptables /etc/init.d/iptables

You should adapt the number 12 to your needs. The firewall must be run as early as possible. For example if telnet services are run before it, an attack is still possible. Be careful about this.

If you want to understand more deeply iptables, you can check the following URLs :

Iptables official website

Iptables tutorial and explanations

Setting up a firewall using iptables (in french)

Printer configuration

All three printers at IRIDIA (see table "General Information") can be installed as "network printers" on your operating system (Ubuntu 8.10, Mac OS X, Windows XP). On *nix-like systems (should work also Mac OS X but if you have problems read next paragraph), the most convenient option is to install the printers using the LPD/LPR printing protocol and the drivers provided in the table below. These drivers also support some additional (hardware) features installed on the printers as listed in the table "Installable Options". On Windows XP, please install the driver before setting up a network printer. If asked to specify a "QUEUE", leave it in blank or use the value "raw_queue". The paper size should be set to A4, otherwise printers may get blocked. If you have difficulties, please contact the printers administrator (currently Nithin Mathews).

On some Mac (e.g. MacBook with Mac Os X 10.5.6) you could have problems printing in duplex mode (double side) with the Ricoh printers (Gutenberg should be fine). When you add the two printers the system will use the default postscript drivers that do not support duplex mode. Installing the suggested unix drivers does not help. The best solution is to go to the links listed under "Windows / Mac" in the table "Driver" and download the installer and install the proper driver.

General Information

Name	URL	Model	Location
Gutenberg	gutenberg.ulb.ac.be	HP4100 PS	Office C.5.106A
Meucci	meucci.ulb.ac.be	Ricoh Aficio MP 3350	Office C.5.106A
Sabin	sabin.ulb.ac.be	Ricoh Aficio mp161 spf	Office C.5.106A

Drivers

Name	*nix	Windows / Mac
Gutenberg	HP_LaserJet_4100_Series.ppd	HP LaserJet 4100 Printer series
Meucci	Ricoh-Aficio_MP_3350_PXL.ppd	PCL 6 Driver
Sabin	Ricoh-Aficio_MP_161_PXL.ppd	PCL 6 Driver

Installable Options

Name	Options
Gutenberg	Tray 3: Installed Duplex Unit: Installed Printer Hard Disk: Ram Disk Total Memory: 32 - 63MB
Meucci	Bypass Tray: Installed Optional Tray: Lower Paper Trays Upper Internal Tray: Installed Finisher: SR790 Duplex Unit: Installed
Sabin	Lower Paper Tray: Installed

The IRIDIA and the ULB network

The IRIDIA system administrator can create an account on the local subnet for you, however, if you want to have access to some of the computer services of the university, you'll need an account on the university network as well. Ask the secretary for the forms and the process.

Mail configuration

Assuming that you have an account on both the local and the university network the mail settings are as follows:

Service	URL
SMTP	smtp.ulb.ac.be
Iridia POP	iridia.ulb.ac.be
Iridia IMAP	iridia.ulb.ac.be
ULB POP	pop.ulb.ac.be
ULB IMAP	pop.ulb.ac.be

The SMTP server does not require authentication. The POP and IMAP services of ULB accept unsecure connections (no SSL). The POP and IMAP servers of Iridia require secure connections (with SSL).

There are also web interfaces available to read the email if you can not connect to the above servers via POP or IMAP:

SERVER	URL
ULB	https://wwwdev.ulb.ac.be/webmail2/webmail.php
IRIDIA	https://iridia.ulb.ac.be/squirrelmail/

See also

Software HOWTOs

For Mac OS X users

In order to help Mac OS X users staying updated for what concerne security issues with their systems we suggest to subscribe to the following mailing list:

Security-announce -- product security notifications and announcements from Apple

Mac OS X Software to setup your research environment

Here you can find a list of softwares that you might want to check out:

• LaTeX & BibTeX

MacTeX.dmg package - Easy-to-Install Package, which contains a complete and up to date TeX system from Gerben Weirda's gwTeX redistribution; Free

Textmate - editor (and much more); Commercial

TeXniscope - DVI/PDF previewer (synchronization with external editors (e.g. Emacs) both for DVI/PDF files); Free, sources available

• Statistical analysis

R.app - Cocoa-based GUI for R; Free, GPL

• Secure Shell

MacFUSE - a FUSE-Compliant File System Implementation Mechanism; Free, BSD-licence

MacFusion - a GUI for MacFUSE; Free, APSL-licence

• Version Control System

(QuickTime movie with introduction to Subversion)

svnX - a GUI for Subversion; Free, GPL

Versions - Mac Subversion client; Commercial

Project management on Mac OS X

Merlin 2 Commercial (Review of the program by MacResearch.org)