Numbered Account Access

Below is a brief refresher on accessing UNIX accounts.

Telnet

Once you have setup a numbered account you need to use a telnet application for direct access to the account on the server. If you recall a telnet application emulates a direct physical connection to the server. One of the best telnet application out there is NetTerm (nt32520i.exe) by NeoSoft. It is inexpensive and quite versatile. It makes winging around our server, up/down loading files, reading UNIX based mail, accessing URLs et al. easy. Once downloaded and installed, setup is also a snap. I've detailed the setup methodology below.

Of course be sure to use the appropriate name for the UNIX server you wish to access, perhaps Polaris, Nova, Student or another UMUC machine.

Setup NetTerm for use via an ISP?

1. Open NetTerm
2. Open File/Phone Directory
3. Select Telnet Default
4. Set:
   a. Host Name = UMUC_server
   b. Host/IP = UMUC_server.umuc.edu
   c. Emulation = VT100
   d. mark connection TCPIP
   e. Keys = VT100

Click Ok, close and reopen NetTerm

Next (Not ISP related but a good idea.)

1. Open Options/Setup/Global/General and enter your preferred up and download directories on your PC (e.g., d:\up\, d:\down\). You can then easily upload/download files using the zmodem protocol. At the UNIX prompt enter 'sz file_name' to download (send) and 'rz' to upload (receive). In the latter case a window will open allowing you to select the file.

2. Go to Options/Setup/Global/Applications and enter the path to your browser (e.g., d:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe). Then a 'right' click on a URL, say in a mail message, will open it using your selected browser.

3. With NetTerm you can almost make breakfast but I'll let you discover the other tricks.

A free, Telnet application called PuTTY, is available at this download site. It is a bit more complex than NetTerm. It does have an attractive price however.

FTP

You can access an array of File Transfer Protocol (ftp) applications at Tucows.

For a long time WS_FTP95 was the application of choice at UMUC. The vendor however no longer makes this free version available so it may be difficult to find though university sites often still have it available. A WS_FTP tutorial can be found on this UMUC site.

The current FTP application of choice at UMUC is CoreFTP LE. Details for downloading and using this application can be found in the UNIX FAQ item #7.

There are many other functions available in addition to up/down loading. Try a 'right' click on a remote file for example.

E-Mail

Just about all UNIX servers have an easy to use e-mail application called Pine. Just enter 'pine' at the Nova prompt. There is an associated text editor called Pico. Again, at the Nova prompt, just enter 'pico file_name' without quotes of course.

One last note you might want to check Prep. for Upload and Directory Discipline.