Access a Linux enviorenment from home
Access a Linux environment from home
This document will look at three ways to access a Linux environment from your personal computer.
MobaXterm is a convenient way to remotely access a computer/server. It allows you to use SSH to login
and execute commands on a remote computer similar to Putty. MobaXterm also has built in X11 forwarding
so you can run graphical applications remotely while having the application's output displayed on your
local device. Another feature is SFTP or the ability to transfer files between servers, similar to
Cyberduck.
After downloading and installing MobaXterm from
here, you can access a cs machine by typing: ssh <your eid>@<cs server
name>.cs.colostate.edu for example: sharpp@denver.cs.colostate.edu, once you have
entered your password you will have the same functionality as you
would in the terminal on a CS department computer. To try out the X11 forwarding you can run a
program like chrome by typing: google-chrome in the command line and after a few seconds
you should get a window that opens and contains chrome. Depending on your connection speed, using a
graphical application may have some lag. Finally to transfer files between your computer and a remote
server you have an SSH connection with, click on the Sftp tab on the left side of the
MobaXterm window. Docs for MobaXterm can be found here.
This next option known as Windows Subsystem for Linux is pretty handy if you want to have basically
a full Linux environment running on your Windows 10 computer that can access your files and network connection.
Follow the steps found here.
My current Linux distribution of choice is Ubuntu 18.04, but feel free to experiment with other
distributions. Once you have gone though enabling WSL and installing a Linux distribution, you should
have access to many of the Linux based tools found on the CS machines. Because distributions can vary
always make sure to run your code on a CS department machine to verify you get the desired functionality
before turning in a project.
This option is the most involved, but also has the most power, and will allow you to have a separate
virtual computer running Linux on you personal computer. There are a few different Virtual Machine
programs available, but I have found that VMware Workstation Player is the best free option. You do
not need to buy anything and the download page can be found
here. Documentation for Workstation Player can be found here. Once you have Workstation
Player installed you can download the Linux distribution of your choice, currently I use Ubuntu 18.04
LTS which can be downloaded here. Once you have
downloaded a Linux distribution, open Workstation Player and select Create a New Virtual Machine.
Then select the Installer disc image file (iso): option and browse to the location you downloaded
the Linux distribution. Click next and you should be able to walk through the remaining steps to set up
your Linux VM. To get maximum functionality once you have your Linux VM up and running you can install
VMware tools. Here is a link to the instructions to install VMware tools. Because distributions can vary
always make sure to run your code on a CS department machine to verify you get the desired functionality
before turning in a project.
Installing software on Linux
On Debian based Linux distributions like Ubuntu APT or apt is a tool to install and update many
common programs. If there a specific program you need in your new WSL or VM Linux system there is a
good chance you can easily get it with apt. One of many good resources to learn about apt can be found
here.