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--- services:firstyearacct [2019/11/26 13:10] – jas
+++ services:firstyearacct [2022/04/05 10:44] – jas
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ====== First Year Accounts ======
-Students in first year do not get an EECS account.  Instead, they login to workstations in certain labs as user "user" with no password.  A home directory on each local machine is configured for the user (/home/user).  The home directory is cleaned between login sessions of all user modified files.  The changed files are archived, and accessible to faculty and lab technicians for a limited time.
+Students in first year do not get an EECS account.  Instead, they login to workstations in certain labs as user //user// with no password.  A home directory on each local machine is configured for the user (/home/user).  The home directory is cleaned between login sessions of all user modified files.  The changed files are archived, and accessible to faculty and lab technicians for a limited time.
-The user account does not have access to printing or e-mail.  It does have access to all the software available to regular EECS accounts because these machines mount the standard /eecs hierarchy from our file server.  However, most software required by first year courses has been locally cached on these machines in order to ensure the highest performance.
+The //user// account does not have access to printing or e-mail.  It does have access to all the software available to regular EECS accounts because these machines mount the standard /eecs hierarchy from our file server.  Most software required by first year courses has been locally cached on these machines in order to ensure the highest performance.
 ====== Submit ======
-Students with EECS accounts can use either command line submit, or web submit.  Students logged in as user "user" can only use web submit, and must authenticate using their Passport York account.
+Students with EECS accounts use either command line submit, or web submit to submit assignment submissions.  Students logged in as //user// can only use web submit, and must authenticate using their Passport York account.
 ====== Home Directory ======
-The home directory for user "user" is local to each machine (/home/user).  It is a mirror of /eecs/local/pkg/user, available from all EECS tech supported systems.  Changes made to the master copy of the home directory will be automatically synced to the local workstations.
+The home directory for user //user// is local to each machine (/home/user).  It is a mirror of /eecs/local/pkg/user, available from all EECS tech supported systems.  Changes made to the master copy of the home directory will be automatically synced to the local workstations.
 ====== Labtest ======
-First year courses use labtest.  Labtest works with the "user" account but there are a few exceptions to be aware of:
+First year courses use labtest.  Labtest works with the //user// account but there are a few exceptions to be aware of:
   * Changed files are **not** synced to /eecs/ltsave like in regular labtest mode.
@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 ====== Backups ======
-Each time the user logs out, files that the user has changed that are greater than 1 byte and less than or equal to 25 MB are archived into /local/user-backup into a directory MMDDYYYY-HHMMSS.  That is, two digit month, two digit day, four digit year, then two digit hour, two digit minute, and two digit seconds.   Faculty and lab technicians can access these archives.
+Each time user //user// logs out, files that the user has changed that are greater than 1 byte and less than or equal to 25 MB are archived into /local/user-backup into a directory named MMDDYYYY-HHMMSS.  That is, two digit month, two digit day, four digit year, then two digit hour, two digit minute, and two digit seconds.   Only faculty and lab technicians can access these archives.  Monitors, grads, and TAs cannot access this directory directly.  Local backups will not occur for EECS accounts.
-If you are in group "faculty", and logged into a workstation that supports "user" login, you can access these backups by visiting the /local/user-backup directory.  Lab technicians can also visit this directory, but must use the "bu labtech" command first.  Monitors, grad students, and TAs cannot directly access this directory.
+If you are a Faculty member, and logged into a workstation that supports //user// login, you can access these backups in the /local/user-backup directory.  Lab technicians  must first use the "bu labtech" command to become the //labtech// user.
-To list the archives, simply do an "ls".  The last directory in the list will be the latest backup.  Up to 40 backups will be kept from the last 40 logins.  After that, the oldest backups will be automatically removed.
+After changing into the /local/user-backup directory, do an "ls" to see the available archives.  Change into the appropriate dated directory, and retrieve the files.  The last directory in the list will be the latest backup.  Up to 40 backups will be kept from the last 40 logins.  After that, the oldest backups will be automatically removed.
-====== Crash Recovery ======
+Faculty and lab technicians can also SSH to lab workstations, and access each machines archives in /local/user-backup.  Remote access to machines is restricted when the machine is in labtest mode.
-From time to time, the graphical interface on the machines seems to crash.  The mouse cursor will move, but nothing can be clicked.  A process has been setup whereby you can tell the system to preserve the user home directory, and restart the display manager, automatically logging the user back in. Faculty, lab technicians, monitors, and grad students can carry out this procedure.  It is expected that it will completely restore the student environment in most cases.  Follow these steps:
+====== Recovery/Restore ======
-  - Hit Ctrl-ALT-F2 to switch to a text console.  If this step does not work, you will have to reboot the machine and follow the procedure below under "When Crash Recovery Fails".  Rebooting the machine will clear the home directory.
+From time to time, the graphical interface on a machine may hang, and the user will not be able to continue working.  For example, the mouse cursor may move, but nothing can be clicked.  In these cases, faculty, lab technicians, monitors, and grad students can carry out a procedure to restore the user files and allow the user to continue.
-  - Login with your EECS account.
-  - Type the command: /eecs/local/bin/restoreuser
-  - Select option 1 in the menu provided.  The system will restart the display manager.  It will not delete the users files.  It will automatically log back in as user "user".  It will also automatically log you out.  The user should be able to continue their work.
-====== When Crash Recovery Fails ======
+Follow these steps:
-When the basic procedure above fails, and a system reboot is necessary, Faculty, lab technicians, monitors, and grad students can carry out a slightly different procedure to allow the student access to their files:
   - Reboot the system.
-  - Log back in as user "user".  **The user won't see any of their previous files.**
+  - Log back in as user //user//.  **The user won't see any of their previous files.**
   - Open a terminal window by right-clicking on the desktop, and choosing "Open Terminal".
   - Login to your personal EECS account:<code>
@@ Line 51: / Line 46: @@
 </code>
   - Run the "restoreuser" command.
-  - Selection option 2 in the menu.  The last copy of saved files for the user will be restored right into the users home directory.
+  - Select the backup you wish to restore.  Option 1 will be the latest backup.
+  - The files will be restored into the //user// home directory.
   - Exit your account:<code>
 % exit
 </code>
+  - Now the user can continue working.
-====== Accessing User Backups Remotely ======
-Faculty can SSH to lab workstations, and access the local archives in /local/user-backup.  Access will be restricted when the machine is in labtest mode.