If you need to use a computer, there are always the Athena clusters easily accessible all over campus. Once you move to your room for the fall term on Thursday, feel free go ahead and set up your computer. But in the meantime, take advantage of Orientation, and have a great time!
When you do finally set up your computer, if it is running any version of Windows, please IMMEDIATELY apply the appropriate patches. Because of the recent exploited RPC vulnerability, unpatched Windows system may be compromised very quickly, before they have a chance to get patched. To work around this, you should block all incoming TCP connections before connecting your computer to the network and running Windows Update. The directions at http://web.mit.edu/rescomp/www/MITNet-DHCP.pdf detail this process.
If you do not follow these instructions, your computer will likely quickly get compromised, and Network Security will turn off your network drop and/or disabled your DHCP access. In such cases, you must reformat your hard drive and reinstall the operating system, which can certainly be inconvenient. For more information, see http://web.mit.edu/net-security/windows.html.
Running Windows Update is always a good idea, though it is especially important now because of the recently discovered RPC vulnerability. Also ensure that you have a non-trivial Administrator password, as your system can otherwise be remotely broken into. To learn more about what makes a non-trivial password, visit http://www.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/passwords/passwords.html.
To use DHCP to connect to the network, configure your computer to use DHCP by following the instructions at http://web.mit.edu/is/help/dhcp/dhcpstud.html. These are typically the default settings, so if you have not changed anything, you likely need not do anything. Then, simply open up a web browser, and complete the registration that appears automatically.
If you have a laptop that has a static IP address, and you would like to register it for the dhreg type of DHCP so that you do not have to change its settings when you leave your home subnet, visit the registration page at http://nic.mit.edu/dhreg/ from the computer you wish to register. The computer should be on your home subnet at this time, and using its static IP address. Instructions for this are also included in the wireless configuration question below.
To connect your computer to the network with a static IP address, follow the instructions you receive when you request the IP address. You can request the address either at a "Getting Connected" meeting (see below), or through the RCC web page at http://rcc.mit.edu/.
If you're an MIT student, and have a static IP address, follow the instructions for faculty and staff members. If you don't have a static IP address, do the following: First, install your wireless Ethernet card: see MIT supported wireless cards information at http://web.mit.edu/is/help/wireless/configure.html. Then in W20, N42, or your dorm, turn your laptop on, and open up a web browser to any website - you should be redirected to the registration website. If you have trouble, see the instructions at http://web.mit.edu/is/help/dhcp/dhcpstud.html. Read the MITnet rules of use, click on the Register button, enter your Athena username and password, and click register. After the confirmation message is displayed, reboot your machine, and within 15 minutes you should be able to use wireless ethernet in most parts of campus.
If you're a faculty or staff member, then you first need to get a
static IP address for your laptop. Go to
http://web.mit.edu/is/help/network/ip-request.html.
Then, configure your laptop's wired Ethernet card for network using
the static IP address you receive and reboot. Open a web browser and
go to
https://nic.mit.edu/dhreg/ to
register for wired DHCP. After restarting your computer with DHCP
enabled, register at https://nic.mit.edu/dhreg/wireless/. Enter
your hostname, and then the MAC address (aka Hardware address,
ethernet address, Airport ID) of your wireless ethernet card. This is
a set of 6 pairs of characters, often separated by colons or
whitespace (e.g., "71:23:f7:0c:7f:b1" or "ee a0 13
d1 f8 0a"). The MAC address will be printed somewhere on your
wireless card. If you have a Macintosh with built in wireless, you
should go to the Airport Control Panel, and look for the "Airport
ID". When entering the MAC address in, make sure that you only enter
the alphanumeric characters, and that you enter the letters in
lowercase. For example, the above two sample MAC addresses should be
entered as 7123f70c7fb1 and
eea013d1f80a. After you've entered these in, in about 15
minutes, you'll be able to use wireless ethernet in most parts of
campus.
stella
machinename at an Athena prompt. For example:
In the case of student machines, the owner and contact fields will also tell you who owns the machine.athena% stella news Machine: SENATOR-BEDFELLOW.MIT.EDU Aliases: BED.MIT.EDU, BEDFELLOW.MIT.EDU, NEWS-DIGESTS.MIT.EDU, NEWS.MIT.EDU Address: 18.181.0.25 Network: SIPB Owner: NONE Use data: 11-aug-2003 07:58:12 Status: Active (1) Changed: 18-jun-1994 22:41:53 Vendor: SUN Location: W20-575A Model: ULTRA-60 Contact: usenet OS: SOLARIS Billing Contact: usenet Opt: 0 Account Number: 1639400 Adm cmt: Op cmt: Created by smsuser on 24-nov-1993 13:07:13 Last mod by zacheiss.dbadmin@ATHENA.MIT.EDU at 24-nov-1999 01:09:43 with moira.
In addition, the RCCs will be running "Getting Connected" meetings throughout orientation, in which you can learn more about these topics and more. The schedule for these meetings appears below:
Monday, 8/25, 10-11am, 4-370
Tuesday, 8/26, 10-11am, 1-190
Wednesday, 8/27, 10-11am, 1-190
Thursday, 8/28, 3-4pm, 4-370
Friday, 8/29, 3-4pm, 4-370