Connectivity

For general information look to corresponding web page of Computer Center

Due to Security Problems all access to TAU is closed except of:
(i)HTTP site
(ii)Access to mail using http://webmail.tau.ac.il
(iii)ssh to gate.tau.ac.il
ssh for MS-Windows can be download from ftp://ftp.tau.ac.il/pub/windows/ssh/ttermp23-ttssh154.zip.
Also, ssh can be ran through the web (which will offer secure "telnet" and "ftp"). Some words can be found in : http://www.cs.tau.ac.il/ssh /howto.html
(iv)scpand WinSCP.

ftp* is the initials of File Transfer Protocol.
Common terms while using ftp is local machine and remote machine. You can work with the same computer, but actually to work on two machines.
The term "local" means , usually, the PC you are working on, or your Linux machine at home, or your local station.
The remote machine is the machine you want to put your material on or to get material of. Usually is a server.
For example, when you work on your PC at home, and want to put your homework on Libra, then your PC is the local machine and the local drive is (for example) C or D, and the remote machine is Libra .
The ftp command will connect you to another computer to get a file(s) from the remote machine or to put a file(s) onto a remote machine.
The moment ftp has made a connection with the remote machine, it will prompt you for your username and password. If you do not have an account on the machine you are trying to ftp, then login in as anonymous this way: username is username@hostname, password is anonymous. This is known as anonymous ftp.
If the connection went smoothly, then you receive the ftp prompt : ftp>
In this mode you can type ? to all the ftp commands and start working. At the end of the work type quit to close the connection.

Those are the common commands to use while in ftp mode: (man ftp will tell you more)

1. ascii for enabling text transfers.
2. binary for enabling binary transfers (for .exe, .zip, .jpg, .gif, etc)
3. get to get a file from the remote machine to local machine.
4. put to put a file from local machine to the remote machine.
5. cd to change directory on the remote machine.
6. lcd to change the directory on the local machine.

Note: lcd followed by a period ''.'' will report the current working directory on the local machine.
7. pwd to display the full path of your current working directory on the remote machine. In other words, it tells you what directory you are in.
8. ls lists the contents of the current working directory on the remote machine.
9. ! ls or ! dir will list the files on the local machine in the current working directory.
10. close will close the current connection but not end ftp allowing you to use the open command to connect to another remote machine.
11. open from the ftp> prompt will open a ftp session with a remote machine.

Note: on security reasons ftp can not be used by users from outside the university. Instead we offer the SCP program that can be run by Java on your browser. Look for it http://www.cs.tau.ac.il/ssh/howto.html. The UNIX users have the possibly to use scp and sftp programs.

CuteFTP If you find working with ftp to be a bit tiresome and annoying, then you can use a friendlier application called cuteftp (installed on the PC's) that runs ftp in an environment similar to WINDOWS.

Note: on security reasons CuteFTP can not be used by users from outside the university. Instead we offer the WinSCP program that.

How to connect to the university via WINDOWS and MACINTOSH system?

How to connect to the university via WINDOWS system by ADSL:
 ( Thanks to Edith Cohe, Dec 2001 )

Installing a home wireless+non-wireless network with Bezeq ADSL service:

There are several gateway/router/wireless boxes on the market. These boxes allows you to share a "single" internet connection: turn a connection working with a single computer to a network. They use NAT (network address translation) that allows one external IP address and multiple computers on your LAN at home.

Bezeq uses (for the most part) Alcatel home touch ADSL modems. the protocol through which you are connected to your ISP is "pptp" (point to point tunneling protocol). This protocol is used in Europe but not in the US. Thus, many of this gateway/router boxes sold in the US would not work with Bezek ADSL, or would be very painful to get to work. Note that even if the system says that pptp is supported, it is not sufficient, since what is needed is that the system is able to ENCAPSULATE pptp.

What I got that did work is the Netgear MR314 gateway router. It is available from buy.com for $201 (November 2001). It has one WAN port (to connect to the Alcatel ADSL modem that Bezeq installs) and 4 LAN ports (to connect to computers in your home). Besides that, it provides a 802.11 wireless network. They also have very good technical support if you even need it.

What you need for this to work is:

1. Get Bezeq ADSL service and an ISP provider. The ISP will give you user name and password. E.g. user name: xxx%tau@IMachba password:xxxxx
2. Make sure that Bezek gives you the external home touch modem (not the USB one and not the one that is plugged inside your computer, since those would work only with one computer).
3. For each computer you want to connect with a wire, get a network card (they run for 100 Shekels)
4. For each computer you want to connect wirelessly get a PCMCIA wireless card ($60-$100). If it is a desktop, you would need an adapter card (e.g., a PCI adapter for the wireless card).
5. Set the networking parameters on all your computers for DHCP (the default for windows) Note that **** there IS NO NEED for the Bezek Dialer software ("tochnat haigan")***
6. Get the Netgear MR314 router
7. Connect the ADSL modem to the WAN port of the MR314. Connect your computer (one of them with a network card) to one of the LAN ports. disable all proxies on your browser and point it to 192.168.0.1. put user name: admin password: 1234 go to the setup wizard:
• Leave everything blank on screen 1.
• On screen 2 put an ESSID for the wireless (e.g. "Levy family") and desired encryption and keys (you can use no encryption). Note that you will need to use these parameters (e.g., network name: "Levy family") on the setup of your wireless card on your computer.
• On screen 3:
select:
Encapsulation: PPTP
user name: XXX%tau@IMachba (the username your ISP gave you)
password: XXXX (your password)
Idle Timeout: 900 (put a higher or lower value if desired)

My IP address: 10.200.1.1
server IP address: 10.0.0.138

How to configure the Proxy on your browser?

How to configure the mail connection on your Messenger?

How to use E-Mail?

Notice: This short explanation intends to clarify the basic commands you need to do when using mail applications. This is not a substitute to the man pages and the online help of the applications themselves. Advanced reading , How-to's and F.A.Q regarding mail application are found at the documentation page.

webmail: To run browser and to print the address http://webmail.tau.ac.il . To print your login on login prompt and Unix password on password prompt. To log in. The details.

elm*: To enter the application type from the command prompt (Unix): elm. You enter the application. To read new mail just press the "enter" button when the line of the new mail message is high-lighted. To move between the messages follow the key instructions: k to move up and j to move down. You can also use the arrow keys to move up and down.
To create new message just type "m" and then follow the instructions: whom to mail to : local user or username@....., subject of the message you want to edit, if you want to send more copies of this message,
list user names at the copy prompt or "Enter" for none, and then edit your message.
After editing the message exit the editor and use the "s" command to send your message. If everything is OK you'll get a message at the bottom of the screen : "message sent!". To exit the program press the "q" command and the answer "y" (yes) for the questions of saving your mail in the "received" or "n" (no) if you do not want your messages to be saved.

pine: To enter the application type from Unix : pine then Enter. To create new message choose the option "compose message".
You get a new screen. Fill up the details as follow: to: username, username, username...when username can be in the faculty and then you just need to specify his login name or outside the faculty and then you need to specify username@....The same with cc. attachment: type the path of the file you want to attach
to the message as long as the file is on the Unix machine that running the pine application. If you have files on the PC and you do not have pop3 then transfer the files to the Unix machine via ftp. Enter the area of the message text, type your message and then press CTRL + x to send the message. Receiving messages: choose "folder index" option to view the new messages. Make address book: edit the file .addressbook at your home directory. This file should be created when opening the pine application at the first time. Put in this file the login name of the users you want to send them . In faculty: just username login, outside faculty: username@... save the file .addressbook.
Exit the program using "quit" option.

mail*: To enter the application and read new mail type "mail" from the unix machine. Then you get the list of messages displayed on the screen . This list contains new messages alongside with old messages that you did not delete. To read message at the prompt sign & type the number of the message you want to read: &1 to read message number one, etc. To create new message type: mail username, username...at the same logic as explained before (see pine: create new message...). Fill up the subject and the body of the message and then type CTRL+d to send the message. Exit the application by typing q, &q.

Note: on technical account, elm and mail can be useable on servers Nova and Soul only.

Netscape E-mail: Open your Netscape application, then choose the messenger mailbox option or click the envelop icon at the right status bar of the Netscape application. To create new messages choose "new message" button. To send an attachment with your message choose "attachment" button. To receive new messages choose the "get msg" button. To read attachments that are sent to you, click on the staple sign
and then right click the symbol of the attached file. Choose from the pop up menu that appears the option: "save attachment as..." and save the file in the directory that suits you. Exit the application by alt+F4 or by clicking the x sight at the right top of the application.

What to do when I cannot read my E-Mail?

For this there might be a few reasons but the main reason is that you've exceeded your spool quota.
Check your spool quota first (using the command "quota -v), and delete some old E-mail. Notice: one message containing a big attachment can fill up your spool. Make sure you do not have such E-mails. If you do - save the message and delete it from the spool. If you cannot delete your E-mail and cannot login to your account , call the system staff.
Notice: If you have permission to pop3 services (Netscape E-mail): reading through pop3 duplicates the spool, therefor, sometimes the mail-box is too big to be opened with pop3, but can be opened with the unix mail programs. If you encounter a situation where you can't read through pop3, try using pine, and save or delete your messages.

For Emacs users

If you read you e-mail through emacs, and discovered that it emptied the spool:

When you open your mail through emacs, it takes all the mail from your spool and writes it in one file called RMAIL, kept in your home-directory.
This makes it very uncomfortable to read, especially if you have a lot of messages, and you may want to put it back in the spool. this is how you do it:
a. Open the file RMAIL, again through emacs.
b. In emacs, type alt+x. emacs responds by writing "M-x" in the echo line, and waits for the next command.
c. type the command "unrmail".
d. emacs writes "unrmail (rmail file):" . you have to add " ~/RMAIL". this tells emacs where to take the mail from.
e. Now emacs asks "unrmail into (new mailbox file):" . You have to write "/var/spool/mail/username". This tells emacs to write it back to the spool. After you press enter, emacs should give you a message that it wrote your mail into where you requested. You're mail is now back in the spool.
 

How to automatically forward my mail to a different address

If you want to read the mail you receive here through a different account, say the account you have on the internet, what you do is this:

In your home-directory, create an file called ".forward".
In this file, write the address you want the mail to be sent to, like "myname@hotmail.com"

Now this will take all the mail you receive and deliver it to your other address, without leaving it in your mail-box. If, however, you would like a copy to remain in your mail-box here, add another line to the file, containing a back-slash and your username, like so:

\myname@math.tau.ac.il

The alternative way (by the web)

How to run the vacation program of automatic reply

The vacation program is usually used when you're going on vacation and can't read your mail for a while, and you want people to know it. It will send an automatic reply to whoever sends you an e-mail, informing him that you are unable to read his message right now. The text of this reply is contained in the file .vacation.msg in your home directory, and is activated by your .forward file.
The easiest way to create it is by using the vacation program installed on our linux machines: simply type "vacation" in the command line. This will automatically create the right .forward file for you and also display the default .vacation.msg file, opened in an editor so you may edit it. Once you save this file, you don't need to do anything more - vacation is already activated.
If you want to write the files by yourself, the .forward file should look like this:
     \username, "/usr/local/bin/vacation username"
where username is your login name.    This will send an automatic reply to the sender, and will keep the message in your inbox, so you can read it when you return.
To stop vacation, simply remove the .forward file, or move it to a new name.
The Hebrew version.

"Cannot open display" msg while working with Telnet application

When running telnet application and you want to run emacs or Netscape, you have to specify the computer name like this:

setenv DISPLAY your_computer_name:0
when computer name is the name of your local station, like win567 for example.
In addition, you have to specify the following command:
xhost your_computer_name as to "permit" the x server.

This information is supplied with no support from the system group, just the material, so advanced users can use it.

This page was last revised at: 29-04-2002