How To Connect

Connecting to the Math Systems

Math Portal

NOTE! Most of what is below has been replaced by the Math Portal. Use the math portal to connect to the Math department resources without the need for any special software.

Connecting from outside of the Cornell Network

To connect to the Math department network from outside of Cornell, you will need to use the Cornell VPN. In particular, you will need to connect to the Math Department network through the Cornell VPN.

First, you will want to install the Cisco AnyConnect client, as provided by Cornell IT. Follow this link and get the VPN software installed on your machine. There is more information on setting up this software on this wiki page.

Next, you will need to have the math.vpn permission permit. We usually add people automatically to this permit when they join the department, but it may have been overlooked. You can check this by going to your Math account control panel, and down near the bottom of the page it says "You have these Math permission permits:" Make sure math.vpn is listed. If it is not, contact a Math sysadmin or administrator to add you to that permit.

Now that you've got both of those completed, when you log in to the CU-VPN software, where you normally put in your NetID, you will put in your NetID followed by @math.vpn. This looks very strange but it tells the system to connect you to the Math department network in addition to the rest of Cornell. For example, if your netid is xyz123 then in the login section enter your netid as xyz123@math.vpn and enter the rest of the login details as usual. When you connect to the VPN you will be prompted for Cornell two-factor login. Once the connection is complete, your computer can connect to the Math department machines.

Connecting for Interactive Use

Graphical Desktop

The Math Portal is the easiest way to connect to a remote desktop on the Math systems. Some users may prefer to use a dedicated client program if connecting through a browser is not suitable. To connect without a browser you'll need to use the Cornell VPN.

X2GO

If you're not using the portal way to connect is to use X2GO or Remote Desktop Connection. You can download the X2GO client software here. This software works on Windows, Mac, or Linux. If you are installing the Mac version, you will first want to install the latest version of Xquartz. For the other platforms, no additional downloads are necessary.

Remote Desktop Connection

The latest version of the Math software supports Remote Desktop Connection from Windows. There is also and RDC client available for Mac. To use an RDC client directly, you will need to connect through the Cornell VPN.

SSH Access

You can connect to the Math machines using SSH. This is a text-only method, which some people are very comfortable with. For Linux or Mac, you can ssh into a math system with the built-in SSH client that comes with your machine. Open up a terminal window, and type

ssh mortimer@fibonacci.math.cornell.edu

where 'mortimer' is replaced with your Math username, and 'fibonacci.math.cornell.edu' can be any one of the Math linux machines. You'll be prompted for a password, and then you'll be logged in.

For Windows machines, you will need to download the PuTTY SSH Client. Once you have that downloaded and installed, you can run PuTTY and enter the username and hostname and log in.

Transferring Files

You can use the Math Portal to transfer files from inside your browser, using JupyterHub, or the WebDisk. You can also use sftp or rsync.