Getting Ready (Mac)

If you plan on opening programs which use Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), you will need to have X11 installed on your Mac. Click the following link for more information on installing X11: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201341. If the programs you plan on using run in the terminal alone feel free to skip this installation. Once this has been completed, you will need to open a terminal. To open a Terminal window, navigate to Applications/Utilities and open Terminal.

Connecting to a RCDC Virtual Machine

  1. If you are off-campus or using wifi, you will need to connect to Carleton’s VPN. Click the following link for instructions on how to do this: https://carleton.ca/its/help-centre/remote-access/.
  2. To connect to your RCDC Virtual Machine (VM), you will need to use the username, password and IP address provided to you for this VM. If you plan on using a program with a GUI, enter the following command in your terminal window:

    ssh -Y <username>@<VM IP Address>

    If you do not plan on using a program with a GUI, enter the following command:

    ssh <username>@<VM IP Address>

  3. Your temporary password will expire in a week. After logging in please run the command ‘passwd’ to change your password. The passwd command will ask you to type your temporary password, then ask you to type in a new password twice. When typing passwords nothing is printed to the screen, not even asterisks.
  4. If you have an RCDC storage volume, then once connected to your VM you can connect to RCDC Storage Server. Otherwise, you may need to use a the scp command or a GUI application like Cyberduck to transfer files to the VM.