Accessing The Online UNIX Server

Student Accounts
Student accounts for ground and online classes are created by the IT Helpdesk to grant access to the UNIX
server and Oracle application, allowing students to complete lab assignments. The IT Helpdesk endeavors
to send a copy of the accounts to the Campus Dean, Academic Assistant, LRC Manager, and the professor
(if known) 7 days prior to the start of the quarter. In the event an instructor is not known or changes, the
Campus Dean, Academic Assistant, and the LRC Manager are responsible for providing a copy of the
accounts to the professor teaching the course(s). Accounts for Online students are sent to the professor for
distribution to their students.
For Windows users, Strayer University requires that an SSH client, such as PuTTy, be used to access the UNIX
server. Putty is installed on the lab PCs at all campuses. Students who would like to access the UNIX server
from their personal PCs can download Putty.exe from the following web site.
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html
For students who use an Apple computer or a Linux/UNIX based OS, a separate SSH client is not required.
Simply open a terminal window and enter the following command at the prompt (you will need to substitute
[username] with the account userid provided by your professor:
ssh [userID]@UNIX-online.strayer.edu
Once your computer makes the connection with the Strayer UNIX server, you will be asked for your password.
Once the password has been accepted, you will be logged into the system.
For those students that are taking an Oracle class, access to Oracle is available via the online UNIX server at
unix-online.strayer.edu.
The UNIX server, as well as the Oracle application for Oracle classes Command Line Interface, or CLI. You
must pay particular attention when entering commands as all commands are case sensitive. There is no
graphical user interface (GUI) available for these classes.
For those students who are using an Apple computer or Linux/UNIX based OS, please skip to paragraph 8.
Students using all versions of Windows please start with the information below to configure your PuTTy SSH
Client.
PuTTy is a very robust application with many features, only a few are highlighted here to get you started. As
you will undoubtedly be exposed to various platforms in your IT career, PuTTy will be a very useful element in
your IT Toolkit.

Below are instructions on accessing and configuring the PuTTy client.

1. Click on Start-> Programs -> Putty.

2. When the Putty window opens, in the field for the Host Name type UNIX-online.strayer.edu.
Ensure the Port is set to 22, the radio button in set for SSH. You should also enter a name in the
Saved Sessions box to be saved for later use. Place the radio button next to Only on clean exit at the
bottom of the dialog box

3. In the Category area on the left select Window. In the Columns box on the right enter 120 and in the
Rows box enter 60. This will set the initial window size when opening the terminal window. Under
Lines of scrollback, enter 20000 and check remaining boxes as shown.

4. Under Categories\Window select Colors. In the Options area scroll down to select ANSI Blue then
select Modify. As Blue on Black can be hard to read, choose a high contrast color such as Yellow
and select OK.

5. The last thing to do is to ensure that your session name is entered in to the Saved Sessions box, then
select Save. This saves your session for future use. You can then select open to start the session. If
this is the first time that a session has been opened for this server on the computer you are using, you
should see the following alert appear. This is to notify you that the servers host key is not stored in
memory and is a check to be sure you have entered the correct address information to connect to the
correct server. The alert will look as follows and the fingerprint key will remain the same so you can
ensure you are connected to the correct server should you use a different computer next time you
connect. If you are confident you entered the information correctly, select Yes to store the key in
memory, otherwise select Cancel to verify you entered the correct address.
PLEASE NOTE: The screen shot below is for reference only as the rsa2 key fingerprint will change
each quarer

6. If you selected Yes, or No for a one time login, a login prompt will then appear. At the login prompt
enter the UNIX ID and password provided by your instructor. User accounts will begin as follows:
At a campus: all accounts will begin with a lower case m
For Online: all accounts will begin with a lower case o
All passwords are case sensitive
NOTE: When you enter the password you will not see any cursor movement on the screen.
You will not see any characters entered at all. This is a security feature of UNIX based
systems to protect your password.

NOTE: The expectation on user accounts is the student is to change their password after they have
logged in. The student should note the new password and keep it safe as there is no password recovery.
If a password to a student account is forgotten, the student will be issued a new account from the pool
available to the professor. Material in the old account will not be recovered.
When changing the password for the UNIX account, the follow criteria is required. The password
should be a minimum of 8 characters in length and contain at least 3 of the following 4 types of
characters:
Uppercase letters
Lowercase letters
Numbers
Symbols found on your keyboard, such as blank spaces, or ! * - () : | / ?
You can change the password on your UNIX as follows:
At the prompt enter the command passwd in lower case characters. You will need to enter your current
password then a message on how to change or configure your password will be displayed. Enter your
new password then enter it again for confirmation.
You are now ready to begin your lab sessions.
7. If you are taking SQL class, you can access the SQLplus server uses the following format
(remembering that usernames and passwords are always entered in lower case):
sqlplus [userID]@orcl/[password].
As shown in the example below, you would log into the Oracle application as:
sqlplus o27600501627@orcl/ o27600501627

NOTE: The Oracle username is the same as the

UNIX account username. The Oracle password
is the Oracle username. The expectation is the
student will change the password once logged
into Oracle.
This is done as follows for account o230049

When you enter the command password above notice that it displays the account name with a capital
O. This is normal and not a concern.Also notice that the old and new passwords are not displayed
when you enter them. This is also normal and a feature of the system to protect your password. You
must be very careful when entering your password information. If you mistype the password you
will be notified and the password will not be changed, see returned message below.

When this occurs simply start over with your password change.

Password resets
Contact your professor to request a password reset.
All other issues, contact the Strayer Help Desk at 877-642-2999 during the following hours:
Monday-Friday:
8:00am to 10:00:pm
Saturday:
9:00am to 5:00 pm
Sunday:
10:00am to 5:00 pm