Physics WorkStations
Frequently Asked Questions


How do I forward my e-mail to another account?
  • You can forward your mail by creating a file in your home directory called .forward that contains the e-mail address you want your mail to go to. Please be sure to test that you have done this correctly to avoid losing any mail.
  • In addition, you should remember to update your email field in ph. You can do this by following these steps:
    • Type ph at the prompt
    • Log in using your Network ID and password
    • Type edit email
    • Modify the address to be the place where you want your e-mail to go
    • Log out of ph by typing bye
How do I change my password?
The answer to this question depends on which system you're currently on.
  • Usually, with *NIX systems, you can change your password using the command passwd. It will prompt you for your old password to confirm your identity, and then ask you to enter your new password. You will have to type the new password twice to ensure against typing mistakes.
  • With some systems, the passwords are not stored locally, but instead are on a remote machine. In this case, you must use the yppasswd command, which behaves just like the passwd command described above.
What software is installed on the system?
Several commonly-used software packages are installed on the system. In general, most programs are located in /usr/local/bin. To get a list of the packages installed, you can list /usr/local/encap. Sometimes you will see multiple versions of a package listed in that directory. Usually, the latest version is the system default. If you wish to run an older version of a program, you may do so by running it from /usr/local/encap/progname-version/bin/progname.
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