RCS Workshop 2: Introduction to Remote Systems: Glossary

Key Points

Interacting with a server

  • ssh connects to a shell session on the server.

  • scp copies files to and from the server.
Monitoring resources

  • The top command shows an interactive display of hardware resources.

  • The free command shows memory use.

  • The df command shows available disk space.

  • The nice command changes a process’ priority.

  • The ps command shows a list of processes
Jobs in the background

  • Ending a command with & puts it in the background.

  • Starting a command with nohup keeps the job running while logged out.

  • Redirection with > allows you to save program output to files.

  • The jobs command lists background jobs.

  • The kill command stops a background process.
Managing jobs with a queue

  • The tsp program, if available, will schedule a queue of jobs.
Remote GUI programs

  • The ssh -X option allows us to run remote GUI programs
Additional Topics

  • Consider using network storage, such as Carleton’s research storage drive.

  • The xpra command can be used for background GUI applications.
File Permissions

  • The chown command controls file user and group ownership

  • The chmod command controls file permissions

  • Permissions exist for read, write, and execute

  • Permissions apply to user, group, and other

Glossary

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