SYSTEMS STAFF MONTHLY UPDATE - AUGUST 2004

WREQ Problem Reporting Tool
Email work requests and problem reports are now being entered into the WREQ problem reporting tool. You should submit all requests directly to WREQ and not to ntadmin or individual staff members. You can do this by posting a request through the web interface at: http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~wreq or simply by sending your email request to WREQ AT cs dot sunysb dot edu.

There is now a WREQ Problem Reporting Tool for work requests directed to the department secretarial and administrative staff. You should use secwreq for requests such as requisitions, course room changes, office supplies, grade changes, room reservations, payroll issues, tuition issues, reimbursements and building management needs. This tool can be found at http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~secwreq or you can send mail to SECWREQ AT cs dot sunysb dot edu.

The Reserveroom tool is only accessible through the department Single Sign On facility at https://www.cs.sunysb.edu:8081/~sso/. Please delete any other references or bookmarks you have to the earlier version on intrawww.

New/Upgraded Software for Solaris

The GD Graphics Library (version 2.0.27) has been installed. Gd is an ANSI C library for the dynamic cretion of images. GD creates PNG, JPEG and GIF images, among other formats. For more information see the documentation section of our website.

FreeType 2.1.9 has been installed. FreeType is a software library that can be used by all kinds of applications to access the content of font files. It supports both bitmap and scalable formats, including TrueType, OpenType, Type1, CID, CFF, Windows FON/FNT, X11 PCF. For more information see the documentation section of our website.

The following perl modules have been installed:

  • IO-Socket-SSL-0.95
  • Net_SSLeay.pm-1.25
  • GD-2.12
  • Mail-POP3Client-2.16
  • Data-ShowTable-3.3
  • Time-modules-2003.1126
  • Date-Ordinal-2.9
  • TimeDate-1.16
  • DBI-FAQ-0.38
  • DBI-1.42
  • Chart-2.3
  • Net-DNS-0.47
  • Digest-HMAC-1.01
  • Test-Simple-0.48_01
  • File-Spec-0.87
  • Test-Harness-2.42
  • Unix-Syslog-0.100
  • Digest-SHA1-2.10
  • Digest-MD5-2.33

VMware
The multiuser linux machine will be down on August 10 for an upgrade to Fedora Core 1. Please plan accordingly.

New/Upgraded Software on MS Windows
Translabs
Below is the software list for Fall 2004 Semester in the translabs. If you are teaching a course that uses these labs and you require some software not on the list, please submit a WREQ request as soon as possible. The translabs themselve will be closed until the beginning of the semester for hardware upgrades.

  • Microsoft Windows XP SP1a
  • Microsoft Office 2003
  • Access
  • Excel
  • PowerPoint
  • Publisher
  • InfoPath
  • Word
  • Microsoft DirectX Runtime v9b
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1
  • Microsoft .Net Framework v1.1
  • Microsoft Visio 2002 Professional
  • Microsoft Visual Studio .Net 2003 Professional
  • C#
  • OpenGL V1.1
  • Visual C++
  • Microsoft Windows Media Player 9.0
  • Adobe Acrobat Professional 6.0
  • Borland Jbuilder 9.0 Enterprise Edition
  • Maya Complete 6
  • Rational Rose Enterprise Suite 2003
  • SSH Secure Shell Ver. 3.2.3 client
  • Symantec Antivirus corporate edition 9.0
  • XMLSPY 2004 Professional Edition
  • ActivePerl 5.8.4 build 810
  • ActivePython 2.3.2 build 232
  • ActiveTCL 8.4.61
  • AnalogX Capture V2.01
  • Apple Quicktime Player 6.5.1
  • Audacity v1.2.1
  • AVI to MPEG Converter V1.5
  • Bzip2 v1.0.2
  • CDex v1.51
  • DivX Video for Windows V5.2
  • DivX Player V2.5.4
  • Fltk 1.1.5RC1
  • GLUI V2.1 and V1.0.1
  • Glut v3.7.6
  • Gzip v1.2.4
  • Irfan Viewer v3.91
  • Java2 SDK v1.4.2_04
  • Java2 Runtime Environment v1.4.2_04
  • Java-3D (for OpenGL) v1.3.1
  • JavaMail V1.3.1
  • JAF V1.0.2
  • JFLAP V4.0b10
  • LAME v3.96
  • Macromedia Flash Player v7, 0,19,0
  • Macromedia Shockwave Player v10.0.1
  • Mozilla Firefox 0.9
  • NetBeans 3.6
  • Opera v7.53
  • Parental Filter v0.2.1
  • PHP v4.2.3
  • Software AG Quip V2.2.1
  • SmartFTP v1.0 Build 981
  • SPIM v6.5
  • Webmatrix v0.6.812
  • WinCVS V1.3b17-2
  • XAce Plus v2.0.1
  • Xemacs 21.4
  • X-Win32 V6.0.0sf Sybase PC Client Ver. 12.5
  • Jconnect 4.5 and 5.5
  • Sybase Central Java Edition 3.2.0.1982
  • JISQL 2.0

Grad PC Lab

Some of the hardware in the Grad PC lab will be upgraded during the month of August. An announcement will be made in advance once the exact dates it will be closed are known.

The combination to the graduate PC lab (1239) will be changed the first week of August. Continuing grads will receive email with the new combination. New students will receive the combination when they check in with the graduate secretary. Please do not give out the combination to our labs to unauthorized users.

On the Web

Downloads
The software downloads available to members of the department have moved to the Single Sign On area of the website. You can access SSO at http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~sso using your department username and password.

FAQs and Documentation
You can now reach the department's Systems FAQ with the URL http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~faq.

A new FAQ has been added covering common problems encountered while trying to compile code with gcc v.3.x. Between versions 2.x and 3.x gcc/g++ became ANSI compliant, and code which was originally developed under version 2.x may not compile under 3.x. This FAQ is a collection of tips and links to help you revise such code.

PCs and Laptops
Virus/Spyware/Security
A variant of the MyDoom mass mailer virus has been spreading throughout the internet. Messages will typically contained spoofed sender and recipient emails using addresses gathered from a previous target's windows Address Book. For this reason identification of the true sending host is difficult or impossible. Your best self-defense is to make certain that your PC is always up to date with security patches and anti-virus software. See the department FAQ for instructions on how to do this.

Thousands of messages have been posted onto internet message boards and usenet newsgroups claiming that journalists from CNN found Osama Bin Laden's hanged body earlier this week, but that the photographs have not been officially made public as the USA wishes to verify it is Bin Laden. The messages point to a website where a file can be downloaded, purporting to contain photographs. In reality the file contains a Trojan horse which can allow hackers to gain remote control of an innocent computer. A similar hoax is now being perpetrated in which the claim is that the infected file is a secret suicide note composed by Arnold Schwarzenneger. Please do not download suspicious sounding files or images.

The Systems Staff at SBCS will never send out mail instructing you to open an attachment, and the staff will not send out mail with a vague signature such as "the cs.sunysb.edu team." No matter how official it may sound it is most likely a virus/hoax. If you have any doubts whatsoever about the authenticity of mail, always contact the sender directly before opening the mail. Never open an unsolicited mail attachment.

Infrastructure Changes
The Reserveroom facility now has a "Current Week" button which will return you to the current week of reservations from anywhere in the system. You can reach the Reserveroom facility through: https://www.cs.sunysb.edu:8081/~sso/. Use your department login and password to sign in.

New labs
The renovation of room 1310 into a new conference room continues. The WINGS group has moved from that room to the wireless lab (room 2315).

HOW TO REPORT A PROBLEM or MAKE A WORK REQUEST

First you should check the FAQ pages at:

http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~faq

There is also a link to an index of FAQs.

If the answer to your question is not in the faq's you should use wreq to report the problem or make a work request.

There is a short blurb on wreq in the faq area (search by index).

Wreq lives at: http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~wreq/

You can also send email to:WREQ AT cs dot sunysb dot edu from your dept account, or campus account. The subject line should cover what is wrong or what you need. The body of the email can supply any details.

Your problem report must include the following information for us to be able to help you promptly:

  1. The room you are working in, either room number or lab name.
  2. The name of the host you are working on (hostname command in Unix, machine number in 1239, the number written on the bookshelf by your desk in the student offices).
  3. The sequence of things you did just prior to having the problem as best you recollect.
  4. The exact text of any error message you see on the screen, or a complete description of the problem that occured. 
        Please report problems promptly as they occur so they can be
        investigated under the same set of conditions as far as possible.

When in doubt, feel free to send email to:

  • Unix and network problems:ROOT AT cs dot sunysb dot edu
  • PC problems:NTADMIN AT cs dot sunysb dot edu

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