Working From Home - DRAFT PAGE

BEFORE YOU START

The page on Guidance on Data Security summarises steps you must take if you handle any personal or sensitive data. It gives useful links to a number of pages prepared by Records Management which include information on the data Protection Act and the Freedom of Information Act. It also provides links to help you with data encryption and advice on anti-virus software. Please follow the advice on this page before proceeding any further.

QUICK BASICS

• Reading e-mail

  From any browser, staff can read their e-mail at staffmail and students at smsmail.

• Accessing files using ifile.

  You may be asked for your username and password and then, using the Filedrawers service at ifile.inf.ed.ac.uk, you'll be able to download and upload files into your AFS file space.

SUMMARY INFORMATION

You can find a link to our support page which gives brief instructions on accessing your account from outwith Informatics , how to view restricted web pages and how to run X applications. You may find that this is all you need but if you need further explanation, then the sections below should help.

ACCESSING YOUR ACCOUNT

Using ssh

• Windows environment

  If you do not need to run X (i.e. run any graphical applications), then a simple way to connect is via ssh. Download a version of PuTTY. You need to configure PuTTY to use the ssh protocol (port 22) and to access one of the ssh login servers - either ssh.inf.ed.ac.uk, staff.ssh.inf.ed.ac.uk or student.ssh.inf.ed.ac.uk. You will be prompted for your username and password. Once connected to one of the ssh servers, you should immediately ssh to either your own desktop, one of the servers that you have access to or to one of the machines in the AT labs (if you don't have your own desktop).

• MAC environment

  Your MAC should come with ssh installed.

Using the AFS client/kerberos

Home directories all now use AFS. You can install software on Windows and MAC machines to allow you to access your files without ssh'ing to an Informatics machine.

• OpenAFS for Windows XP
• OpenAFS for MacOS

Setting up openVPN

Simple ssh access may not be sufficient for your requirements. You may want your home machine to appear as though it is inside the Informatics network. To do this, you need to setup what is known as a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Instructions on how to do this for both the Windows and MAC environment can be found at OpenVPN.

VNC

You might want to access your own desktop in such a way that you can see your actual DICE desktop and get SSL support natively. To achieve this, you need to set up a Virtual Network Computer(VNC).