Customising Unix
Generally most Unix environments execute two start up files. The .cshrc file is read every time the user starts a shell. The .login is read after .cshrc but only once during the initial login. The basic settings are set system wide in /etc/.cshrc and /etc/.login. The ~/.login and ~/.cshrc are where users can further customize their personal environment.
The PATH variable specifies a list of directories where executable commands are searched for. MANPATH is a colon separated list of directories searched to find manual page entries by the man command.
Before changes come into effect, the user needs to either logout and re-login or try sourcing the files by typing:
source .cshrc
source .login
X11 Windows
Most software applications operate within a windowed environment, some operate in text based environments and others operate in both. The primary windowing environment available on our unix servers is X11 Windows (X11R4) and includes integrated support for CDE desktop and applications.
X11 Windows can remotely display on any X11 display server. This is done by setting the DISPLAY environment variable on the unix application server to point to the local display and grant the server access to the local display. For example, to execute the Xeyes program from Pompeii and have it display on Panther:
On panther type:
xhost pompeii.ics.mq.edu.au
ssh -X pompeii.ics.mq.edu.au
Once logged in to Pompeii, type:
setenv DISPLAY panther:0.0
xeyes
For more information about X Windows, refer to the online manual pages.
Installed Software
Most commercial and public domain software for our Unix servers are installed in /share. The available software in stored in subdirectories using the following conventions.
A new software package, Windex, version 1.2.3 would be installed in /share/Windex/windex which is a symbolic link to windex-1.2.3. When Windex version 2.3.4 is available, it is installed in /share/Windex/windex-2.3.4. Then /share/Windex/windex is updated to symbolically linked to windex-2.3.4. Windex-1.2.3 is kept for backward compatibility until the next version of windex is released at which time it would be removed.
The /share directory is visible to most of our unix servers which allows for software to be installed and updated once to most servers. Software with hardware dependencies would be installed locally in /usr/local or /opt.
Building Software and Developers
If planning to install software on any of the divisions unix server, please check with CTS if the software may already be available or if CTS can install the software. If the software will be used by most division staff or has wide appeal, CTS can arrange to install the software for general use.
If building applications or software for individual use, you may use personal unix accounts. Please make sure there is sufficient disk space and follow any recommendations to ensure applications are safe and do not pose any risk to division servers or other user accounts.
If planning to link against any existing libraries or software installed in /share, make sure to use the -I, -L and -R linker options. For example, if building a new application, GlassMirror, which requires the Windex libraries, you may need to specify -I/share/Windex/windex/include (windex headers), -L/share/Windex/windex/lib (windex libs) and -R/share/Windex/windex/lib (runtime library path), if necessary when compiling glassmirror.