An account is available for every student on the WASP and HORNET servers.
WASP and HORNET are mirrors of each other - any change made to one is made to the other.
You may connect to either one.
There are multiple ways to access your account on WASP/HORNET.
You can setup an SSH connection with the help of a VSCode Extension. This will let you use the command code [filename] to open the file natively in VSCode.
Setup:
Install and open Visual Studio Code.
Select the button at the very bottom left of the screen. It should look something like two angle brackets (><).
Select SSH if you haven't installed it, or Connect to Host: Remote-SSH if you have.
Enter username@server.cs.kent.edu, replacing username with your Kent State username and server with either wasp or hornet.
Enter your Kent State password if prompted, and select "Linux" if it asks to choose a platform.
sshMost operating systems come installed with the ssh program.
By using ssh, you are able to remotely connect to other machines that you have an account on.
To use ssh, open the terminal on your computer. On Windows, this can be either Command Prompt or Powershell.
Execute the following command: ssh username@wasp.cs.kent.edu.
Replace "username" with your KSU username. You may also replace "wasp" with "hornet" if you prefer.
You may receive a prompt that says "The authenticity of host can't be established". To connect, type "yes" and hit ENTER.
You will then be prompted for a password. The password is the same as your KSU account password.
After entering your password, you should be connected to WASP/HORNET.
PUTTY is an SSH client, which allows you to connect to remote machines where you have an account.
PUTTY is installed on all MSB Lab machines, and can be installed on your personal Windows machine if desired.
To connect to WASP/HORNET using PUTTY, start by launching the program.
In the "Host Name (or IP address)" box, enter wasp.cs.kent.edu or hornet.cs.kent.edu.
Ensure the Port value is set to 22, and the Connection type is on SSH.
Click the "Open" button.
If you receive a security alert from PUTTY, click "Accept".
Enter your KSU username and hit ENTER.
Enter your KSU password and hit ENTER.
After entering your password, you should be connected to WASP/HORNET.
If you connect to WASP/HORNET using ssh or PUTTY, you will need to use a different method to edit files than what you would use on your personal machine.
To edit files, you can use a command line editor. These editors are launched from the command line, and are designed to work in text-only environments.
The envrionemnts only support your keyboard, and will not work with mouse input. There is a learning curve to using these editors, but you may find them simple and fast to work with. They are especially helpful if you are on a machine which does not have coding environments set up, and would just like to rely on your Internet connection.
nano file.cpp
NANO is a very light-weight editor, with very simple commands. It is recommended for beginners.
emacs file.cpp
EMACS is a very powerful editor that supports a large amount of key-commands to edit your files. EMACS is very powerful, but can be overwhelming due to its complexity.
vi file.cpp
vim file.cpp
It is important to note that Vi has two modes. One is for giving commands and the other is for inserting and editing the text of the file. Opening Vi defaults to for former, you have to initiate entering and exiting Insert mode.