CIS 201 – Computer Science I
Laboratory Assignment 1a
Introduction
Log into the Linux machine
When you sit down in front of one of the Linux machines in the lab (Dunn 358; also known as the
“Linux lab”, the “CS Lab” or, for our purposes, just the “lab”), you may have to press a key or
move the mouse to “wake up” the machine1. Once the machine is running, you will be faced with
a login box.
You should type in your campus computing account username and password (the password will
appear as dots so you will know how many characters you have typed but no one can read your
password over your shoulder). Press the
Enter
key or press the Login button with your mouse.
You will then be logged into the machine. What you see now is the XWindows Desktop. Much if
it is familiar from any other operating system’s desktop: there are windows, icons, a menus, and a
mouse pointer. The menu in the upper left corner contains applications that you can run including
the
Applications->Accessories->Terminal
and the
Applications->Internet->Iceape
Web browser.
Accessing Moodle
Moodle is a Web-based classroom management system. What that means is that slides, schedules,
notes, resources, grades, and even labs for this course (or any course, for that matter) can be stored
on Moodle. In this phase you will navigate on the Web to Dr. Ladd’s Moodle pages, then to this
class’s Moodle site, create an account, and log into the class. Then you will retrieve and print the
remainder of this lab.
The Firefox Web browser is installed on the Linux machines. You can find it in the
Applications->Internet
entry in the menu. Launch the Web browser.
The Web address of Moodle is:
http://db.cs.potsdam.edu/moodle/
. On that page you will
find entries for several courses. You want to find CIS 201 (it should be the first Available Course).
Follow the link to CIS 201.
The login page for Moodle will come up. Since you do not yet have an account, you want to click
on the New Account form on the right-hand side of the screen. You will be prompted for a user-
name, password, and some personal information. Use your campus computing account username
1or, if the machine is completely turned off, power up the machine.
1
