Instructions for connecting to BMI resources or your office desktop computer from a macOS laptop or desktop. The instructions will vary depending on what you are trying to connect to, and whether you need a Graphical or Command Line interface. Information on the software mentioned here can be found on the Getting Started page.
GUI to a Windows system
Microsoft Remote Desktop Servers list of servers and list of applications available on the servers.
General Windows Application Servers:
- # inactive winapp1.biostat.wisc.edu
- # inactive winapp2.biostat.wisc.edu
- winapp3.biostat.wisc.edu
- winapp4.biostat.wisc.edu
Statistical Applications Servers:
- winstat1.biostat.wisc.edu
- winstat2.biostat.wisc.edu
You will use the Microsoft Remote Desktop app to connect to Windows systems from a Mac
- Open the Windows Remote Desktop application
- Click the + symbol to create a new saved session
- Enter the hostname of your destination into the ‘Connection name’ and ‘PC name’ fields
- Leave the ‘Credentials’ fields blank
- optional – Uncheck ‘Start session in full screen’
- Uncheck ‘Use all monitors’
- Close this ‘Edit Remote Desktops’ window, and connect by double clicking on one of the newly created session listed under My Desktops
- Enter your username and password when prompted. ( This will be your Windows domain account credentials, and does not require a specified domain name before the username. This may be the same as your unix account credentials )
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Connect using GUI for sftp.
Command Line Only
To a Linux system
ssh -Y -l username adhara.biostat.wisc.edu
ssh -Y -l username mi1.biostat.wisc.edu
ssh -Y -l username mi2.biostat.wisc.edu
ssh -Y -l username nebula-7.biostat.wisc.edu
$ xterm
With a GUI
/System/Library/CoreServices/Applications/Screen\ Sharing.app
vnc://name.biostat.wisc.edu/ using an application called Screen Sharing
To an Apple system
- Screen Sharing
- XQuartz
- Screens
- NoMachine
To a Linux system
To connect to a Linux desktop or server with a GUI:
-
- NoMachine
NoMachine Client download page.
- Protocol: SSH, Host: linuxrdt2.biostat.wisc.edu, Use the system login, Authentication method: Password, Don’t use a proxy, Done
- XQuartz
Test X11, XQuartz
- Open Terminal and type at the prompt
xclock
to confirm x11 XQuartz is working locally. - Then try
ssh -Y -l username adhara.biostat.wisc.edu
- and when connected type
$ xterm
If this works then XQuartz is working correctly. - if the last test failed, it may be necessary to reinstall XQuartz. This is especially true after some macOS updates. The file changes are listed below.
- /etc/ssh/ssh_config
- User ssh config file gives a per host, per user overrides in file ~/.ssh/conf some examples below. reference. This conf file assumes X11 installed through macPorts.
Host *.biostat.wisc.edu
XAuthLocation /opt/X11/bin/xauth
#ServerAliveInterval 60
#ServerAliveCountMax 3
#TCPKeepAlive yes
#ForwardX11Timeout 596h
#UseKeychain yes
#ForwardX11Trusted yes
# XAuthLocation added by XQuartz (http://www.xquartz.org)
Host *
XAuthLocation /opt/X11/bin/xauth
- /etc/ssh/sshd_config
AuthorizedKeysFile .ssh/authorized_keys
UsePAM yes
AcceptEnv LANG LC_*
Subsystem sftp /usr/libexec/sftp-server
XAuthLocation /opt/X11/bin/xauth
# make the next two changes if you want to ssh to your machine and run x apps. most users do not need to make the following changes.
#X11Forwarding yes
#X11DisplayOffset 10
- User ssh config file, per host adjustment overrides in file ~/.ssh/config some examples below. reference.
Host *.biostat.wisc.edu
XAuthLocation /opt/X11/bin/xauth
#ForwardX11Trusted yes
#UseKeychain yes
#ServerAliveInterval 60
#ServerAliveCountMax 30
#User username
#TCPKeepAlive yes
#Port 22
#Protocol 2
#ForwardX11 no
#ForwardAgent no
#AddKeysToAgent yes
Host nebula-7.biostat.wisc.edu
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa
UseKeychain yes
- ssh manual page
- ssh_config manual page
- ssh-agent manual page
- sshd_config manual page
To a Mac system
Mac systems support SSH connections similar to Linux, so you will use the same procedure detailed above for command line only connections to a Linux system.
Mounting a home directory
To connect to your biostat home directory with a GUI:
- SMB
smb://squid.biostat.wisc.edu/homedir</code> mounting a biostat home directory with an SMB connection. This only works with a wired desktop machine. Laptops need an alternate solution.
- sshfs requires a local directory to act as a mount point such as /Users/username/mount/homedir. Then, with a staticVPN connection, use a command similar to the following:
sshfs -o auto_cache username@nebula-5.biostat.wisc.edu:/ua/username /Users/username/mount/homedir
uses ssh to mount a file system using FUSE - another example /Users/username/mount/homedir. Then, with a staticVPN connection, use a command similar to the following:
# sshfs user@host:/dir /tmp/ssh -o auto_cache -ovolname=ssh
uses ssh to mount a file system using FUSE
# verify a directory exists such as /Users/username/mount/sdac and with an active staticVPN connection use a command like:
sshfs username@sdac-2.biostat.wisc.edu:/ua/sdac /Users/username/mount/sdac -o auto_cache -o volname=sdac
- Note: software required includes OSXFUSE and sshfs. OSXFUSE has a system preference. Updates to FUSE are done there.
$ sshfs --version
SSHFS version 2.5 (OSXFUSE SSHFS 2.5.0)
OSXFUSE 3.10.4
FUSE library version: 2.9.7
- Note: going from linux to mac, use the command fusermount
With a Poor Internet Connection
If you are trying to connect from an environment with a poor internet connection (e.g. hotel wifi or slower DSL), you may wish to use more bandwidth tolerant methods.
limited network usage strategies
Terminal connections will work on slow connections. A GUI such as NoMachine may also help.
- Terminal
- NoMachine
- Connect to your desktop machine, and issue commands from there.
Applications on macOS are located in
/Applications,
/Applications/Utilities,
:/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
:/opt/X11/bin:/Library/TeX/texbin:/usr/local/mysql/bin
:/usr/local/git/bin:/usr/X11/bin
( searched left to right, first found wins, so MacPorts, /opt… packages
can override the default applications in /bin… )