linux/unix Webminal environment Set-UP

Webminal is a free GNU/Linux online terminal that will be heavily utilized throughout this course. It is simple to set up a free account and experience much of what the Linux OS has to offer with less overhead and hassle compared to building a traditional virtual machine. Using Webminal will allow you to focus more on the content of the course and less on maintaining your own virtual machine.

In this activity, you will set up your own free Webminal account. Do not lose your login credentials as they will be needed often.

1. Open your web browser (preferably using Firefox or Chrome as Internet Explorer [IE] is not supported).

2. Navigate to the website http://webminal.org/register/

3. Complete the login form. Use the following format for your “Username”: LASTNAMEFIRSTNAME251. An example of a username for a student named John Smith would be smithjohn251. Use your SNHU email address.

4. Click the “Register” button to register the account.

5. What is your username? Answer:

1. Wait five minutes.

2. Open up your SNHU email and verify your newly created Webminal account by clicking on the link within. You may not initially receive an email and may need to perform Steps 8 and 9 before it will allow you to verify your account.

3. Navigate to the website http://webminal.org/login/

4. Log in with your newly created account using your username and password.

5. If a message is displayed at the top of the screen stating, “Your account has not been verified. Click here resend the email,” click on the link and re-check your email. Click on the link within the newly sent email to verify your account and log in to Webminal.

6. Once logged in, click on the “Terminal” link in the top horizontal menu to access the Webminal virtual session. You will be presented with a login prompt within the Linux shell. Enter your username for Login: and password for Password: and you will be logged into the Linux shell.

The following will set up your Webminal environment into one that simulates an actual Linux server more closely than what the user-restricted Webminal terminal would typically allow as it is a shared multi-user environment. The snhu-setup.sh script will build out a partial file structure under your home directory to simulate as if you had root-level access on an actual, fully accessible Linux server. Your new “top level” root directory, /, will be simulated as ~/SLASH within Webminal instead of just the /. Thus, /etc on a typical Linux server would actually be located at ~/SLASH/etc in Webminal for purposes of your coursework. The ~ is a substitution for your home directory path, usually /home/username; you can use either method.

1. Type the following commands (hit enter between lines):
   cd /common_pool/IT251SNHU
   cp snhu-setup.sh ~/snhu-setup.sh

cd ~
chmod 744 snhu-setup.sh
sh snhu-setup.sh

1. Take a screenshot of the output from executing the snhu-setup.sh script and paste it below:
   

2. Move into the newly created SLASH directory, list the directory contents, type pwd, take a screenshot of everything displayed on the screen, and paste it below the list of commands to run:
   cd SLASH
   ls -la
   pwd
   

3. Save this activity as LASTNAMEFIRSTNAME251_1-2.doc and upload to the Module One Assignment: Set Up Webminal Account item in Blackboard. For example, if your name is John Smith, you would save this completed submission as SMITHJOHN251_1-2.doc. This will be the format for all application activities in this course with only the last piece after the underscore changing to match the activity number.