DICE Ubuntu Noble release notes
Release notes are not yet available for DICE on Ubuntu Noble, but when they are, they will appear here.
Configuring pam_pwquality on Ubuntu
It's important to use strong passwords on your Linux system. Weak passwords will be found by a brute-force attack or where a passwd/shadow file is subject to an offline password cracking attack. You should avoid reusing passwords between systems to prevent attacks using lists of leaked passwords.
Online Meeting tech tips
In July 2024, Professor Iain Murray posted some tips to help with online meetings.
We thought they were so good that we've reposted them here.
OpenVPN for Windows 11
This page explains how to use Informatics OpenVPN on Windows 11.
DICE Ubuntu Jammy release notes
Most DICE computers use Ubuntu Linux. This page is about DICE Ubuntu Jammy.
To see changes to this page, please return here from time to time. All DICE release notes are listed at ⇒ DICE release notes.
Upstream
DICE Ubuntu Jammy uses Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish).
DICE release notes
Every few years, DICE moves to a newer version of Linux.
Singularity
Singularity is a container platform, perhaps the most well-supported Docker alternative. It allows you to run containers that package up pieces of software in a way that is portable and reproducible. You can build a container using Singularity on your laptop, self-managed desktop or a virtual machine and then run it on a DICE desktop or server or even move it to the cloud or a HPC cluster.
Self Managed Firewall Hole Policy
Now on the Informatics Computing Hub (University users only).
Login problems
Are you having problems logging in? Here are some tips.
Use your username
When you login to a DICE Linux computer, use your DICE username.
That username is the same as your University Username ("UUN" for short). For students it's the letter "s" followed by your matriculation number.
For example, if your username is s2345678 then type this to login: s2345678
Do not type: UUN
Do not type: [s2345678]
What's a firewall?
A firewall is like a doorman who keeps unwanted people out of a building.
Imagine that you are at home, using your laptop, and you want to use a computing service that's at the University. When your laptop tries to contact the University computer, its network traffic has to cross the internet, then go through the University's firewall computers.
The job of these firewall computers is to allow through only legitimate, harmless-looking traffic. Unwanted network traffic is not passed through, so it never arrives at the University computers.