2014-07-23 Installing a new Windows 7 AMBER Computer

Install Windows and Drivers

Install AMBER and Prerequisites

Install AMBER Instrument Drivers

• SRS IGC 100

• Lakeshore 818 cryopump monitor

Setup RocketPorts

Bravo RocketPort Configuration as of July 23, 2014.

Install LogMeIn

Setup Mirroring of the AMBER Directory

Mirroring the AMBER directory to the share drive is used to both backup the contents, as well as to automate importing growth recipes into the sample database. The program 'rsync' is used to perform efficient mirroring over the network. Once rsync and ssh servers are installed on the growth computer, the share user on the LASE server can periodically synchronize the mirror by running an rsync command. This is currently achieved using an hourly cron job, and a shell script.

In order to set all this up, the following steps were taken.

On the AMBER computer

• Install Cygwin, selecting the following packages:

  • rsync

  • openssh

  • vim (or your editor of choice)

• Setup the ssh server

  • Start an admin cygwin terminal

    • Find the link in the start menu, right-click >> Run as Administrator

  • Run 'ssh-host-config -y'

  • When prompted, enter a password for the cyg_server user, and make a note of it.

  • Improve the security of the ssh server

    • Open the /etc/sshd_config file, and change port 22 to port 12322, or your preferred port.

    • Open the /etc/hosts.deny file and add sshd: ALL

    • Open the /etc/hosts.allow file and add sshd: localhost http://lase.mer.utexas.edu

    • Open TCP port 12322 in the windows firewall

  • Run net start sshd

  • Test the ssh server

    • Run ssh localhost -p 12322 from the cygwin terminal

    • Run ssh

• Note the ip address

  • Run ipconfig, and note the IPv4 Address (129.116.140.100, for example)

On the LASE server

• Log in to the share user: ssh share@lase.mer.utexas.edu

• Add an ssh config entry for the AMBER computer

  • Open ~/.ssh/config in your favorite text editor

  • Add a new host, and specify the port, user, and hostname, where the hostname is the ip address you noted earlier. For example:

• Test ssh'ing into the AMBER computer from the share user

  • Run ssh bravo-growth, for example

    • You should be prompted for the user's password

  • Disconnect by hitting Control-D

• Setup password-less login

  • Still logged in to the share user, run ssh-copy-id bravo-growth, replacing bravo-growth with the host you put in the '~/.ssh/config file.

• Test ssh'ing into the AMBER computer from the share user

  • Run ssh bravo-growth, for example

    • You should not be prompted for the user's password

  • Disconnect by hitting Control-D

• If this is a replacement computer with the same operating system, you can just let amber_mirror.sh sync to the same old folder. If this is a new system, or an upgrade to a new operating system you may want to rename the old folder. For example:

• Write or modify the ~/bin/amber_mirror.sh script, if not already present. Here's an example:

• Note: The above rsync command is a one-directional mirror. The files on the AMBER computer will not be modified. If a new file on the AMBER computer replaces an old file, the new file will replace the old file on the lase server, as well.

• Add an hourly cron job, if not already present. Run crontab -e, and add something like the following:

• Note: The webmaster account has a cron job that looks in /home/share/amber_mirrors/Bravo and /home/share/amber_mirrors/Echo for new recipes. If you're setting up a new growth system, you'll need to modify or replace the /home/webmaster/recipeupload.pl script.