CS Support Services

CS Support manages a variety of services in the Computer Science department.

Please contact us if you need help with:

  • Logging in to our lab computers, GitLab, or any other CS service.

  • Configuring equipment for a senior project team.

  • Broken equipment in the labs (monitor not working, faulty keyboard, etc.).

  • Issues relating to your home or web directory.

  • Printer access (faculty and staff only).

  • Any questions about how to use our tools.

Note: No support is provided for personal student computers.

If you’re unsure whether or not we’re the right team to pitch a question to, ask anyways! If the question does not fall within our purview, we will make a best effort to direct you towards appropriate resources.

We may advise, but do not purchase or spec faculty or staff systems.

We provide cables, adapters, etc. only for curricular needs.

List of systems maintained

CS Academic Computer labs

  • CF162

  • CF164

  • CF165

  • CF167

  • CF405

  • CF420

  • KB307

  • KB311

  • KB322

The Linux CoW

  • linux.cs.wwu.edu, is a round-robin DNS entry for linux-01 through linux-06.

CS T.A. Office Systems

  • CF163

CS Infrastructure and Services

Compute cluster

The Computer Science department has a cluster maintained in cooperation with the College of Science and Engineering.

MySQL and MySQLWeb

The MySQL database used by CSCI 330 is administered by CS Support. Accounts are created at the end of the add/drop period for students and credentials are given to the faculty teaching the class so they can distribute them to students.

Users can create a database matching their username, and the following wildcard pattern: username_%, where % is the SQL wildcard similar to * in a shell.

CS VPN

CS Support runs the OpenVPN servers that grant remote access to resources. At this time almost all services require access from the campus network (including Wi-Fi), or connecting to the VPN.

Studentweb (sw.cs) and Facultyweb (fw.cs)

Web directories are created for CSCI students enrolled in CSCI 101, CSCI 102, and CSCI 202 and all faculty. They are accessible via the academic systems under the directory /web/students/$USER. Faculty can access their directory under /web/faculty/$USER. Once a web directory is created, it will remain available until its owner leaves the university. Students that are not enrolled in or have not previously been enrolled in CSCI 101, CSCI 102, or CSCI 202 that would like a web directory will be granted one upon request.

File storage

  • Network home directories are available in /home/$USER for faculty and staff on academic systems. Network home directories are not available to research systems.

  • Network storage for academic classes is made available on a quarter by quarter basis on the SSD pool. Faculty should contact us no later than the end of first week of the quarter to ensure it is provisioned in a timely manner for their class.

  • Network storage for miscellaneous department documents is made available to faculty and staff.

  • Network storage for research.

    Network research storage is available to all academic and research labs.

HTCondor Lab Scheduler

Students may submit research jobs to run on idle desktops in the academic labs. Directions can be found in the Cluster F.A.Q.

VMs for senior projects (Only requested by faculty)

Faculty advising senior projects can request a VM be allocated for their projects. There must be a well defined project termination date within the current academic year before the resource will be granted. Resource allocations will adhere to the guidelines decided on by CEEC.

Network

Wired Ethernet

CS Support configures the wired ethernet ports in all CS Academic and Research Labs, and faculty offices. Not all network jacks are connected. If you need more devices in your office or research lab please let us know and can check for available network jacks.

DHCP

DHCP is used to assign static addresses to all academic, faculty, and research systems. If you need to add a device to your office or research lab please let us know and can update your allocations.

DNS

The cs.wwu.edu and its subdomains are controlled by CS Support. If your project is hosted on CSCI infrastructure, we can allocate a record for you.

Regarding Campus Wi-Fi

Campus Wi-Fi is manged by the EIS group. If you are faculty using a Western provided device, we are happy to help troubleshoot your problem, though we may ultimately have to defer you due to not managing the infrastructure. If you are a student having difficulty with Wi-Fi on your personal device, you should contact ATUS.

Printing

We do not support any student printers. Printing is available through the general university computer labs. There are a handful located in the Communications Facility (CF) - CF 024, CF 026, CF 161, and CF 312. If you would like to print to an ATUS printer from a CS lab, follow these Webprint instructions.

Other Resources

  • A/V is managed by ATUS

  • Power - Facilities Management

  • Communication (Phone), Email, and Calendars - ATUS

  • Furniture - Department Manager

  • Lab scheduling - 25Live

  • Prox Cards - eSign Form / See CSCI Front Desk

  • If you have a problem with your personal or research lab system, here are suggestions for places to get help:

    Students may want to speak to their peers, their T.A., their instructor, or ATUS.