Frequently Asked QuestionsFrequently Asked Questions for the BCS ServerAcceptable Use PolicyBefore using the BCS server, you should read the Acceptable Use Policy that describes the conditions under which you are allowed to use the facilities provided. Shell AccessYou can use SSH (Secure SHell) (similar to telnet, but more secure) to login to the BCS server using port 22. A good client to use for this is putty, but any other client that support SSH should work as well. Once you have connected and logged in, you will need to use Linux shell commands to work with your files. You have 30MB of storage available to you within your account. Contact the Programme Co-ordinator if you have any requirements beyond this. File Transfer Protocol (FTP)You can use any FTP client, either graphical or command line, to upload and download files to and from your accounts storage area. A good client to try is WS_FTP LE. As well as your own account area at /home/youracct, there is a 'dropbox' directory at /home/dropbox that all students have read/write access to, should you wish to use it to transfer files to other students. Student Web PagesEach student is able to FTP files into the public_html directory in the user's home directory. For John Smith, this would be /home/johns/public_html. These pages are then visible using a browser at http://www.bcs.net.nz/~johns - be sure to name one page either index.htm, index.html or index.php (if you are using the php scripting language) to act as your 'home page' and index to the rest of your pages. As well as static HTML pages, you can use scripting languages such as php (and, of course, Javascript that will run on the 'client side'). UserminYou can use the Usermin web interface from a browser to manage many aspects of your BCS server account. The environment is both secure and graphical, and you are able to carry out many administrative and file management activities without having to resort to the Linux shell commands. You can login to your Usermin account by going to https://www.bcs.net.nz:20000 Once logged in, you can do such things as change your password, set up email forwarding, change your user details and use a graphical (java based) file manager. You can get more information on Usermin from the Usermin Home Page though there don't appear to be very many sites with 'how to' or other user information available. Reading EmailYou can check your BCS server email in at least four different ways.
Forwarding Email to Another AccountYou can set up forwarding so that any mail to your BCS email account is automatically sent to another of your mail accounts. Once this has been done, you won't be able to use any of the above methods to read your mail - you'll read it in the account to which you have forwarded it. You can set up forwarding in three ways.
Sending EmailYou can send email using the webmail interface or from the Linux shell (with mail or pine). You are not able to use the SMTP server to forward mail from other accounts. That is, if you use POP3 to download your email to an email client, you will not be able to configure that client to send your emails out through the bcs.net.nz server - you will have use another SMTP server (generally, the one managed by the ISP where you have your mail account). MySQLNote: Not all student accounts have had MySQL set up - if yours does not work, and you want to try it, contact the Programme Co-ordinator. MySQL is the world's most popular open source database, recognized for its speed and reliability. It is a database management system that is often used in conjunction with the php scripting language. You can manage your database in at least three ways.
You can learn more about MySQL from the main MySQL site. Of particular interest is the online reference facility. You can find out more about phpMyAdmin from the phpMyAdmin website. The documentation section describes both phpMyAdmin and MySQL.
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