Due to the dynamic nature of our infrastructure, the School of Engineering does NOT maintain a traditional help desk. As future engineers and computer scientists, there is an expectation that you are actively working to develop both critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will be crucial in your future careers. This includes doing research, such as reading websites, watching videos, reading your textbooks, and consulting other reference materials.

If you are unable to find a solution to your problem, you should ask your professors for assistance. Remember, they are here to help you learn and will answer questions.

If your professor determines that the nature of your issue requires further assistance, such as an issue with a computer, server, software, your SoE accounts, or any of the miscellaneous equipment in the School of Engineering; you should be directed to send an email explaining your situation to support@engr.ship.edu. You need to provide enough details in your email to clearly identify your issue, such as: any error messages, machine being used, software being accessed, etc… If you do not know how to explain your problem clearly, you can email the same address and request assistance from the School of Engineering’s Systems Manager. You will need to provide a schedule of your availability.

It is recommended that you read through the rest of the FAQ before sending an email. If your issue is already covered on the School of Engineering website, you will be directed back to this website. If your questions relates to something critical to your course – homework/project/specific software – you will sent back to you professor.

If you are unable to remember your password or were just issued your School of Engineering AD account, you can initiate a password reset by following the steps found @ https://web.engr.ship.edu/for-students/password-reset-request/. This is the updated password reset system which will require you to have access to your standard SHIP.EDU email account. If you are unable to access your SHIP.EDU account, please contact helpdesk@ship.edu.

If you know your current password and simply want to change it, you can follow the steps below:

• If you are using Windows, you can use Microsoft’s built-in mechanism for changing passwords. Log into a machine and press the Ctrl-Alt-Delete key combination. Then you need to select “Change a Password” from the menu. Just like with Linux, you will be prompted for your current password, followed by two requests for a new password. It will provide feedback informing you whether or not the password was successfully updated.
• If you are using Linux, type one of the following commands `adpasswd’ or `passwd’. You will be prompted for your current password, followed by two requests for a new password. If your current password is entered incorrectly or your entries for a new password don’t match, you will receive an appropriate error message. If you are simply returned to the prompt, your password was successfully changed.

PLEASE REMEMBER: All passwords must be twelve or more characters and include at at least three of the four: upper case letter, lower case letter, number, special characters. In addition, your passwords can not contain portions of your user ID or your given name and can not be a password you have already used.

As long as you were over 18 when joining the School of Engineering or taking your first School of Engineering course, you would have been provided with a sponsored GSuite account. Your account information can be found in the welcome email from support which would have included a link to your personalized welcome page with directions on creating a password and setting up multi-factor authentication.

Accounts have always used the same user ID as the student’s SHIP.EDU account to make it easier to remember. Since 2018, all new accounts have used the ENGR domain. This means that if your SHIP account is ab2468@ship.edu, your sponsored Gmail account would be ab2468@engr.ship.edu.

Please note that under our current licensing agreement, we can only provide accounts to students who are either pursuing one of the School of Engineering degrees or are enrolled in a School of Engineering course.

First, make sure you are using the proper email. (see FAQ #3) If you received the message that your account does not exists and you have verified that you are using the correct account, it may have been deleted due to prolonged inactivity. To remedy this, please email support@engr.ship.edu using your SHIP.EDU email and request that your account be recreated.

Under our current licensing agreement, we can only provide accounts to students who are either pursuing one of the School of Engineering degrees or are enrolled in a School of Engineering course. As such, you MUST include either your declared major or the School of Engineering course you are enrolled in. This information is required to verify your eligibility and FERPA restrictions only allow us to validate the information we are provided.

REQUESTS WHICH DO NOT INCLUDE THE NECESSARY INFORMATION WILL NOT BE PROCESSED!

As of December 2, 2022, 2-step verification, also known as 2FA or MFA, went from being optional to being required.

If you are a new student, please follow the directions found on your personalized welcome page. This can be accessed using the link contained in the email you received at the start of the semester. This method will explain how to temporarily disable MFA for your account, reset your password, and setup MFA to prevent future issues. You will have six hours to complete this once started and this method can only be used once.

If you fail to configure your MFA settings during your initial setup period, or you ignored the warning emails sent prior to MFA being required, you can use the following link to bypass the MFA requirement for a short period of time: MFA Bypass Link.

Please note, this method has a finite number of uses so it is highly recommended that students configure MFA the first time they use this method. Students who fail to configure MFA and exceed the maximum number of uses will have their accounts terminated as they are officially failing to comply with a defined School of Engineering policy.

Once you have bypassed the MFA requirement and logged into your Gmail account, follow these steps to configure your account properly:

1. Click the gear and select “See all settings”
2. Select Accounts
3. Select Google Account Settings
4. Select Security
5. Select 2-Step Verification located in the “Signing in to Google” section

It is recommended that users utilize the Google Authenticator app as it can be used even when your mobile device does not have service.

Starting the fall of 2020, all new School of Engineering GMail accounts have been configured to use the student’s SHIP.EDU email address as their recovery account. To use this method to change your password, please follow these steps:

1. MFA is now enforced which means you will need to disable MFA before you will be able to reset your password using your SHIP email as a recovery method. (see FAQ #5) Otherwise Google will attempt to use your configured MFA option(s).
2. Head to the Gmail sign-in page, enter your email address and click Next
3. Click the “Forgot Password” link.
4. Enter your SHIP.EDU email as your recovery method.
5. Click Send to have a verification code sent to your SHIP.EDU email
6. Enter the Code you were sent and follow the instructions to create a new password

If your account has no recovery email configured, you should email support with a request to have one added and you will be notified once it has been completed. We will only configure your SHIP.EDU account as a recovery address, any other address request will be ignored.

FIRST VERIFY THAT YOUR ACCOUNT ACTUALLY EXISTS! Ask your professor, or another student who has successfully logged in, to type the following command at a Linux prompt: id ab1234 (where ab1234 is your user ID). If it is states that no user exists, you will need to email support (FAQ #1) from your SHIP.EDU account asking for a lab account and include what course you are enrolled in. This is required for verification purposes.

To prevent bad actors from using the password reset utility to identify potential accounts, no error message is generated when a user account doesn’t exist. It simply states that the update was a success.

If your account does exists, there are a few common reasons users have issues logging into our lab machines.

• The first is when students use the wrong user ID.
  • SoE lab machines are all domain joined so you should only need to use your user id to login
  • Your user ID is the first portion of your email, ab1234@engr.ship.edu >>> ab1234
  • If you feel you need to type the domain, make sure you use @engr.ship.edu not @ship.edu
• The second is when students use the space bar to wake up the computer from sleep.
  • Using the space bar to wake the computer under Linux will often leave a space in the user name field
  • User ” ab1234″ does not equal “ab1234” which results in a user not found error.
  • It is recommended when waking a computer that students use the mouse or one of the modifier keys, which are shift, alt, ctl, or the windows key
  • To resolve this issue, make sure to completely clear the user portion of the login form
• The last is that the computer was recently started/rebooted
  • Lab machines need to establish a connection to the authentication server before users can use their credentials to login
  • This can take a few minutes to establish after a reboot or power on sequence, simply waiting a minute or two often resolves this particular issue.

There are other less common issues, such as network and software problems, which could prevent users from logging in. If the previous steps did not resolve your issue, please email support and include the name of the computer you are using. Computer names always start with the room number and can be found on a white label, at the top left corner of the Linux login screen, or by typing ‘.\‘ (period backslash) in the user field of the Windows login screen.

To access the departmental shared servers named Sloop & Clipper, or any of the specialty servers used for specific classes, you will need to use SSH, (Secure SHell.) If you are unfamiliar with this utility, the basic syntax is ‘ssh username@servername’. A few examples are: 

ssh userid@sloop.engr.ship.edu or ssh userid@clipper.engr.ship.edu  or ssh webprog99@webprog.engr.ship.edu

PLEASE NOTE: At this moment, the old cs.ship.edu domain name is still supported, but future infrastructure changes might not be implemented under cs.ship.edu.

YOU WILL NEED TO USE THE SAME CREDENTIALS USED TO ACCESS SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING LAB COMPUTERS! 

If you are trying to access the servers from a Windows machine, we recommend using either WSL (the Windows Subsystem for Linux) or MobaXterm, which is available from either the website’s pre-configured software page or the website’s essential software page. 

For more detailed instructions and a full explanation of all the options available with SSH, I am going to take this moment to introduce you to a term you will hear often in the industry when asking a relatively simple question. RTFM! In this case, the manual is easily accessed from any of our Linux machines or from inside a MobaXterm session by typing ‘man ssh’.

 *** Multiple failed login attempt will result in an IP ban. If you have triggered a ban, you can either log into the alternate server (Sloop/Clipper) or initiate a VPN connection – IP bans resulting from multiple failed login attempts will not be manually reset.

The primary cause for licensing issues is related to the access restrictions we are required to enforce to comply with licensing agreements. For the following software packages, you need to be on campus or have an active VPN connection to be able to use our software licenses:

• Cadence Tools: including Allegro, Capture CIS, and others
• Xilinx ISE / Vivado / Vitis
• Autodesk products: Inventor, Civil 3D
• Solidworks

JetBrains IDEs

As there is the possibility that student/faculty use of the network license on personal devices could impact the usability of the SoE lab machines, the license for the JetBrains IDEs is now restricted to lab machines only. To use the software on a personal device, simply use the following form to request a personal academic license: https://www.jetbrains.com/shop/eform/students. Please use your SHIP.EDU email address as the university has an established relationship with JetBrains and therefore the entire process should take less than 5 minutes.

In order to run the same version currently installed in the labs, users will need to click ‘Other versions’ on the product download pages, as shown below. At this time, you should download version 2021.1.2 of the selected IDEs.

Our file server is available from any of the computer labs on campus. You can also use a number of different tools to access your files remotely over SSH or by connecting to the VPN. Follow these directions for accessing your files.

The short answer is none as the necessary resources and technologies are already in place to support your academic endeavors. With the shared servers and workstations located in the department, the general use labs, the computers located in the library, and the 24-hour computer lab located in MCT, the infrastructure exists to allow you to succeed. While these resources do exist, most of our students find it more convenient to have a machine they have complete control of. In addition, a personal machine allows them the freedom to experiment with technologies not already supported on the University’s infrastructure.

PLEASE NOTE: the software packages used in the following programs are not supported by Chromebooks or  computers running either MacOS or Linux. These programs REQUIRE a Microsoft Windows operating system: Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering.

IMPORTANT: The new ARM-based Apple laptops have not been thoroughly tested for compatibility with the software used in any School of Engineering program and are NOT recommended at this time!

For additional information, please refer to our page: Computer Recommendations.

Students are able to send documents to the various campus printers using THIS web-based utility. You can find the directions for this utility HERE.

Students with a legitimate need are able to request access privileges to nearly any of our lab spaces. Please use the questionnaire available on the Lab Access Request page to request access to the computer and engineering labs. You will need to submit a separate request each time you need to access the lab. Please make sure to answer all questions accurately. You will also need to comply with the policy and procedures defined on the page: Policies for Unsupervised Lab Use. (These only apply to the facilities located in the MCT building.)

The access request should be completed prior to accessing the lab to comply with our off-hours lab usage policy.

Note: any student found accessing the labs without permission or admitting other students who were not granted access will have their privileges suspended for the remainder of the semester. Not only is this a liability issue, but it would also violate the agreement we have with public safety which could jeopardize this privilege for all students. Repeat offenders will be reported to the Dean of Students for further disciplinary action.

To get software added to either the standard configuration or one of the servers, please email support (see FAQ #1) with the subject Engineering Software Request.

Be prepared to answer the following questions:

• What is the name of the software package you want installed?
• What is the software package used for?
• How many students would benefit from this software being available?
• Which lab/server would you like the software installed in?
• What is the time-frame in which you need the software installed?

Once the questionnaire has been processed, the software will be installed in a test location to see whether there are any conflicts with existing software. As long as there are no issues, you will be contacted when and where the software will be deployed. You will also be notified if it is decided not to install the software and the reason why.

To request resources for special projects or coursework, please email support (see FAQ #1) with the subject Engineering Resource Request.

Be prepared to provide the following information:

• A detailed description of what resources you need. This should include number of computers, special configurations, additional software, etc…
• A summary of what your project is
• A schedule of when different things would be needed.
• A detailed list of your minimum hardware requirements and include all equipment needed. (For example: asking for just a computer would not include keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor, etc….)
• What operating system needs to be installed and configured (if applicable)
• What software needs to be configured (if applicable)
• When the equipment needs to be ready
• And how long will the equipment be needed (if applicable)
• Anything else you think would be crucial information relevant to your request.
• PLEASE NOTE: Some requests may require faculty approval.

If there are special configuration requirements which would require your input, you will need to be available. In the event that minimum hardware requirements can not be met, you will be notified of what is available and you will need to determine if it will meet your requirements. If signing out equipment, once the equipment is ready, you will need to complete an asset sign out form and agree to take responsibility for the equipment. The equipment then needs to be returned by the date given on the sign out form.

Due to licensing restrictions, we are only allowed to provide access to students actively enrolled in one of our programs. If you changed your major or had been taking a general education class, odds are your account was disabled because you are no longer considered actively enrolled in a School of Engineering program.

If it is the middle of a semester, there are a few possibilities. The most common is that, following industry standard security practices, your access has been temporarily disabled due to multiple failed login attempts. In most cases, your access will be automatically restored within four hours. The other possibility is that your account was disabled because you were found violating the School of Engineering’s computer usage policy or using a School of Engineering resource in an inappropriate, unprofessional or illegal manner. If this is the case, you will be notified via your ENGR Gmail account. You will be directed to make an appointment with either your professor, your department chair, or the School of Engineering’s Systems Manager to discuss why your access was revoked and what steps, if any, need to be taken to have your access reinstated.

For Windows, please use one of the following methods to log out of the lab machines:

• Click on the user icon located on the start menu and the select “Sign out”
• Click on the desktop and press Alt-F4 to open the Windows shutdown dialog box and select “Sign out”. If you are in an application window, this key combination will simply close the running application.
• Open the Windows quick access menu by pressing Windows-X, move the cursor over “Shut down or sign out” and select “Sign out” from the submenu.
• Pressing CTL-ALT-DEL opens a system menu and then select “Sign out”

For Linux, a few things to note:

• Locking the screen does not log you out, DO NOT USE CTL-L or CTL-ALT-DEL as they simply lock the screen. If you have locked the screen, you need to enter your credentials again in order to properly log out.
• Like with Windows there are a few ways to log out, I find that the fastest is using the ATL-F4 key combination which brings up the LOGOUT/RESTART/SHUTDOWN dialog box. You can also access this by:
  • clicking on the logout button icon located in the bottom right corner of the XFCE start menu
  • right clicking on the desktop, placing the cursor over applications which opens the submenu and selecting logout (the final option)
  • typing xfce-session-logout in a terminal window

1. Log into Sloop, Clipper or any of the lab machines under Linux. If using a server, make sure to have X11 forwarding enabled.
2. Create the directory to be used as the mount point for your Google Drive outside of your home directory. There is already a folder created called /Google specifically for this purpose. For example: mkdir /Google/userid
3. Create the OAuth tokens by running the following command: google-drive-ocamlfuse
4. When the browser window appears, login using your Google Drive credentials and select ALLOW when asked. If done correctly, your browser will display the message: “The application was successfully granted access. Please wait for the client to retrieve the authorization tokens.”
5. Give it a minute and then close the browser window. Once the browser window is closed you should see the message “Access token retrieved correctly” in your terminal window. These tokens will be stored in a hidden folder in your home directory which will restrict access to your user account only. Any mounts created using the tokens will not be visible to users who do not have access to the tokens.
6. Once your tokens have been generated, you can issue the command to mount your Google Drive to the folder you created in step 2: google-drive-ocamlfuse /Google/userid
7. Now use your favorite archive or file copy tool to move the files you want to keep from your home directory to your mapped Google drive. For example you can create a tar archive of your Documents folder by using the following command while in your home directory: tar cvfz /Google/userid/DocumentArchive_12.15.2017.tgz Documents
8. Once finished, use the following command to unmount your Google drive: fusermount -u /Google/userid

You can simply open a terminal window and execute the application by typing eclipse at the prompt as a symbolic link for Eclipse has been added to /usr/bin. If you are on a machine without the symlink, typically a system you are in the process of setting up, either type the entire path to the executable, such as /opt/Eclipse_Engr_L64/eclipse, or simply go to the directory for the application and type ./eclipse. This works with any application you are trying to launch from a terminal window. If you are not sure where the executable is, you can use either the find or locate command.

You can contact support, or you can quickly fix this yourself. (99.9% of the time.) This issue is typically caused by failing to log out of a machine properly. Modern browsers use session locking technologies to protect your private information. If you had your browser open and logged out of the machine without closing it first, there is a risk that the session locks were not removed. This will cause issues the next time you try and use the browser, regardless of the machine. If you have no bookmarks or pre-configured session formats you want to save, the fastest way to resolve the issue is to purge your browser profile. These simple steps will take care of it for you:

• Close Firefox if it is running.
• Left click on the desktop and select “Open Terminal Here“
• Type cd and press the enter key to change your current directory to the root level of your home directory
• Type rf -rf .mozilla and press enter.
• Relaunch Firefox and verify your Internet access. Make sure to properly close applications and logoff the computers.

While this should no longer be relevant with the current versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11, we are keeping this information available for students working with older system configurations.

Yes there is, but you need to feel comfortable modifying your system registry. If you don’t, you can contact support and they can help you with this. What you need to do is follow these steps:

1. 1. Open the registry using regedit.
   2. Navigate to the following location: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SideBySide
   3. Create a New 32Bit DWORD Key with the label PreferExternalManifest
   4. Set the Value data to 1 with a Decimal Base
   5. Close regedit
   6. The remaining steps need to be preformed for each application which is having scaling issues.
   7. Download the Sample.exe.MANIFEST
   8. Put a copy of this file in the same directory as your application and rename it to match the executables name. For example, to use one with eclipse.exe, create a copy named eclipse.exe.MANIFEST and place it in the folder with the Eclipse executable
   9. Please note, some of the programs we use may require you to place the manifest file elsewhere. For example to fix the MARS Mips emulator, you need to put the manifest file in your java jre directory for the javaw.exe application

If you have a question which has not been answered here, and is not covered elsewhere on the School of Engineering website, email support (See FAQ #1) with the subject FAQ and your question in the body of the email. Please verify that your question is both clear and concise.