Student Project Server Documentation

Virtual Helpdesk Main Link

Note: You may not be using all of the following options for your course. These instructions are listed for any courses requiring them.

1. HowTo Videos
2. Using the Linux System
3. Accessing the MySQL Database
4. Using PHP

HowTo Videos

• How to use PuTTY (Windows).
• How to use Terminal (Mac).
• How to use Cyberduck (Windows/Mac).
• How to use WinSCP (Windows).
• How to use MySQL (Windows/Mac).

The Linux System

• This documentation is for all students doing course projects on the student.athabascau.ca server.
  

  You must use ssh to log in at student.athabascau.ca. (SSH Information Site) If you don't have a login name and password, please contact SCIS technical team. The IO server uses a Linux platform. (Linux is a version of UNIX.) (Help for basic UNIX commands)

• You may also use an SCP program to transter your files to your home directory on the student.athabascau.ca server.(Download WinSCP)
• Once you are logged in, you will be in your home directory. The path to this directory is /home/login. Note: In place of login, enter your own login name.
• You will place any HTML documents in a subdirectory of your home directory called public_html (/home/login/public_html). To access these from the Web, the URL will be http://student.athabascau.ca/~login/filename. Note: Enter your login name and the filename you wish to access.
• Your permissions are set to your home directory so that HTML files can be viewed from the Web, but other users on the server will not be able to change to your directory and read or write to your files. Do not copy from other students' directories! All student access is monitored and logged.
• You may use the command line editors such as vi or pico to edit both your HTML and source code documents. If you edit documents on your windows machine and transfer them to the server, you need to ensure that your Windows editor has not added extra Windows return characters to your source code, as this will interfere with executing your files on the server.  You can use Notepad++ (Windows) or TextWrangler (Mac) to edit or create your HTML files or source code.

Accessing the MySQL Database

• A database has been created, which has the same name as your login and home directory. Type
  mysql -p databasename
  to use the mysql command line monitor (where databasename is your database (login) name). You will be prompted for your password.
• Once you are in your MySQL database, type \h (for HELP) to get the basic command list. \q is the command to quit. The other commands can be found in the MySQL Reference Manual below.
• MySQL Reference Manual
• To create tables and table entries, follow the instructions given in your course materials and in the reference materials above.
• You are the only one who can read or write to your database from the command line.
• Note: Due to connection issues, we no longer recommend using a graphical client to connect to your database, such as MySQL CC, via SSH tunneling.

  Warning: Do not attempt to change either your MySQL password or your user configuration in the mysql database. These have been set to enable access from both the Web and the command line and changes made can result in loss of that access. If you feel that permissions need to be changed, please contact the SCIS technical team.

Using PHP on the Server

• You will place any PHP files in the 'public_html' subdirectory of your home directory (/home/login/public_html). To access these from the Web, the URL will be http://student.athabascau.ca/~login/filename.php. Note: Substitute your login name and the filename you wish to access.
• PHP Basic and MySQL Connect Demos
• PHP Tutorial