Logging In and Logging Out

A. Logging In

When you first see the login page for the SGI's, the computer has a dialog box which prompts you for your Login name, as well as various course class icons above. Now, find the section below that best applies to you.

Logging Into a Personal SGI Account First Time

If you've never logged into your SGI account, then you should do the following:

  1. Type the Login name that Dr. Calloway or your professor gave you.
  2. Press Enter or left click on the Log in button.

After you log into your account for the first time, you should set a password by doing the following:

  1. Go to the Toolchest menu.
  2. Click on the Desktop option.
  3. Click on the Open Unix Shell option.

Toolchest menu

A window should appear with the title winterm. Place the red mouse pointer over this window. You'll notice that when the mouse pointer is over a window, that window's border becomes highlighted.

winterm window

highlighted winterm window
  1. Type "passwd" at the % prompt and press the "Enter" key.
  2. The computer will prompt you for your "new password". Type in a password that is not a common word and preferably contains each of the following: (avoid special characters or punctuation – acceptable passwords are typically 6—8 characters in length)
    1. uppercase letters
    2. lowercase letters
    3. numbers
  3. After you've entered your new password, press the "Enter" key.
  4. The computer will prompt you for "verification" of your new password. Just retype your password exactly as you entered it in the previous line.
  5. After you've entered your new password again, press the "Enter" key.

Now you should have a password that you'll have to enter every time you log in.

Make sure that you do not share your password with anyone else. Also, it's better to memorize your password instead of writing it on a scrap piece of paper that you can lose or that someone can take.

If You Already Have Logged In Before

If this is not the first time that you've ever logged into your SGI account, then you should have already set a password using the "passwd" command as described above. If you haven't already done this, then follow the instructions for those who've never logged in.

If you already have a password, then please do the following:

  1. Type your "Login name" in the Login name box. Press Enter or left click Login button.
  2. Enter the password that you set with the "passwd" command in the Password box. Note, for security reasons, the monitor will not display your password, so carefully type the correct password.

Logging Out

After you're finished using the SGI, you should always completely log out, else you risk giving someone access to your files. The way to do this is to properly exit each program according to the instructions for those programs. You should also logout from any open Unix shell windows. Usually these will have the word winterm in the title bar. To log out of the Unix shell windows, do the following:

  1. Place the pointer over the window of choice
  2. Type "logout" at the % prompt.

After all the applications and Unix shells are closed, do the following:

  1. Select the Desktop option from the Toolchest menu.
  2. Select the Log Out option,
  3. or Move the pointer to your desktop background and right click and hold the mouse.  Highlight Log Out.

This should completely log you out. You'll see the original login dialog box appear after a few seconds. This will let you know that you've successfully logged out your account.