OVERVIEW

UMUC uses a computing system called NOVA. NOVA makes available computing resources for your classes. For example, for courses requiring Oracle database access, NOVA makes available Redhat Linux, and Oracle. This document provides the key information and steps needed to access your accounts and accomplish class work. This is targeted for Undergraduate database classes but any computing class that uses NOVA should find this very helpful. If you have difficulties, be sure to call tech support – 888-360-8682 or visiting the help page (http://www.umuc.edu/help/). Support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you have just one computing class then you will have a username and password for the NOVA system login and a username and password for your development software. For example, if you have a database class using Oracle, you will have a username and password for your NOVA account and a username and password for your Oracle account. The username for your Oracle account will be the same as your NOVA username. The password for both accounts can also be the same – more on that later in this document in the appropriate section. You obtain your NOVA username and password during the class account setup procedure described below.

Very Important – if you are a student enrolled in multiple computing classes using NOVA, you will have a separate NOVA account for each class and access to development software will be limited to what is assigned to that class. That means you cannot login to your Database NOVA account and do work for your Java class.

Note: For instructors and Teaching Assistants, account set-up is automatically created. And, they will need to use the “chgpass” procedure to list the accounts created for them on NOVA and an account can be selected for password changes.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED FOR A DATABASE COURSE

Putty, PortapuTTY or any secure shell program for a remote secure connection to NOVA.

coreftp, winscp or any secure ftp program for moving files back and forth from your computer to your class directory after you are connected to NOVA. MAC users can use cuteFTP or fetch.

STEPS YOU MUST TAKE TO GET STARTED WITH YOUR COMPUTER ACCOUNTS

1. Download Putty from http://www.putty.org/ or PortaPutty from http://polaris.umuc.edu/it/software/install_umuc_portaputty.exe and install the software.

2. Launch your secure shell program, enter nova.umuc.edu, Port 22, SSH for your connection type and then open your connection.

3. If this is your first time logging in, you need to create your newclass and account and record your username and password. Please note, that you are given a temporary NOVA password that you use to log-in for the first time and then you are immediately asked to change it. You MUST write down the userid and temporary password immediately because you will need this information to log back into NOVA! If you are using Oracle in your class, when you change the NOVA temporary password to a permanent NOVA password of your choice, it does not change the password for Oracle and, the password for Oracle is automatically set to be the same temporary password for NOVA that existed before you changed it. That is a little confusing, so beware. The Oracle password will be the old temporary password from NOVA until you change your Oracle password in Oracle. Changing your password in Oracle will be discussed later in this document.

4. At the login prompt (as shown above), type newclass – use all lowercase letters and then press Enter on the keyboard

5. Next you will be asked to enter you MyUMUC username

6. Next, you are asked to enter your MyUMUC password – note that passwords are case sensitive and you will not see cursor movement as you type. Press enter after you enter the password.

7. Next, several different messages can appear depending upon what classes you are enrolled in. For each class you will receive a message of 1. No computer account is required or 2. Account already exists (this means you already used the newclass procedure or an account was created for you already) or 3. Account will be created – this means an account and account login information will be created for you. After you have read this information displayed on the screen, press Enter on the keyboard to generate any/all needed accounts. Accounts will be created for all classes that require them. This can take from a few seconds to a few minutes.

8. Next, for any accounts that were created, the screen will display your USERID and Temporary Password. You must write down these credentials because you will need them later on even after you change your password.

9. Next, a screen appears prompting you to change the password that you were just assigned. This is required only because this is the first time you are setting-up your accounts for login. A screen will display and ask you to … Enter OLD Password: …. This screen is not shown below. At this point enter the temporary password that was presented in the previous step above. Remember, the cursor will not move as you type the password.

10. Enter a new password. The new password you enter must be between six and eight characters and contain at least one non-alphabetic character. Enter the password and press the Enter key on the keyboard. It cannot be part of any word found in a dictionary.

11. Re-enter the new password and press the Enter key on the keyboard.

At this point, you have your NOVA Userid and new NOVA Password. For Oracle users, your Oracle account information is your Userid and the temporary NOVA password (NOT your new NOVA password).

12. Next, you need to immediately log back in and see if your account is working properly and make some changes to your Oracle account after logging into NOVA. After you have logged into NOVA for the first time, as described above, in all subsequent log-ins you will always see the following screens (below) when you connect through Putty or PortaPuTTY (or another app that contains Putty) to log-in to NOVA.

13. Next, run PortaPuTTY or Putty by finding it on your start menu in Windows or searching for it in Windows, and at the login as: prompt, type your username – the NOVA username that you obtained during your first log-in procedure that was described above.

For this example, the username is cm420c

14. Next, you are asked for your new NOVA password – the one you set during your first log-in. Remember, as you type the password it does not move the cursor across the screen ….

15. Next, if all was entered correctly – you receive a prompt that you are in NOVA and you can now issue Linux commands or start other programs.

After setting up your accounts in NOVA and successfully re-logging in, a first action to be completed is to access Oracle and change your Oracle password from the default. This is explained below.

HOW TO ACCESS ORACLE AND RESET YOUR ORACLE PASSWORD ON NOVA.

1. Open up your SSH program and access NOVA :

2. the system notice is displayed followed by the password prompt enter your new NOVA password and press Enter key.

3. Type sqlplus at the prompt and then press Enter. The command line will indicate you have accessed SQL*Plus and prompt you to input your Oracle userID.

Remember, your Oracle userID (user-name) is the same as your NOVA Unix account userID. Type your Oracle userID at the Enter user-name prompt and press Enter. The password prompt will appear.

Input your initial temporary NOVA password that was assigned when you ran the “newclass” procedure. Remember, your OLD temporary NOVA password is your Oracle password until you change the Oracle password to a new Oracle password!

4. Type your initial temporary password then hit Enter. The command line will show you are connected to the Oracle instance and the prompt will display as SQL> as shown below.

Now you can enter, at the SQL prompt, the Oracle password change command which is …. ALTER USER user_name IDENTIFIED BY new_password. For example, if my username is CM420c and my new desired password is Success1111 then the command line to enter would be…. cm420c IDENTIFIED BY Success1111

Please note the following important information before moving on to work in Oracle…

You can use the Oracle SQL Developer program (a window-based interface to Oracle databases) from Oracle to work on your database assignments. It makes issuing the commands much easier for most beginners. But, it is optional and not supported by UMUC. What is supported is the use of SQL commands to the Oracle database by using the command-line based SQLplus to issue the SQL commands to Oracle. Also note that if you see any references to i-SQLplus in any course or help material (not to be confused with SQLplus) please understand that i-SQLplus is no longer in use and has been replaced by SQLDeveloper.

TRANSFERING FILES TO AND FROM THE NOVA SYSTEM AND LOCAL COMPUTER

As you work in Oracle or other software running under Linux in NOVA, you will need to transfer code files and data files back and forth from NOVA to your local computer. This can be done running any sftp program. Review the vendor-specific instructions on how to use the sftp you have installed.

LINUX

For two helpful places to find quick information on the most used Linux commands that you may use at times when in NOVA – see the following sources …

Linux beginner guide https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/4/html/Step_by_Step_Guide/ap-doslinux.html

And https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/3/html/Step_by_Step_Guide/s1-navigating-cd.html