Computer Configuration

These are things to check when computers are first set up or when they are moved to a new room. Make sure that these things are true before the start of each semester. If any of the points below are unclear or have problems, let Physics IT staff know.

• BIOS (Optiplex 7020) ("Puppetized")

  • Push the "Load Defaults" button
  • System Configuration... Turn on SMART reporting

  • Power Managerment.... Set Onboard Network Interface Controller to Enable with PXE

• BIOS (Optiplex 5090)

  • Boot Configuation.... add macprober boot entry
  • Storage... AHCI. (iRST is not supported in linux and therefore DRBL)
  • Power .... Disable deep sleep
  • System Managment ... PXE after wake on lan

  • turn on SMART reporting

• Cables

  • Use velcro to fasten power and data cords to the legs of the cart (use other carts as an example of this)
  • Nothing should drag on the floor when the cart is disconnected and moved
  • All USB cables should be attached to the back of the computer. In the case of USB floppy drives, these can be attached on the back of the monitor because of the very short cord

• Labeling

  • Put a fxz<room-number><N>¹ (e.g. fxz33105) label on the upper-right of the monitor and on the (unused) floppy cover of the tower case

  • Computer number 1 (the N above) should be the one closest to the printer, where needed, proceed in ascending order counter-clockwise around the room (as seen from above)

  • Computer IP Addresses based on computer name

Ancillary Information

This is background information that's not needed for checks. The information here is to provide some documentation on how the computers are configured.

The lab computers are to be kept as standard as possible. Individual software updates, patches, and software additions should be considered for all computers at once rather than ad hoc; it is usually the case that something useful in one lab will prove to be useful generally.

The following two tables show what images are to be put on what computers. This is organized by floor and room.

Advanced

Introductory

Images

Computer Imaging Beginner Guide

Lab images are stored, compressed on DRBL. These are in the /cephe/partimage/<imgName> directory. There are usually about four or five images kept at a time. For details on the images and the imaging process, please see lab_imaging.pdf.

Images of this type are named <year><semester><level>-rev<n> on the imaging computer, DRBL. The parts are level, "adv" or "intr"; semester, "fall" or "spring"; year, "2010", for example; n is a revision number, used only for small changes to the same basic image.

CategoryComputing