CLASSE Laptop User's Guide

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Quick Tips

To connect to a CLASSE network:

• Wired or docked: connect to LNSProtected with wired connection enabled and wireless disabled. (Windows VIDEO) (Linux Instructions)
• Wireless or undocked: connect to VPN with wired connection disabled and wireless enabled. (Windows VIDEO) (Linux Instructions)
• When switching between wired and wireless networking, be sure to DISABLE the old connection and ENABLE the new one. (Windows VIDEO) (Linux Instructions)

Please leave your laptop powered on and connected to a network every Monday night, if possible.

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Networking

You must be connected to our VPN or a CLASSE network in order to:

• Print to a CLASSE printer
• Access Samba
• Access WinAPP
• Log in for the first time

Note that the RedRover and eduroam wireless networks are NOT CLASSE networks.

Wired connection (i.e. when docked)

Please connect to the wired LNSProtected network whenever possible. To do so, plug in a LNSProtected ethernet cable or use a docking station. If your office does not have an LNSProtected network socket, please submit a CLASSE-IT ServiceRequest.

Windows will default to a wireless connection if it is available. For detailed instructions, see SwitchingFromWirelessToWiredLNSProtected.

Wireless connection (i.e. when undocked)

Wireless network access on campus is provided by Cornell University (not CLASSE). Please connect to the eduroam or RedRover networks: https://wiki.classe.cornell.edu/Computing/CLASSENewUsersGuide2014#RedRoverEduroam

From any wireless network (Cornell or home), you can access restricted CLASSE services by connecting to the CLASSE virtual private network (VPN).

If you're connected via VPN and wireless, and trying to use WinAPP (e.g., for Kronos) or accessing samba for files, performance will be sub-optimal. There may be more lag and files may copy more slowly than when connected directly to LNSProtected. If you need high performance, please use an LNSProtected wired connection.

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Docking / Undocking

Windows can get confused if you dock or undock while it is not on and logged in.

• To have the best experience undocking:
  1. Make sure to be logged in to your CLASSE account
  2. Using the dock button, click to undock
  3. Once the dock or Windows indicates you can undock, physically remove the laptop from the dock.
  4. Then continue:
     • Hibernate the laptop by closing the lid or selecting from the start menu.
     • Or change network configuration.
• To have the best experience docking:
  1. Make sure you are logged in to your CLASSE account
  2. Physically dock the laptop
  3. Switch network from wireless to LNSProtected as above.
  • You may need to reset some screen resolutions when you have multiple monitors connected via the dock.

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Linux Networking and Filesystems

Change Network Settings

To switch between wire and wireless, and to connect to the CLASSE VPN, use the "Networking" icon in the upper-right corner of your screen.

After clicking on that icon, you should see available network interfaces. Your wired interfaces are listed under "Ethernet Network," and any wireless interfaces will be listed under "Wi-Fi Networks." Finally, you can mouse-over "VPN Connections" to enable or disable the CLASSE VPN.

Filesystems / Disks

• Unlike CLASSE Managed Linux desktops, laptops use local home disks and do not have access to NFS File systems.
• Your CLASSE Managed Linux laptops (or desktops) local disks are not backed up.
• To access NetworkedFilesystems, you will need to use the samba protocol instead of NFS
  1. Connect to a CLASSE Network or connect to our VPN.
  2. Open the File Manager (double-click on a folder on your desktop)
  3. click on "samba" underneath "PLACES," or select one of the precreated CLASSE Shortcuts.
  4. Double-click on the samba share you would like to access. To correlate samba shares with NFS shares, please see https://www.classe.cornell.edu/private/computing/filesystems.html
  5. Login with your CLASSE username and password

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Maintenance and support

Because laptops are not always on a CLASSE network, additional care must be taken to keep them up to date, and remote support from CLASSE-IT requires the user to take additional steps.

Automatic weekly updates

Laptops should be left on and connected to a CLASSE network (see above) every Monday night. Software updates usually are applied Monday night or early Tuesday morning.

If a laptop is turned off on Monday night, the updates will be applied soon after it is powered back on. Note that the laptop may be very sluggish while the updates are applied.

Semi-annual checkups

Laptops have greater exposure than desktops to untrusted networks, and they can also get out-of-sync with our desktop configurations when they are not connected to a CLASSE network. Therefore, we recommend bringing in your laptop every 6 months for a security and configuration checkup. To schedule a checkup, please submit a ServiceRequest and allow approximately 4 hours for the work. Usually, we'll schedule a time with you to drop off and pick up the laptop from the IT Helpdesk, but alternative arrangements can be made.

Remote Support

As with CLASSE desktops, we can remotely address many laptop service requests. However, in your request, please let us know which network your laptop is connected to.

• It is ideal for your laptop to be on a wired LNSProtected connection when requesting remote support.
• Let us know what network you are connected to.