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FastX-l mailing list
SLAC has a fastx-l mailing list for users of the FastX service to communicate. This is good venue to ask questions and discuss anything related to using the FastX service. When you have a FastX question or problem, there are several option you can use to get help:
Subscribe to fastx-l by using this command:
echo subscribe fastx-l | mail listserv@slac.stanford.edu
- Send your question or problem to the fastx-l mailing list. You will reach other SLAC users of the service, and they may have already researched and solved your problem.
- Send your question or problem to ithelp@slac.stanford.edu . SLAC Desktop support provides support of the FastX service, and can help with desktop or , laptop, and browser related questions about using FastX at SLAC. They are familiar with supporting the FastX service, and may have already helped another user solve the problem you have.
- If ithelp@slac.stanford.edu needs unix determines they need Unix or server configuration support to help answer your question, then they will work with unix-admin to solve the problem. unix-admin can open a support case cases with FastX, and utilize our site-wide vendor license for engineering support. FastX support engineers are eager to hear about problems and bugs, and will work they have already worked with unix-admin to apply configuration changes or patches that we can test and verify in our test environmentmodify configuration options and apply patches in our test cluster. If we can reproduce a bug, then they gather information from our environment and release a bug fix with the next standard release of the FastX server and clients.
Protecting your SLAC AFS ~/.fastx_server/ directory
Your SLAC AFS ~/.fastx_server/ directory contains sensitive information which could expose your FastX X11 connections to others. This could lead to a compromise of your account, and/or unauthorized keystroke monitoring. Keystoke monitoring can capture other passwords you type, such as sudo, ssh password authentication to remote sites, or information entered in browser windows, even for https sites since the keystrokes are captured before SSL encryption is done.
Therefore, please take care in protecting access to this directory. Since this directory is in AFS space, you need to use AFS Access Control Lists (ACLs) to lock down the directory (regular Unix file modes using chmod do not work inside AFS space). The Scientific Computing Services (SCS) tool "system ranger" will automatically detect and fix any ~/.fastx_server/ directories in AFS space which are too permissive, and you will get an information email just letting you know it was fixed. If you get this email, it is only for your information, and no action is required. If necessary, the system ranger protects your ~/.fastx_server/ directory by removing the following entries from the AFS Access Control List:
system:anyuser rl
system:slac rl
system:authuser rl
Frequently Asked Questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| How do I copy/paste when using an xterm with the desktop client? | Copy and paste work just like any other program. On linux xterm, copy is highlight. Paste is middle mouse click (Command-click on a Mac laptop). Paste can also be shift+insert |