When working off-site, it may be important access the critical controls and computing architecture needed to support hutch activities. NoMachine, an application-based tool, and FastX, a browser-based utility, are two different ways to get this access. This brief tutorial walks through some of the basic steps of use. 

Note also that MobaXterm is another well-recommended remote access platform that, while not shown in this tutorial, is often preferred above NoMachine for its stability and added conveniences. 

If it’s your first time using the terminal line under your own log-in credentials (whether using FastX, NoMachine, etc.), you'll need to define some commands in order to run the utilities you want.

To do so, from your terminal type gedit ~/.bashrc (or otherwise open the .bashrc file in another favorite text editor like emacs or vim). This will bring up a new window.

Copy the text below and paste it into the file you’ve opened. [Note: the NoMachine windows share the same clipboard as your desktop, though this may be trickier using FastX.] Once successful, click ‘save’ and exit the text editor. Now from the terminal, you should be able to do things like launch MEC Home, mecpython, VNC, etc.

If you're still having trouble, try typing source ~/.bashrc or try exiting your session completely and starting with a fresh terminal to make sure it sees the new definitions.

WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPECIAL CHARACTERS PROBLEMS WHEN COPYING AND PASTING – WATCH OUT FOR PROBLEMS!!

SEE ALSO: https://github.com/pcdshub/shared-dotfiles and https://github.com/pcdshub/shared-dotfiles/blob/master/on_site/bashrc !!

-------------------Copy everything below this line into your .bashrc file-------------------

# .bashrc

# Source global definitions

if [ -f /etc/bashrc ]; then

  . /etc/bashrc

fi

alias mec='/reg/g/pcds/epics-dev/screens/edm/mec/current/mechome &'

alias mecpython='/reg/g/pcds/pyps/apps/hutch-python/mec/mecpython'

alias vncevo1='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.147 &'

alias vncevo2='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.148 &'

alias vncgaia='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.146 &'

alias vnclecroy1='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.60 &'

alias vnclecroy2='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.128 &'

alias vnclecroya='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.100 &'

alias vnclecroyb='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.120 &'

alias vncPIMikroMove='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.159 &'

alias vncspider='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.197 &'

alias vncspectrometer='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.142 &'

alias vnctundra='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer -nocursorshape 172.21.46.70 &'

alias vnctopas='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer -nocursorshape 172.21.46.78 &'

alias vncvisar1='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer -name visar1 UseLocalCursor 172.21.46.71 &'

alias vncvisar2='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer -name visar2 UseLocalCursor 172.21.46.88 &'

alias vncvitara='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.198 &'

alias vncrga='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.213 &'

alias vncemp='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.215 &'

alias vncphasicslaptop='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.136 &'

alias vncphasics1='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.218 &'

alias vncphasics2='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.219 &'

alias vncdacage='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.182 &'

alias vnclegend='ssh -X mec-daq /usr/bin/vncviewer 172.21.46.144 &'

#snelson: added what we have in xpp

export PATH=/reg/neh/operator/mecopr/bin:${PATH}

export PATH=/reg/common/tools/bin:${PATH}

export PATH=/reg/g/pcds/engineering_tools/mec/scripts:${PATH}

export PATH=/reg/g/pcds/pyps/apps/iocmanager/latest:${PATH}

###################################################

### Basic PCDS environment setup for all logins ###

###################################################

source /reg/g/pcds/setup/pathmunge.sh

if [ -f "${HOME}/.pcds_setup.sh" ]; then

    source "${HOME}/.pcds_setup.sh"

fi

source /reg/g/pcds/setup/epics-ca-env.sh

source /reg/neh/home/sioan/setupEpics &> /dev/null

source /reg/g/pcds/setup/epicsenv-cur.sh &> /dev/null

export PSPKG_ROOT=/reg/g/pcds/pkg_mgr

export PSPKG_RELEASE="sxr=3.0.0"

PATH="$PATH:/reg/common/tools/bin"