Software Guide

Software Compliance & Distribution Policy

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In accordance with FDU’s Acceptable Use Policy for Computer Usage, no employee shall copy or distribute software that violates copyright laws. All employees shall be aware that software and the accompanying documentation is generally owned by the manufacturer and the license only grants the user the right to use the software. Unlicensed software installations, also known as software piracy, are unacceptable at FDU.

The primary user of each computer shall take responsibility of keeping records of licenses for which software is installed. The University’s Computing Services Department shall also track licenses for software installed by the Computing Services Department though the purchase of high volume or site licenses. Users are advised that the software installed on University-owned computers may be audited internally (by the University) or externally (by software manufacturers or other anti-piracy software firms) at any time. Software found not to be in compliance with copyright laws will be removed and replaced with a licensed copy.

Computing Services will provide certain software that is commonly used by the majority of the University’s employees, including but not limited to word processing, spreadsheet, and anti-virus software. Some software manufacturers allow for non-concurrent use of a license on an office computer and an employee’s home computer. Computing Services will not provide non-concurrent licenses at off premise sites due to the inability to track these licenses.

In order to provide the best possible service and support, and to reduce the cost of software site licenses, Computing Services, in conjunction with the Center for Learning and Teaching with Technology, has standardized on Microsoft Office Professional and Symantec Endpoint Protection.

Popular Software Titles and Guidelines for Faculty and Staff to Obtain:

  • Microsoft Office for Windows or Macintosh: Available through standard deployment of leased or owned equipment or by request for any University-owned PC or Mac.
  • Microsoft Visual Studio: Installed in Labs. Available by request for staff and faculty machines.
  • Adobe Acrobat: Available by request for staff and faculty machines.
  • SAS: Installed in Labs. Available by request for staff, faculty and student machines.
  • SPSS (Base): Installed in Labs. Available by request for staff and faculty machines.
  • SPSS Advanced Modules: Available by request for staff and faculty machines.
  • Adobe Products: Faculty and staff may purchase Adobe products at level three pricing with the University’s CLP Membership No. 4400062846.
  • Symantec Endpoint Protection: Available through standard deployment of leased or owned equipment or by request for any University-owned PC or Mac.
  • Other products: Faculty and staff may obtain pricing and submit orders to Purchasing. If assistance is needed, contact Computing Services.

Software Quality Assurance and Compliance Policy for Network Server & Lab Installations

It is no longer possible for individuals to install software on staff or faculty desktops or lab computers. Laptops or Macintosh users have administrative rights and individuals can install additional licensed software to laptops.

Instructors wishing to have a software application installed in a lab for use by 20 or more people simultaneously must provide Computing Services the original installation media, installation guide, and the appropriate proof of license. Note that the licenses for some software may limit our ability to install it on the network. These materials must be provided a minimum of sixty days before the software is needed. Because it is impossible to predict how the software will interact with our network and other software already installed, we cannot guarantee that a program will work on our system.

For programs that will be used by less than 20 people, the instructor may install the application on up to 5 machines in a lab not normally used for classroom instruction, plus an “instructor’s machine” in one of the teaching labs. If fewer licenses are owned, then only that many licenses may be installed. The instructor will be told which machines to install the program on and will be given a password which can be used to disable the security on the machine for the duration of the installation procedure. Software installed in this way will only be available on those designated machines. Computing Services will make a reasonable attempt to keep these designated systems functioning with the additional software, but in the event that the machine needs to have it’s base configuration and software restored from backup, the instructor will be contacted and will need to reinstall the application.

In all cases, software must be owned or licensed by the University, even if the application is only to be used for demonstration purposes. No software owned by an individual will be installed on the systems.

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Software Request Guidelines for University Computers and Computer Labs

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Departments wishing to obtain software, whether it is for use by the department or to be installed in the FDU computer labs and/or FDU Anywhere, should plan appropriately to provide adequate time to acquire the software and make it available to users.

The following steps should be used as a guide when planning to obtain software for instructional or business use:

Tip

Plan a minimum of 3 weeks for a contract review before a PO can be processed. See contract review requirements and order process by visiting the link at the bottom of the page.

  1. Selection of product
  2. Creation of Purchase Order (PO) and approval by department/dean/chair
  3. Technology review and approval by OIRT
  4. New vendor processing, if necessary
  5. Contract review
  6. Software purchase and delivery to FDU
  7. Software preparation. Plan up to 60 days to allow for items such as:
    • Creating configurations for FDU’s needs and environment
    • Setting up license servers or other required systems
    • Integration with other systems (e.g., Single Sign On)
    • Testing mass deployment (if for the computer labs)
    • Integration with FDU Anywhere (if needed) assuming the software is licensed and approved for VDI enviroment
  8. Testing and confirmation of proper functionality by the requestor (instructor)
  9. Final installation on computers

Note

Even if the software has no cost to FDU, per the Office of the General Counsel and the Contract Review Policy, if the software requires you to agree to terms and conditions, it’s an agreement that must be reviewed

Please begin by completing the Computing Services – Lab Reservation & Lab Software Request (Faculty & Staff NJ Only)

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Use SFTP or SCP to Upload Files to a FDU Linux Server

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What’s SFTP and SCP?

Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) is a file protocol for transferring large files over the web. It builds on the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and includes Secure Shell (SSH) security components. This term is also known as Secure Shell (SSH) File Transfer Protocol. Secure copy protocol (SCP) is another method to securely transfer files between a your local PC and a remote host or between two remote hosts. It is also based on the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol.

Linux / Mac

If you are running a Linux or Mac computer, SFTP and SCP clients are already installed, so you don’t need to download anything using those OS. You can open up a terminal window and run the either command like below to connect to a remote Linux server.

sftp username@opus.fdu.edu

or

scp filename username@132.238.2.116:

Windows

Option 1: Use WinSCP (Recommended)

You will need to download and install WinSCP:

Download WinSCP

  1. Launch the WinSCP program
  2. In the login window, click “New Site
  1. Fill out the information as follows:
    • Host name: Enter opus.fdu.edu
    • User name: (username on FDU Linux servers will be the part of your FDU NetID to the left of the @ sign)
  2. Click “Advanced…
    • Select “Environment > SFTP” and enable “Allow SCP fallback
  1. Click “OK
  2. Click “Save“, enter a name for the connection, and click “OK
  3. In the WinSCP login window, select the connection name and click “Login

Option 2:

Install Putty, which also includes PSCP (SCP for Windows) and SFTP (SFTP for Windows):

Download Putty

Please select the latest version of MSI (‘Windows Installer’) for your computer (32-bit or 64-bit)

Optionally you may choose to download only pscp.exe(SCP for Windows) or “psftp.exe” (SFTP for Windows) and copy into the folder where you need to use it.

Once you have installed your program of choice, you’ll be able to launch each command from the Command Line of Windows.

pscp -P 22 filename username@opus.fdu.edu:
psftp username@opus.fdu.edu

Note

You may need to accept the server’s host key the first time you connect the Linux server.

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Use SSH to Log into Opus Linux Server

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Accessing the Opus server

The Opus server can be access using secure transport protocols such as SSH and SFTP. Access is only allowed from campus networks. All off campus users will need to access Opus using FDU’s Virtual Private Network (VPN) to use the Opus server

What’s SSH?

SSH stands for Secure Shell, which was invented in 1995 to replace the insecure Telnet (Telecommunication Network). It’s now the primary way for system administrators to securely log into remote Linux servers over the public Internet. Although it looks and acts the same as Telnet, all communications over the SSH protocol are encrypted to prevent packet sniffing.

Linux / Mac

If you are running a Linux or Mac computer, SSH client is installed by default. You can open up a terminal window and run the ssh command like below to connect to a remote Linux server.

ssh username@opus.fdu.edu

or

ssh username@132.238.2.116

Now let’s discuss how to use SSH on Windows.

Windows

Method 1: Windows 10’s Built-in SSH Client

The Microsoft PowerShell team decided to port OpenSSH (both the client and the server) to Windows in 2015. It finally arrived in Windows 10’s Fall Creator Update in 2017 and is enabled by default in the April 2018 Update.

To use the OpenSSH client on Windows 10, simply open a PowerShell window or a command prompt window and run the ssh command. For example, if I want to connect to the Opus Linux server on the FDU network, I would run

ssh username@opus.fdu.edu

username on FDU Linux servers will be the part of your FDU NetID to the left of the @ sign (username@fdu.edu becomes just username) and opus.fdu.edu is name the Linux server you want to access (The IP address of the Linux server can also be used). The first time you connect to a Linux computer, you will be prompted to accept the host key. Then enter your password to login. After login, you can run Linux commands to do tasks.

Note

If you want to paste a password into the PowerShell window, you need to right-click the mouse and press Enter.

To log out from the Linux box, run the “exit” command or press “Ctrl+D“.

The default font size in PowerShell Window is very small. To change it, right-click the titlebar and select properties, then you can change the font size, and the background color.

Method 2: Use SSH in Windows Subsystem for Linux

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) enables you to run native Linux command-line tools directly on Windows 10. If you are a system administrator, WSL is probably an overkill for just using SSH because it would install and run a Linux distro (without graphical user interface) on your Windows 10 desktop. WSL is created for web developers or those who need to work on open-source projects. You can use not only SSH but also other Linux command line tools (Bash, sed, awk, etc).

Open the Microsoft Store and enter “WSL” in the search box. Select Run Linux on Windows and install a Linux distro of your choice.

For example, I choose “Ubuntu” and click the “Get” button to install it.

Once your Linux distro is installed, open the Control Panel and select Programs => Turn Windows features on or off. Tick on the checkbox of Windows Subsystem for Linux to enable this feature. (You may need to reboot your Windows PC for this change to take effect.)

Next, you can launch the Linux distro from the start menu by search the distro’s name. The first time you launch it, you need to create a user and set a password.

After that, you can use the ssh command like below to connect to a Linux server or PC that runs a SSH server.

ssh username@opus.fdu.edu

Method 3: Use Putty

Putty is a well-known and the most popular SSH client on Windows before the arrival of Windows OpenSSH client and Windows Subsystem for Linux. To use SSH with Putty, you need to download the Putty program from the official website and install it.

Launch Putty from the Start menu. Then enter the IP address or hostname of the Linux box and click the Open button to connect to it.

Accept the host key and you will be prompted to enter the username and password.

Tip

When you type in your password, the cursor doesn’t move, but it’s actually accepting your password. To paste text into Putty, first press Ctrl+C to copy the text, then go to Putty window and press the right-button of your mouse.

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Using Jabber with Multiple Lines

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When multiple lines are enabled in Jabber a drop down of the available lines will be displayed near the bottom of the Jabber windows.


To Make a Call

  1. Click on the arrow near the number displayed.
  2. Choose the line (Number) you desire to call from.
  3. Make the call as normal.

When receiving a call, the caller ID will display the line from which the call is coming from.

A call can be made or received from all the available lines.

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