Accessing Theory From Home

Windows Users

Logging in to theory (e.g. to check mail)

To connect to theory from a Windows computer you can use a program called putty. To install it, follow these steps:

  1. Download the program putty.exe by selecting the link with the right mouse button and choosing save link.
  2. Copy the program to some easily accessible location such as the desktop.
  3. Double click on the program to start it.
  4. Enter theory.caltech.edu as the host name.
  5. Change the protocol to ssh, and then click on Open.
  6. The first time you log in you will receive a warning message, ignore the message and click on yes.
  7. A new window will pop up, enter your theory login name and password, and you will be all set to go.

If you want the documentation, license (it's free) or the latest version of the program, you can get them at:

http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/

Transferring files to and from theory

To transfer files you can use a program called WinSCP that works like ftp. To install it, follow these steps:

  1. Download the program WinSCP and install it
  2. Double click on the program to start it.
  3. Enter theory.caltech.edu as the host name.
  4. Enter your theory login name and password, and then click on login.
  5. You can copy files from your computer to theory by selecting the files on the left window and dragging them to the right window.
  6. You can copy files from theory to your computer by selecting the files on the right window and dragging them to the left window.

If you want the documentation, license (it's free) or the latest version of the program, you can get them at:

http://winscp.net



UNIX Users

To copy files to and from theory you can use either scp or sftp. The program sftp works like the usual ftp and you can run it by typing at the command line:

sftp theory.caltech.edu

The alternative scp works just like regular cp (copy) except that you preface with theory.caltech.edu: any file on theory. For example, to copy a file named foo to your home directory on theory you use:

scp foo theory.caltech.edu:.

Or to copy a file called foo on your home directory on theory to the current directory on you computer:

scp theory.caltech.edu:foo .

You can also copy all the files in a directory by using the -r option. For example, to copy everything in the directory bar to theory:

scp -r bar/ theory.caltech.edu:.

Finally, if you need to log in to theory with a different user name than the one you have on your current computer, you can copy files to newusername@theory.caltech.edu. For example, to copy the file foo to the guest account:

scp foo guest@theory.caltech.edu:.