Copying files, a brief practical exercise

ISG Workshop 2022 Day 0 & Tech Support
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If you look at the following list, and think it is easy, then there is no need for you to run through it.

If you are not sure about exactly how to do these things, then please read through the linked documentation, and if you have trouble, ask questions before the course starts. Many of these are things you will have to do for every practical, so if they are new to you, it is best to get familiar with them prior to the start of the course.

If you have any trouble or questions, please post in this thread. You can post anonymously if you prefer.

At the bottom I’ve put the solutions under a spoiler blur.

  1. Change your password (this is optional, as you can use the supplied one if you prefer). Instructions are in the Accessing the Workshop cloud computing environment documentation.
  2. Connect to the Workshop cloud computing environment at workshop.colorado.edu using SSH. Instructions are in the Accessing the Workshop cloud computing environment documentation.
  3. After you are connect to the command line, create a directory in your home directory called day0. Instructions are in the Copying files using the command line documentation.
  4. Go into the day0 directory. Instructions are in the Copying files using the command line documentation.
  5. Copy any files in /faculty/jeff/2022/ into your day0 directory.
  6. Use your browser to login to the Workshop cloud computing environment RStudio. Instructions are in the Accessing the Workshop cloud computing environment documentation.
  7. In Rstudio, open the mpg.R that was copied from /faculty/jeff.
  8. Run the mpg.R script, so it creates a plot.

Here are the answers. Click to un-blur them.

  1. Go to https://workshop.colorado.edu and then click on the “Password Change” card.

  2. The easiest way to connect to the Workshop cloud computing environment with SSH is to go to https://workshop.colorado.edu and click on the SSH card, and then login with your username and password.

  3. At the command prompt, type mkdir day0 and then press the ENTER (or RETURN) key.

  4. At the command prompt, type cd day0. If for some reason you are not in your home directory, then type cd to return to your home directory. If you get the error No such file or directory, then probably something went wrong with the previous step.

  5. The easiest way to do this is with the command
    cp /faculty/jeff/2022/* ~/day0
    If you are already in your day0 directory, then you could use the command
    cp /faculty/jeff/2022/* .

  6. Go to https://workshop.colorado.edu and click on the Rstudio card. Then login with your Workshop username and password.

  7. There are several ways to do this. Easiest is to use the lower right “Files” pane in RStudio, and click on the day0 folder, then click on the mpg.R file, and it will open in top left pane. (The top left pane may not be visible until the file is opened.) Alternatively, on the top toolbar you can select the “File” menu; then select “Open File…”; then in the file picker that opens, double click your day0 directory; then double click the mpg.R file (or single click and then click the “Open” button). That will also open the file in the top left pane.

  8. To run the entire script all at once, there are several options. One of the easiest ways is to click in the top left pane, then press ctrl-A to select the entire script, then click the “Run” button at the top of the frame. To step through the script one line at a time, click in the top left pane, so it is active; then move the cursor to the top line; then click the “Run” button. That line will run, and then the cursor will move down to the next line. Repeat pressing the “Run” button until the entire script has been run.