How to start a virtual machine 1) In normal circumstances my virtual machine doesn't run. If I want to start it, it it neccessary to make (just and only) one of steps 1a, 1b: 1a) Connect via telnet to the machine unix.dcs.fmph.uniba.sk, port 44000; at deparment labs you can also use short name "unix". So: > telnet unix.dcs.fmph.uniba.sk 44000 or > telnet unix 44000 After connecting I'll enter my login name (exactly the same I entered when creating the virtual machine). 1b) Connect via ssh on port 44444 (machine is the same), so: > ssh unix.dcs.fmph.uniba.sk -p 44444 -l carrot if my name is e.g. Joseph van der Carrot. Similarly as in previous case, you will be asked to enter your password. 2) If everything went fine, one problem still may appear -- virtual computer may refuse to start, because it is already running. In this case, it is recommended to verify this fact :). You can do it by jumping directly to step 4 of this tutorial. If the machine is not running, you can safely answer 'a' to unlock and start it. 3) Virtual machine starts booting and write a lot of messages; most of them is not very interesting. One of interesting messages is quite close to the beginning and looks roughly like this: Kernel command line: ubd0=/home/mrkva/ubd0.cow,/boot/ubd0.img con0=fd:0,fd:1 con=port:44042 umid=mrkva mem=16m ubd1=/home/mrkva/ubd1.img ubd2r=/boot/cd.iso ubd3=/home/mrkva/ubd3.img eth0=daemon root=/dev/ubd0 There I can find out (if I had forgot) number 44042, which is quite important in next steps. This number depends on user name and doesn't change, so simply rememebering it should be enough. And if you are reading also this sentence, your machine already shows you login prompt on something similar to console of your machine. You DO NOT log in there! 4) I'll try to telnet (ssh unfortunately doesn't work here) to unix.dcs.fmph.uniba.sk, to the port with number I was supposed to remember (or find out in step 3). So: > telnet unix.dcs.fmph.uniba.sk 44042 and I can see login-prompt where I can safely log in and start working with my virtual machine. If I need more terminals, I can open another ones using the same telnet command. 5) If I'm logging in for the first time, there is only one user on you virtual machine -- root, which doesn't have any password set. It is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to change it. :-) 6) After finishing I have to turn my computer correctly off (the virtual one, but you can also the real one, if you'd like:). This can be achieved by executing "poweroff" and waiting until it shuts down.