NIU Department of Mathematical Sciences

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Obtaining an Academic Computer Services account

[Note: this document is badly outdated; NIU accounts are now automatically created for all new employees]

You will need an account on one of the ACS computers if: you want to run programs on the mainframe, you need to access administrative systems such as student records, or you want to use the campus dial-in system.

In the first two cases you will be using a computer known as mvs.cso.niu.edu. In the third case you will want an account on one of the general purpose Unix computers. For faculty, this means corn.cso.niu.edu. Students will get an account on rice.farm.niu.edu, oats.farm.niu.edu, or wheat.farm.niu.edu. When you are done with the procedure described below, you will need to remember three pieces of information:

• username, e.g. tf0hst1
• full name of the computer for which the account was granted, e.g. corn.cso.niu.edu
• your password for that account.

Note: These accounts are for ACS computers and dialup only. To obtain an account valid for the Math Department machines, please see this document.

Account request form

For general Unix account and/or dialup account check "Unix 2MB". You should fill in your name, departmental address and phone, affiliation, and sign the form. To request general mainframe access, check the "MVS/SuperWylbur" box; most of our users won't need it. To request access to student records, check "CICSPROD" (you must be an administrator authorized for such access).

The form must be signed by the Chair of the Math Department (or by the Director of the Statistics Division, if you are in Stats), and taken to SP 110.

Changing the password

If the account is on the mainframe, contact the system manager for help. If it's on a Unix system, use one of our workstations, or a microcomputer to telnet to that machine (see more information on using telnet if you are not sure how to do it). Then follow the normal procedure for changing a password on a Unix system.

Remember that the login name and password obtained from ACS have nothing to do with your Math Department account. Use the former when logging in to computers outside the Department. It is also a good idea to use a different password on external computers, even though it might be inconvenient: if one of the accounts gets broken into, the other will not be compromised.