First Connection

From Coder Merlin
< Shell
Revision as of 16:35, 12 December 2021 by imported>Anton-krom
Within these castle walls be forged Mavens of Computer Science ...
— Merlin, The Coder

Coder Merlin is a cloud-based server where we’ll be doing most of our exercises. To access Merlin, you’ll need a secure shell client.

If you’re using a Mac or a Linux based device you’ll probably have a built-in client that you can access from the terminal.

If you’re using a Windows-based device, you can access a terminal by installing Google Chrome, and then within Google Chrome typing “Secure Shell Extension” and then installing the extension.

Either way, you’ll need a connection string to access the server. The connection string will begin with your first name and last name separated by a hyphen, for example: john-williams. The rest of the connection string will be @ssh.codermerlin.com

For John Williams, the entire connection string would be:

 john-williams@ssh.codermerlin.com

After you’re connected, you’ll be prompted to enter your password. After a successful logon, you'll land in the "shell".


Hint.pngHelpful Hint
You won't see your password being echoed to the terminal as you type it. This occurs to keep others from easily seeing your password. Just believe that your keypresses are being received correctly.


CautionWarnIcon.png
The correct connection string, like many identifiers that you'll encounter in computer science, must be entered exactly. There is no tolerance for any variance. As such, pay close attention to the requirements. If you make a mistake, you may be locked out of the server for a period of time. If this happens, verify the connection string and your password, wait a while, then try again.