Servers and Databases

SSH Gate

Some servers are only accessible inside the university network. JGU provides an SSH jumphost server you can use to connect to these servers.
For authentication, only → public key authentication is allowed.

First you need to create an SSH key. If you already own an SSH key, you can go to the next step.
A guide on how to create an SSH key can be found → here.

You need to link your SSH key to your user account.
To do so, visit https://account.uni-mainz.de/my-account/add-ssh-key
On this site you find an input field named 'SSH-Key hinzufügen'.

Paste your public key into this input field. The comment of this key must contain SSHGATE. You can edit your key inside the field after you pasted it. An SSH key comment is always at the end of the key. If you want to connect to multiple servers using this authentication you need to separate them using ,.
Example: ... SSHGATE,HPCGATE,HPCLOGIN

💡 The server name declares the servers the key is deployed to.
If the same key should be used on multiple servers all servers must be added to the comment. If multiple keys should be used each key comment must contain the corresponding server name.

When you have finished, click on SSH-Key Speichern.

To connect to a server using SSHGATE as a jumphost use the following command.
ssh -J username@sshgate.zdv.uni-mainz.de loginname@Targetserver
The -J option tells ssh to use the first server as a jumphost.

You can add the SSHGATE server to your ssh config file. This way the connection can be called with a shortcut.
To add a shortcut you need to edit the file ~/.ssh/config.
You need to add the following lines.

Host ShortcutName
  User loginname
  HostName Targetserver
  ProxyJump username@sshgate.zdv.uni-mainz.de

After the file is edited you can call the shortcut with ssh ShortcutName.

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latex.zdv.uni-mainz.de – collaborative use of ShareLaTeX/Overleaf

Since the beginning of September 2019 an installation of ShareLaTeX/Overleaf is available at → https://latex.zdv.uni-mainz.de/ where you may login with your JGU account.

In ShareLaTeX/Overleaf LaTeX source code may be edited online by several users at the same time. The system supports almost all functions of LaTeX, for example inserting pictures, bibliographies and equations.

More information about the system is available here:

→ https://www.zdv.uni-mainz.de/sharelatex-overleaf-latex-zdv-uni-mainz-de/ (in German), and here:

→ https://de.overleaf.com/learn (documentation in English).


More news from the Data Center → may be found here.

Web Server

Self developed websites and web-applications can be hosted using a web server of the data center.
A complete list of all hosting options is available here.
For users who don't want to develop their own website, the ZDV offers preconfigured WordPress blogs.

Web servers can run a complete LAMP stack. LAMP stands for:

  • Linux:
    the operating system of the server
  • Apache:
    provides the website
  • PHP (optional):
    to execute application code
  • MySQL/MariaDB(optional):
    data management

Apache is a necessary requirement for displaying a website. PHP and MySQL/MariaDB are optional.

The server will be configured according to your requirements. After the Server has been configured, you will receive the login credentials.

ZDV services

  • domain-name creation with the suffix .uni-mainz.de
  • provision of operating system and system environment
  • provision of storage space
  • network connection
  • generation and deployment of HTTPS certificates
  • automatic backups
⚠ A web-server is only provided for institutions of the University Mainz.
Apply for a web server.
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Gitlab

GitLab is a web-based Git repository manager with wiki and issue tracking features.

The Data Center hosts its own GitLab instance for universities of Rhineland-Palatinate at → gitlab.rlp.net.

Documentation on how to use is to be found here: → gitlab.rlp.net/help.

If you have questions or suggestions about this service, you can contact us via email: unix@zdv.uni-mainz.de or via chat: https://mattermost.gitlab.rlp.net/gitlab/channels/town-square.

  1. Courses
  2. Features
  3. Limitations
  4. Login
    1. Git via SSH
    2. Git via HTTPS with Login name/Password
  5. Invitations
  6. Login to Mattermost
  7. Usage

Courses

The Unix group regularily offers courses on Git and GitLab!

Features

In addition to GitLab default functionality, we have enabled the following:

  • GitLab Mattermost at mattermost.gitlab.rlp.net
  • GitLab Pages below pages.gitlab.rlp.net
  • GitLab Shared Runner (three instances, using Docker executor in privileged mode) for Continuous Integration and Delivery
  • GitLab Container Registry at registry.gitlab.rlp.net
Documentation on how to use is to be found here: → gitlab.rlp.net/help.

Limitations

By default, every user can create 100 projects with a size of 10 GB each. These limits can be increased individually upon request.

Login

If you are a student/employee at a university in Rhineland-Palatinate, you may use your university credentials to log in. To do so, use the button login.rlp.net in the upper right section on the login screen:

However, the use of the Data Center's GitLab is not restricted to students/employees.
If you do not have a student/employee account, you may register a JGU account and log in with a username and password using the form in the bottom right section on the login screen.

Git via SSH

If you want to push and pull to Git repositories in GitLab via SSH, you need to generate a key pair first.
A tutorial is available at www.en-zdv.uni-mainz.de/ssh-key.

Git via HTTPS with Login name/Password

If you want to push and pull to Git repositories in GitLab via HTTPS, you need to be aware of the following:

Invitations

You may also invite other people to your project. Inside your project, click on Settings and on Members:

Then click on Select Members to invite:

If the person you are looking for has signed in before, you will be able to search for their name. Otherwise you need to enter an email address. This doesn't need to be an email address of a university. If you choose a non-university address, then the invited person will have to register a JGU account, before they can participate in the project.

Login to Mattermost

Mattermost uses your Gitlab credentials to log in. On your first login you need to authorize Mattermost to use your Gitlab account for authentication.
First you need to establish a connection between Mattermost and Gitlab. The dialogue looks different depending if you clicked an invite link or browsed to the side directly.

if following an invite link
browse to site

GitLab Single Sign-On or GitLab depending how you opened the site.
Log in to Gitlab as described above. After logging in you will be asked to authorize Mattermost to your JGU account.

Click on Authorize you will be logged in and forwarded to Mattermost.

Usage

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Data Backup via Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM)

A guide on how to use TSM on Windows is only available in German, as work on the English version is still in progress. We apologize for the inconvenience. The guide is available here.

Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) enables you to do → incremental backups of computers, and to archive files.

 

 

Explanation

Backups facilitate protection and recovery of files, for example after a disk problem or after accidental deletion of files. At the TSM server the files will be overwritten with any new version, and the previous version as well as the newest version will be provisioned on the server. If the previous version is older than 90 days it will be deleted.

If a user deletes a file on his computer, the latest version of the file will be stored on the server for 180 days and earlier versions will be deleted.

Please note: if you save a file with the same name in the same directory as the file that was previously deleted, then the backed-up latest version of the deleted file will be overwritten by the new file at the next backup.

We recommend to make a daily backup of file systems and to exclude directories with many files that change very often (scratch, tmp, ...). If the latest backup of a file system was made more than a year ago, it will be deleted by the Data Center.
A backup is tied to a specific computer.

Archives are made for storing files that are currently not - or only rarely - needed. This enables you to save storage space on local storage media..

In case of a re-setting of the archive system of the university the users of the archive have to transfer the files from the old archive to a new one no later than 3 months after having been notified.
Archives can be access by multiple persons using a password.

Apply for access

Your computer needs to be added as a node to the server. You may apply for login credentials by writing an email to hotline@uni-mainz.de.
You need to provide the following information:

For Backups

  • A valid email address
  • Your computer's IP address
    • Linux
      You can get your computer's IP address by typing ip addr. You will see a list of all your network interfaces. Choose your network interface. In most cases this will start with "en" on a wired connection and with "wl" on a wireless connection. Your IP address can be found after the first line starting with inet.
    • Windows
      Type ipconfig into your terminal. We need the Ipv4 address.
  • FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
    • Linux
      You can get your FQDN by typing hostname -f inside a terminal.
    • Windows
      Press windows + pause a windows opens the FQDN is the "Full computer name".
  • An estimate of how much space you will need.

For Archives

    • A valid email address
    • For which institution this archive is for
    • How long is the archive needed
    • An estimate of how much space you will need.
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Docuware

What is Docuware?

Docuware is the central Document Management System (DMS) of the university, which is being used for both scientific and administrative purposes and is run by the Data Center.

The Document Management System serves as a central repository for revision-safe and long-term archiving of digital documents - to be retrieved at any time.

For this we set up Docuware archives, where PDF documents can be stored with structured metadata and indexing fields. Storage can also be configured in an encrypted format in case this is necessary for data privacy.
Documents and files may be flexibly imported into the system from various data sources. Writing and reading access is enabled via the JGU account and is administered using separately configured authorisation concepts for each archive.

Indexing usually happens eitther when new documents are being manually filed into the archive, or when they are being automatically imported. In some cases indexing is configured as a nightly job.

For projects with extensive amounts of data an individually configurable scanning software with barcode recognition is available.
Content access for all archives is available via the web browser and therefore platform independent.

Services of the Data Center

We will counsel regarding the implementation of your requirements, establish archives for you including authorisation schemes and indexing fields and, if required, configure the system for automatic imports and/or nightly indexing.

We will also, if requested, counsel regarding applicable scanners and provide support in case of problems or questions.

You Would Like to Use Docuware?

→ Here is an application form for establishing a Docuware archive (in German).

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Servers and Databases

Please note: Some of the links below lead to pages in German, as work on the English version is still in progress. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Here's a list of the servers and databases that we offer:

 

 

 

Universal

  • Server hosting: for operating your own, self-administrated system using
  • Database hosting: for operating your own, self-administrated MySQL- or MS-SQL database

Data Management

  • Tivoli Storage Manger (TSM): data backup and directory-based long-term archiving for all computers, even outside of the domain uni-mainz
  • Seafile: data exchange server
  • Docuware: a Document Management System for long-term archiving and full text indexing of electronic documents

Icon: E-Learning E-Learning and E-Assessment

  • Reader: a platform for content of lectures and feedback
  • Moodle: course management system and learning platform
  • Ilias: E-assessment system
  • Limesurvey: an application for online surveys

Icon: HPC High Performance Computing

Internet and Net Access

  • Remote desktop server: working from an off-campus workplace
  • FTP-Server: access to home directories, group directories und virtual host directories via the file transfer protocol
  • WordPress: the central WordPress installation for publishing web pages within the layout of the university
  • Sharepoint/Teamweb: information sharing via non-public web pages (intranets)

Communication und Collaboration

Multimedia

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