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NASIS Secure Access and Secure Shell

Installation Instructions for Use with NASIS 5.0

Contents

Latest revision: 5/22/2001

Installation on Windows 95/98/NT/2000

Download the file EAI-SSH-WIN32_INST.exe and run it on your PC. This will install the Secure Shell (SSH) client, which provides for a secure connection to the NASIS central server. Then download the file NasisSecureAccess_INST.exe and run it to install the NASIS Secure Access application. It will be placed in the directory C:\Program Files\USDA\NASISSecureAccess. The name of the program is NASISSecureAccess.exe. You may want to create a shortcut to this program on your desktop.

If You Have To Reinstall

When you want to install a new version of NASIS Secure Access or SSH you will have to Uninstall the old ones before installing the new ones. Use the Add/Remove Programs option from the Control Panel for this. If there are problems connecting to NASIS after installing the software, it may help to remove the old configuration files:

  • On Windows NT systems remove the directories:
    C:\Winnt\Profiles\your name\.ssh
    C:\Winnt\Profiles\your name\.nasis
     
  • For Windows 95 and 98 users remove the directories:
    C:\Program Files\USDA\users\your name\.ssh
    C:\Program Files\USDA\users\your name\.nasis
     
  • On Windows 2000 systems remove the directories:
    C:\Documents and Settings\your name\.ssh
    C:\Documents and Settings\your name\.nasis

Where it says your name it means the name you use to log in to your PC.

If the eai-ssh-win32.exe program does not install, you may be able to use the file eai-ssh-win32.zip. Contact the Soils Hotline for assistance.

Accessing NASIS from Windows PCs

Before you can connect to NASIS you must have a NASIS user login and password from the Soils Hotline (402-437-5378 or 402-437-5379). The first time you run the NASIS Secure Access program it will open a dialog window requiring you to enter several items, all of which are required. These are your NASIS login name, a directory on your PC where files downloaded from NASIS will be stored, and the location of your X windows emulator software (such as Exceed). You can also edit the name of the NASIS Central Server, the number of files to retrive in one group from the central server, and the Compression Level of your secure shell connection to NASIS. Just accept the default for the NASIS Central Server name. Select a number from the choice list for the number of files to retrieve in one group and choose a compression level. You can always change them later from the File Edit Preferences menu.

On Windows 95 and 98 systems, you will always be prompted for your NASIS Login ID when you start the program since there is no way to determine that on these systems. On Windows NT you will only be prompted with the preferences dialog the first time.

To access NASIS, Start the NASIS Secure Access program. From the Start menu, select Programs, USDA Applications, NASIS Secure Access. If this is the first time, answer the questions as noted above. Click on the tab for Connect to NASIS and click the Start NASIS button. A Command window will pop up for entering your NASIS password. If this is the first time you are using the program, there is an additional question. A message like this will appear:

The authenticity of host 'nasis.usda.gov' can’t be established.
DSA key fingerprint is bf:b8:6e:6f:62:88:84:ca:c5:32:b9:ab:aa:4a:78:ae.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?

Type the word yes (not just y). Then it will ask for your password, and start up NASIS.

There is a Help menu in NASIS Secure Access that provides further information about the use of the program.

Other Suggestions and Potential Problems

Instead of the Start NASIS button we recommend using the button labeled Open an Xterm. This will display a terminal window on the NASIS Central Server, which allows you to start more than one NASIS session or perform other functions with Unix commands. Type the command nasis& to start a NASIS session. You can repeat this command to start additional sessions.

If you get a “runtime error”  when you run NASIS Secure Access, you need to remove two configuration files. On Windows NT systems remove the files C:\Winnt\Profiles\your name\.ssh\config and C:\Winnt\Profiles\your name\.nasis\SecureAccess.cfg. For Windows 95 and 98 users remove the files C:\Program Files\USDA\users\your name\.ssh\config and C:\Program Files\USDA\users\your name\.nasis\SecureAccess.cfg. On Windows 2000 systems remove the files from C:\Documents and Settings\your name\.nasis\SecureAccess.cfg and C:\Documents and Settings your name\.ssh\config. After removing the two corrupted configuration files, run NASIS Secure Access and populate the preferences.

On some Windows 95 and 98 systems, you may see an error message within the DOS window after the PATH statement. The error message contains the words “Too many Parameters”. You can ignore this message.

If you get the message “out of environment space” when trying to connect to NASIS you can increase the environment space on your computer:

  • On a Windows 95 or Windows 98 system:

    Make copy of the c:\config.sys file and then edit the config.sys file and add these lines:

    SHELL=c:\dos\command.com c:\dos\ /e:2048 /p
    FILES=30
    BUFFERS=30

    After you’ve edited the config.sys file, reboot your pc and try the to access NASIS. If you need help or have questions, please call the Soils Hotline.
     
  • On a Windows NT system:

    Make copy of the c:\winnt\system32\config.nt file and then edit the file and add these lines:

    SHELL=c:\winnt\system32\command.com c:\winnt\system32\ /e:2048 /p
    FILES=30
    BUFFERS=30

    After you’ve edited the c:\winnt\system32\config.nt file, reboot your pc and try the to access NASIS. If you need help or have questions, please call the Soils Hotline.

Installation on Sun Systems Running Solaris 2.6 or Higher

Installation packages for both Solaris 2.6 and Solaris 2.7 are available in gzip compressed form (1.8 MB). Download one of the following files:

Put the file in /tmp (or some other directory of your choice) and un-zip it with the command:

gzip -d /tmp/eai-ssh-solaris2?.pkg.gz

A system administrator logged in as root can install the software using:

# pkgadd -d /tmp/eai-ssh-solaris2?.pkg

Then follow the instructions below for Using SSH on Unix Systems.

Installation on HP Systems Running HP-UX 10 or Higher

The HP-UX version can be downloaded in gzip compressed form (3.3 MB) from eai-ssh-hpux10.tar.gz. Place this file in /tmp (or some other directory of your choice) and un-zip it with the command:

gzip -d /tmp/eai-ssh-hpux10.tar.gz

A system administrator logged in as root can install the software using:

cd /
tar xf /tmp/eai-ssh-hpux10.tar

Then follow the instructions below for Using SSH on Unix Systems.

Installation on Unixware Systems

The Unixware version can be downloaded in gzip compressed form (1.4 MB) in eai-ssh-unixware.tar.gz. Place this file in /tmp (or some other directory of your choice) and un-zip it with the command:

gzip -d /tmp/eai-ssh-unixware.tar.gz

A system administrator logged in as root can install the software using:

cd /tmp
tar xf eai-ssh-unixware.tar
pkgadd -d /tmp/openssh-251p2-uw.pkg

Then follow the instructions below for Using SSH on Unix Systems.

Using SSH on Unix Systems

To run SSH, be sure that your PATH includes /usr/local/bin. You also must have a NASIS user login and password from the Soils Hotline (402-438-5379). Then you connect to the NASIS server with the command:

ssh -X myname@nasis.usda.gov

using your NASIS login in place of “myname”. The first time you connect you will get a message something like this:

The authenticity of host “nasis.usda.gov” can’t be established.
DSA key fingerprint is bf:b8:6e:6f:62:88:84:ca:c5:32:b9:ab:aa:4a:78:ae.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?

Type yes (not just y). It will then ask for your password. It will permanently remember the host identity, but it will ask for your password each time you connect.

When you are connected you will have a prompt on the NASIS server. Just type nasis& to begin a NASIS session.

When you export data (FOCS, SSURGO or reports) it will inform you where the file is placed, such as /share/SSURGO/Other/myexport.gz. To copy this file back to your computer, go to another terminal window on your computer (not the one connected to the NASIS server) and cd to the directory where you would like to place your export file. Type:

scp myname@nasis.usda.gov:/share/SSURGO/Other/myexport.gz .

This will ask for your password again, then it will copy the file to your current directory.

If you have questions or suggestions for this page send e-mail to: Soils Hotline.