IT Overview for Duke Sociology

New affiliates commonly arrive with a Windows or Mac laptop and varying need to prep that device for academic computing at Duke. This material checklists the key decisions and preparation required in this department. Each topic links to in depth discussions.

1. IT Support Staff

Meet and get to know the IT support staff in Sociology

• Bob Jackson, IT Manager - Room 140A - 660-5601
• Jesse Riggan, IT Analyst - Room 140 - 660-5602

See IT Staff section for more information

See Scope of Services for point person on various service points

2. Accounts

You need login and authentication privileges.

• Receive or request your Duke NetID account

  • Issued by the Office of Information Technology
  • Required for many institutional services at Duke

• Receive your Duke Sociology account

  • Sociology Linux Account - issued by Sociology - used for email, personal web pages, and research computing

Both accounts have the same ID composed of your initials followed by a number.

• Password on your NetID should be unique
• Password on your Sociology account should be different from that of your NetID

• See Accounts, Passwords and Logins for more information on accounts

Accessing the services associated with the Duke NetID increasingly involves the use of multi-factor authentication (MFA).

• MFA involves a secondary method of authenticating in addition to NetID credentials
• For most users their smartphone will serve this purpose

• See Multi-Factor Authentication for guidance

3. Account Password Changes

Know how to change account passwords

• Duke NetID passwords are changed at the OIT Password Reset page

• Sociology passwords are changed by running a password change script described in the detailed accounts section

Change initial passwords. Change a password if you have any reason to believe it is compromised.

4. Wireless Access

Configure your wireless devices

Encrypted Wireless

• Wireless service is key to use of laptops, tablets and smartphones.
• The campus is wireless throughout and services are generally of high quality.

• Duke uses an encrypted wireless service named Dukeblue to which you authenticate with your NetID credentials.

• Wireless devices require installation and configuration of device-specific software to support the use of Dukeblue wireless.

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Unencrypted Wireless [not recommended]

• An unencrypted DukeOpen wireless system is available, but it is less secure, lower performing and use is discouraged.

• When using this service, you must register your device for network services.

• Take the browser of your unregistered wireless device (laptop, tablet, or smartphone) to https://dukereg.duke.edu/ and use your NetID credentials to register it.

• Once a device is registered it will be recognized unless it is not used on the campus network for several months.

5. Email

Make basic email decisions.

1. Decide whether to use a Duke email address for professional activity and whether to separate personal from professional email

2. Historically Sociology has provided its own mail service. This practice will soon come to an end and most users now use the Duke mail system. All new users should do so

3. Consider your options for Duke Mail - a cloud-based Microsoft Exchange service

   • Access with the Duke Webmail Outlook client - requires multifactor authentication and the Outlook in use is a component of Office 365

   • Access with a locally installed Outlook client - Outlook 2016 (for Windows or Mac) or Outlook 2019 if you have access
   • Access with another locally installed email client, such as Thunderbird or Mac Mail

   • If not primary, forward to another account such as Gmail

4. OIT provides a publishable, dot-delimited alias (i.e.; John.Doe@duke.edu ). It points by default to your NetID address

   • Redirection is done from the OIT account self-service site, and requires multifactor authentication

   • This Duke alias cannot be redirected to a non-Duke address

6. Domain Account Usage

Understand the uses for your Active Directory Domain account

This falls among the uses for your Duke NetID account

One use case is for logging into computers joined to the campus Active Directory win domain.

• Most desktop computers in Sociology are Windows 10 PCs, networked by Ethernet and joined to the win domain. They default to domain logins providing:

  • Access to your Sociology network home directory when mapped
  • Access to network printers
  • Regular system backups of everything stored in your home directory

A second use case is for mapping a drive letter (under Windows) or a share (under macOS) to a laptop device.

• Mapping on campus via Dukeblue is done directly.

• Mapping off campus may be done from anywhere by preloading of an encrypted connection via the Duke VPN client.

• Details of mapping are covered in Mapping of Your Active Directory Home Directory

• Details of installing and using the VPN are covered in Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client

Observe limits on what you store on the network.

• Use for professional work - papers, documents, datasets, programs and other research/instructional material
• Do not use for personal music, photo, video collections or to store full system backups of laptops or desktops

• General guidelines for use of network resources are found in the Sociology Acceptable Use Policy

7. Windows and macOS Software

Become familiar with the rich assortment of software available through the Duke Software License Office. Much of it is free and downloadable

• What you need will vary by platform. Important and recommended products are listed in the table below. Bolded items are noted for those who will do statistical computing and may need Linux resources.

• This list is by no means exhaustive. See the Software section for additional information.

  Catagory	Windows	macOS	Notes
  Office Suite	Office 2016	Office 2016	Options vary by Faculty/Staff versus Student status and ownership of the machine.
  Bibliographic Tool	Endnote	Endnote	Recommended if you don't already have a tool for this purpose.
  Antivirus	Suggested Antivirus Options	Suggested Antivirus Options	OIT does not provide antivirus software for personally owned computers. Suggested free and for pay options are documented on the software site. Direct questions to Jesse Riggan.
  VPN Client	Duke VPN Client	Duke VPN Client	The VPN is required for remote mapping of Sociology Active Directory network directories. Other services you access over time, such as access to the protected data network, may also require the VPN.
  SSH Client	PuTTY SSH Client		SSH is native to Macs. There are various SSH clients for Windows. OIT links to the free PuTTY SSH client. If using PuTTY, set it to tunnel X11 connections to the X-Win32 software.
  Secure Copy Client	WinSCP	Cyberduck	Based on the SSH protocal, WinSCP allows secure copying between laptop and network storage. Download latest stable release. Cyberduck is widely used for Macs. Another option is FileZilla.
  PC X server software	X-Win32	XQuartz	Required to use Linux server applications that display X-Windows graphics. X-Win32 Note: Install with the node-locked license key, as per step 5 of the activation instructions, to allow for off campus use. The node-locked license key must be updated annually. XQuartz Note: This installation is required for recent Mac OS X versions that do not include X11 software by default.
  Statistical Software	JMP R SAS Stata/SE SPSS	JMP R Stata/SE SPSS	SAS is not available for Mac OS X. SAS is freely available with annual license renewal by June 30. A license grace period expires September 28. Stata licenses cost $50 per year and must be renewed by July 23 annually. SPSS licenses cost $100 per year and must be renewed by July 31 annually.
  Qualitative Analysis	Nvivo	Nvivo	Supports qualitative and mixed method research. Windows Nvivo is a more advanced product than Mac Nvivo, a factor to consider in cross-platform collaboration. Freely available with annual license renewal by December 31 annually.
  Network Printing	ePrint	ePrint	Allows use of campus distributed network printing via DukeCard.
  Creative Suite Tools	Adobe Creative Cloud	Adobe Creative Cloud	Licenses available to faculty and staff for $150 a year. Student licenses free upon enrollment.
  PDF Editing Software	Adobe Acrobat Pro DC	Adobe Acrobat Pro DC	Licenses available to faculty and staff for $50 a year. For students, Acrobat Pro is included in their free Creative Cloud licenses.

8. Linux Account Usage

Understand the requirements and uses for your Sociology Linux account

• Scope

  • Logins are allowed from anywhere
  • Machines available

    • login.soc.duke.edu - general purpose system

    • paradigm.soc.duke.edu - lighter duty statistical and data management server

    • charisma.soc.duke.edu - primary statistical and data management server

• Login requirements

  • The use of an SSH (Secure Shell) client, which provides end-to-end encryption of a session. Optional use of X11 services allows graphical display.
    • Windows PCs

      • There are many SSH clients available for Windows - we recommend PuTTY.

      • Also need X-Win32 to provide an X11 Window environment that supports display of graphical applications. The SSH client must be configured to tunnel X11 connections through X-Win 32.

    • Mac OS X PCs
      • SSH is a native facility on Macs

      • X11 services may be installed under OS X from http://xquartz.macosforge.org/landing/

• Login specifics are covered in the Linux Logins section.

• Services provided

  • Network storage and nightly backups - your Linux home directory is identical to the L: drive in a domain login, thus allowing the ability to work transparently across operating systems

  • Network printing - as detailed in Linux Printing

  • Email service - as described under Email

  • Space for a personal web page, as described in Personal Web Pages - for example, Jen'nan Read

  • Hosted websites for faculty research - for example, the National Congregations Study

  • Text editors for writing programs or composing web pages - pico, emacs, vi
  • Large data set processing - including memory and CPU capacity, with permanent and temporary disk space
  • Applications for data management and statistical modelling, which can be run interactively or in batch mode

9. Linux Software

Become familiar with the statistical software available on paradigm and charisma

• The following apps are available on charisma.soc.duke.edu - with modes of invocation noted for each

  Application	Version	Graphical Mode	Text Mode	Batch Mode	Web-Based
  SAS	9.4	sas &		sas <program_file>.sas &	https://sasstudio.soc.duke.edu
  Stata/SE	15.0	xstata-se &	stata-se	nohup stata-se -b do <filename> &
  R	3.5.0	R -g Tk &	R	R CMD BATCH <program_file>.R &	https://rstudio2.soc.duke.edu

• SAS, Stata, and R are general purpose data management and analysis applications

10. Network Printing Within Sociology

Enable personal laptop PCs to print on Sociology network printers

• Sociology network printers are not ePrint enabled. Access is by configuration of network printers onto personal laptops. Network printers are available on the first, second and third floors. Details for Windows and Mac OS X are available by request.

• Printing to Sociology network printers from Linux is detailed in Linux Printing.

11. Other Topics

Be aware of the fuller range of IT issues and services

• Personal computer purchases - consider offerings of the Duke Technology Center (more expensive, but complete care warranties and local repairs through Duke) - talk your needs over with Bob or Jesse.

• Hardware failures - consult with Jesse.

• System and application updates - patch, patch, patch - perform regularly or set to auto-update.

• Security - keeping viruses and malware at bay - install some form of anti-virus protection with daily updates - come to staff for assistance and cleanup tools.

• Hard Drive Encryption - hard drives of laptops purchased with Duke funds must be encrypted; it is also prudent to encrypt drives of personally owned laptops.

• Secondary Data - become familiar with the resources of ICPSR at the University of Michigan - http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/

  • please speak with Bob Jackson as your data needs increase or become more complex, particularly on the network, to ensure efficient use and storage
  • also consult with Bob on the preparation of secure data plans required for use of restricted data resources

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