From now until Aug. 25, Michigan Tech will be upgrading computers to RHEL 9 in Rekhi 112, Rekhi 113, and Rekhi 118 to RHEL9, including Colossus.it.mtu.edu. During the transition process, systems will be unavailable for use.
The Linux systems in Dow 211, Dow 853, MEEM 707, Rekhi 117, Library (orange zone), and Guardian.it.mtu.edu have all been upgraded to RHEL9. Please use these systems to test that your course material will work as expected. In addition, verify that your class/coursework is in the Linux Lab Software List for RHEL9 with valid contact information and course details. Software is categorized as:
- Dropped due to lack of upstream RHEL9 support or absence of associated contact information
- Are already deployed
- Are currently waiting for more info/testing before being deployed
- Are not yet ready for testing.
Beginning this fall, RHEL 9 lab computers will be configured to automatically log out after four (4) continuous hours of inactivity. Both graphical and SSH sessions will be logged out if there is no input for four hours. To avoid losing any unsaved work, please save all work before leaving the system idle. If you are actively using the machine during the four hours since you logged in, then you will not be logged out.
As improvements to cryptographic policies have been implemented in RHEL 9, this has changed how the SSH identification keys work when connecting to Colossus or Guardian via SSH. Although the host identification keys for these servers have not changed, the SSH server now prefers a key with stronger encryption. As a result, when connecting to these systems via SSH you may see a warning such as “REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!”. In this case, this is not a sign of malicious activity. To verify that you are connecting to the correct system, you can use the information in this KB article to help verify the identity of Colossus and Guardian.
RHEL9 is now the default OS for fully managed Linux on new installs or rebuilds of graduate, faculty, and staff office workstations. We are in the process of gathering information about campus RHEL 8 systems and will be in contact with individuals who have a fully managed Linux computer running RHEL 8 to coordinate an upgrade. If you would like to upgrade your current Linux system to RHEL9, please reach out to us at it-help@mtu.edu and we will work with you.
To receive email notices of important information about Linux instruction labs or Linux office workstations, you can join our Linux mailing list. For additional questions or to offer feedback on the RHEL9 campus lab system, we can help. Contact IT at it-help@mtu.edu or call 906-487-1111.