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Dear ARE computer user:

As an Agricultural and Resource Economics computer user, you are responsible for reading and understanding the UC Davis Electronic Communications Policy, which governs the use of computers and networks on the UC Davis Campus:

Please browse the IT-Express webpage for up-to-date information regarding general computing questions.

Please review the following information about file-sharing, to ensure that you understand the risks associated with unauthorized sharing of electronic copyrighted material:

Here are some tips and FAQs that will hopefully answer some of your common questions, and help you get started with your departmental "Primal" computer account:

  1. What is Primal, (and Deloach, Sylvia, and Lee), and how do I log in?
  2. Does Primal filter email for viruses and spam?
  3. I'm new to Unix, is there any documentation available?
  4. How do I change my Primal password?
  5. How do I print from Primal, Deloach, Sylvia, and Lee?
  6. I'm logged into Primal. What is the Unix command used to check email?
  7. Is there another way to check for email in my "primal" account?
  8. Is there an email phonebook or directory on campus??
  9. I'd like to forward email from my campus account to my Primal account.
  10. I have my own laptop that I'd like to bring into the office and connect to the network.
  11. Can I post a personal webpage on a departmental webserver?
  12. Tell me about departmental mailing lists.
  13. Where is the ARE Computer Lab?
  14. How do I contact the ARE Computer Staff???

1. What is Primal, (and Deloach, Sylvia, and Lee), and how do I log in?

Primal, Deloach, Sylvia, and Lee are the main computing systems of the ARE Department. They are Unix Workstations, located in the machine room in Room 3131 SS&H. Primal is the departmental email (POP) server, and general purpose system for checking mail (pine). Deloach, Sylvia, and Lee are used for general computing tasks. Workstation software is distributed as follows:

Workstation Software
  Primal Deloach Sylvia Lee
Gams 23.0   x   x
Gauss 9.0.2       x
Lemke7   x    
Mathematica 7.0.0   x    
Matlab 7.4.0.347 (R2009a)   x x  
pine 4.64 x      
R 2.4.1   x    
SAS 9.1.3   x    
Shazam 10   x   x
Stata MP 10.1   x    
TeX 3.14159 x      

You can log into Primal, Deloach, Sylvia, or Lee directly from the ARE Computer Lab using SSH client software:

  • From the PC, click on the "SSH Secure Shell Client" icon on the desktop.
  • From the Mac, open a Terminal window (Applications/Utilities/Terminal) and type: ssh primal.ucdavis.edu, or open an X11 window (Application/Utilities/X11) and type: ssh -Y deloach.ucdavis.edu.

By default, remote connections will be refused from hosts outside of the .ucdavis.edu domain, unless pre-registered. Please send email to support@primal.ucdavis.edu to register remote hostnames. Use SecureCRT or ssh to log in, and SecureFX (choose the SFTP Protocol) or sftp for file transfers.

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2. Does Primal filter email for viruses and spam?

Primal, our departmental email server, is running Sophos Puremessage software to protect against problem email. This product provides virus, trojan, and malicious spyware protection at the server level for both incoming and outgoing email.

PureMessage quarantines viruses and messages with a Spam probability over 25%, and all messages with suspicious attachments. What this means is that such messages will be diverted to a "quarantine area."

For information on managing the PureMessage quarantine, see:

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3. I'm new to Unix, is there any documentation available?

There is a brief Unix primer that you should find helpful, written by two of our own ARE Graduate students, available on the departmental Computer Services web page. Some of the specifics have changed since the documentation was written, so if you have any questions, please send email to support@primal.ucdavis.edu.

In addition to Unix documentation, you'll find brief descriptions and FAQs of the econometric software that we have to offer.

Manuals for ArcGIS, Stata and SAS software are available for checkout. Please see ARE Computer Services staff to check out manuals for a 24-hour period.

Some quick Unix commands
Command Result
ls list files in directory
ls -al list all files, in columnar form
ls -al | more list all files, in columnar form, one page at a time
pwd show working directory
man <command> online manual pages for Unix commands
mkdir <dirname> make new directory
rm <filename> remove a file
cp <oldfilename> <newfilename> copy a file
w who is logged on to the system?
cd <dirname> change directory
exit or logout always be sure to logout when you are finished!

— keep in mind, all Unix commands are case-sensitive!!!!!!!!

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4. How do I change my Primal password?

If you would like to change your password, log into Primal and type: yppasswd

You will be prompted for the old password, new password, and the new password again for verification. Be sure to include upper and lowercase characters, and at least one number and special ($^%&*) character mixed into your password. It is mandatory that all passwords be kept secure! When you change your password on Primal, your password on Deloach, Sylvia, and Lee are also updated.

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5. How do I print from Primal, Deloach, Sylvia, and Lee?

An HP 4350 Printer, known as Lab Printer 1, or "hp," is the default printer for Primal, Deloach, Sylvia, and Lee. The printer is located along the back wall of the ARE Computer Lab.

To print the Postscript file x.ps, use the following command:

  • lpr -Php x.ps

To print a text file (ascii) file, use the following command:

  • lpr -Phptext x.txt

Additional scripts to print text files to the default printer can be invoked as follows:

Print Scripts
Script Result
fancy1up <filename> Portrait
fancy2up <filename> Landscape, 2 pages up
fancy1upD <filename> Portrait, both sides of paper
fancy2upD <filename> Landscape, 2 pages up, both sides of paper
fancyland <filename> Landscape
fancylandD <filename> Landscape, both sides of paper

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6. I'm logged into Primal. What is the Unix command used to check email?

pine is the command to check email when you are logged on to Primal. When you run pine, your new mail is stored in the INBOX on primal. Once you have read the messages, they are transferred to the Read-Message folder. Some commands to get you started in pine:

pine  Commands
Command Result
C Compose outgoing message
F Forward message
<ctrl> X Send message
<ctrl> T To Addressbook (the global addressbook is handy!)
<ctrl> C Cancel command
D Delete Message (please delete messages regularly!)
E Export Message (save to disk)
S Save Message (save to an email folder)
% Print current message
M Main menu
L To folder list
Q Quit pine

In pine, a copy of every message you send is kept in the sent-mail folder. Take time to go to the sent-mail folder while in pine, and delete old messages that are not needed. The same is true of the Read-message folder — take time to go to the folder and delete messages that have been read and are no longer needed. Managing your email messages is easy if you get in the habit of tending to it on a daily basis, or whenever you check your email.

The majority of email attachments that you receive will not be viewable on the Unix system, as many require specific software such as Microsoft Word, Excel, etc. You can export (E) the attachment while in pine, then go to a PC or Mac in the lab, run sftp and transfer the file. If you do Export a file while running pine, be sure to delete the file (unix command is rm <filename>) once it's been transferred to another system.

See #7 below for other ways to check email that should make dealing with attachments much easier.

[ Back to FAQs ]

7. Is there another way to check for email in my "primal" account?


The department maintains a web-based interface to email. For complete instructions:

If you have your own system, you can use your own email client software (Eudora, Netscape mail, Outlook) to check mail. When configuring your client software, the pop server should be set to primal.ucdavis.edu. The SMTP server would be set to the SMTP server provided by your Internet Service Provider, or smtp.ucdavis.edu if you are connected through the campus modem pool. For connections within our subnet, the SMTP server can be set to gordy.ucdavis.edu.

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8. Is there an email phonebook or directory on campus??

For departmental (Primal) addresses, log on to Primal and type: ph <cr> to start the program, then type: ph NAME (name is the first or last name of the person).

In Eudora, set the Ph server (Directory Services) to: areph.ucdavis.edu

If you are running pine, check the global addressbook (<ctrl> T)

To look up campus (UCD Login) accounts, check the UCD whois directory:

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9. I'd like to forward email from my campus account to my Primal account.

To have your email forwarded (redirected) from your main campus account to your primal account, use the Computing Account Services web interface

The redirection process is simple, and takes effect overnight.

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10. I have my own laptop that I'd like to bring into the office and connect to the network.

It is possible — but the laptop must first be scanned for viruses and to ensure that all security updates have been applied. Antivirus software is available online through My UC Davis:

Send a request to support@primal.ucdavis.edu to schedule an appointment to drop your system by to be scanned and configured for Internet access.

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11. Can I post a personal webpage on a departmental webserver?

Student web pages are available for both MS & Ph.D ARE students. Students wanting a webpage should send an email request to support@primal.ucdavis.edu to get things started. Items to appear on the web page are office location, phone, fax, email, education, expected year of completion, dissertation topic, dissertation committee, resume, and working or published papers. To get an idea of what the web pages look like, please visit http://www.agecon.ucdavis.edu/people/grad_students/ and click on one of the names.

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12. Tell me about departmental mailing lists.

Mailman software automates mailing lists to ARE Department faculty, staff, grads, lecturers and associates. Graduate students are automatically subscribed to the grads@primal.ucdavis.edu and grads-chat@primal.ucdavis.edu mailing lists with your new account on Primal. The Grads list will be used to electronically distribute items of interest to all graduate students through email. Grads-chat should be used to share informal information between ARE grads.

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13. Where is the ARE Computer Lab?

The ARE Computer Lab is located in Room 3131 SS&H Building. The ARE Computer Lab remains locked at all times for security purposes. Key cards are necessary for access. The telephone number in the lab is 752-5349.

  • There is a No Food or Drink Policy in the ARE Computer Lab
  • Appropriate dress (shoes, shirt, etc.) is required in the ARE Computer Lab at all times

We ask that you pick up after yourself and return all manuals to the bookshelf before leaving. Please do not use recycled paper in the printers, new paper only.

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14. How do I contact the ARE Computer Staff???

Please email all general questions and/or requests to support@primal.ucdavis.edu

It is the fastest way to get assistance, as we all get a copy of the message. The person best suited to the job will get back to you, or we will work together as a team to help you solve your problem.

ARE Computer Staff
Name Title Room Phone #
Edgington, Kathy Programmer/Analyst 3117 SS&H 752-1546
Goettsch, Jeff Programmer 3125 SS&H 752-2219
Warren, Laurie Manager, Computer Services Supervisor 3130 SS&H 752-5357

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