Procedures and Guidelines for Linux Machines

Administration Provided by Computer Support Group

The School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Computer Support Group (CSG) supports Linux as an operating system on the ECE network based on the following conditions:

Installation has been approved by the CSG through the help and support ticketing system, help@ece.gatech.edu. Installation requests must be initiated through the Linux Request Form (see below).
The installation is a CSG managed configuration of the Georgia Institute of Technology’s licensed Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). No other distributions are supported.
Installation is for desktop computers owned by the Georgia Institute of Technology only; installation on personally owned systems are not supported.
In the CSG managed configuration, the CSG maintains the root password and is responsible for all security patches and updates to the system. Login is provided via ECE’s centralized UNIX logins. The CSG will provide installations of or access to Georgia Institute of Technolgy (GT)'s licensed applications if and when necessary. As with Windows-based systems, enhanced permissions (via sudo) can be provided, if necessary or applicable.
Installations pertaining to booting of multiple operating systems is not allowed. This is considered an insecure procedure partly (but not only) because there is less of a chance that all operating systems will remain securely patched with bug-fixes and security patches in a timely manner.

Self-Administration

The ECE CSG will provide a network connection ONLY (i.e. no desktop support) for Linux-based systems under the following conditions:

Installation has been approved by the CSG through the help and support ticketing system, help@ece.gatech.edu. Installation requests must be initiated through the Linux Request Form (see below).
The installation must meet the guidelines of the campus Computer and Network Usage Policy (available online at the Office of Information Technology (OIT) website). The CSG cannot install GT licensed applications on systems not managed by the CSG (see the previous section of these support procedures). In addition, CSG centrally managed services (including. but not limited to. WWW, FTP, SQL) are not to be enabled on the system. Further questions concerning this can be addressed to the CSG help and support ticketing system, help@ece.gatech.edu.
A primary point of contact is established for each individual system. At least, a valid Georgia Institute of Technology email address must be provided (e.g. @gatech.edu or @ece.gatech.edu).
The primary point of contact is responsible for overseeing the timely application of all security patches and bug-fixes applicable to the operating system and it's software applications.
The primary point of contact is responsible for overseeing the security and integrity of the operating system and it's software applications (e.g. monitoring for viruses, Internet worms, etc.). In the event the system is determined to have been “compromised”, it will be immediately removed from the network. It is then the primary point of contact's responsibility that the system is repaired or, if necessary, reinstalled before it will be allowed to reconnect to the network.
The CSG is notified of any distribution installation changes so we can keep our “database of information” up to date.
Installations pertaining to booting of multiple operating systems is not allowed.

Failure to comply with any of the above guidelines will result in the system being immediately disconnected from the network.

If you would like to run Linux on the ECE network, please fill out our Linux Request Form:

Last revised on August 28, 2006.