The first thing you need to do is actually connect to Tardis and log in. If you are reading this, hopefully you already have an account. If not, check our website for how to get one. If for whatever reason you do not know either your username or password, contact an admin and we'll reset it for you.

For our web services (such as this wiki), you should get redirected to our single-sign-on provider. You can enter your username and password as normal, and then you should be logged in to all of our web services. For some services, you'll need to select 'Login with tardis account' or similar. This is the main way you'll get into things that are already running.

If you want to run your own things or use certain services, you'll need shell access. Here a shell just means a command line - don't worry if you've not used one before.

To get a shell remotely, we use Secure Shell (SSH). This has the advantage of:

1. Encrypting everything you type (including your password) in transit
2. Verifying you're connecting to us and not someone else
3. (Optionally) verifying your identity without using a password.

First, you'll need to open a terminal emulator.

If you're using Windows, we recommend installing the Windows Terminal app to get an easier to use terminal - the built in ones are limited in many aspects. Alternatively, you can use the built-in 'Command Prompt' or 'Powershell' applications.

If you're using Mac OS or Linux, you should already have a decent terminal emulator installed - You can hit Ctrl+Alt+T on lots of linux distros, or search for 'Terminal'.

Once you're in your terminal, type or paste ssh <username>@tardisproject.uk (with your username substituted for <username>). You should see something like this:

The authenticity of host 'tardisproject.uk (217.169.13.63)' can't be established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:VHmYFC31UnqxUAcJqXuGXqaxUS3ie2387KAAOiPhUng.
This key is not known by any other names.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?

This looks scary, but all it's asking us to do is make sure the fingerprint is correct. The one you want is SHA256:VHmYFC31UnqxUAcJqXuGXqaxUS3ie2387KAAOiPhUng - paste this in and it will compare them, making sure you're connecting to us and not someone else. It will also remember the fingerprint, so you should only see this once.

You should now see something like <username>@tardisproject.uk's password: - enter your password (nothing will show up, this is normal).

If you see a big ASCII tardis then congratulations, you are now logged in on your Tardis shell account! If you are new to Linux the lack of graphical interface can be quite intimidating, but don't worry - these tutorials will hold your hand and walk you through it! By the time you finish these, you should feel quite confident in using your account.

First off though, you should change your password from the one given to you. To do this type

kpasswd

and answer the prompts. You just ran your first program! Now go to the next tutorial to learn about how to run other programs under Linux, and move around the filesystem.