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Common issues with the shell.newpaltz.edu web host
Below is a listing of common issues that individuals may have when trying to access or use the shell.newpaltz.edu web host.
I can't login
There are a couple things to check when trying to login:
- Unlike other campus systems - you can't use your full email address in your username when logging into Shell. Make sure to use the part of your email address before the @ sign. For example, if your email address was hugohawk1@newpaltz.edu then you'd only use hugohawk1 as your username.
- Your password for the shell system is what you set when you requested your account. It is not set to be the same password as on other campus systems (unless you chose that same password when you requested the account).
- If your password doesn't work, or you don't remember it, you can reset it. Just re-request the account via my.newpaltz.edu. You'll be able to select a new password. Your existing account will not be recreated if it already exists, it will just have it's password updated.
- You should connect via an SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) client, such as WinSCP (Windows only), Filezilla (Windows/Mac/Linux), or Fetch (Mac only, free to students or employees).
- When using an SFTP client, make sure it is in SFTP mode (it should show the port number as '22'). Using Insecure FTP is not supported.
- When connecting via SFTP you should use shell.newpaltz.edu as the hostname you are connecting to, not www2.newpaltz.edu or www.newpaltz.edu.
- Make sure you have requested an account - shell accounts are not setup by default. To request an account go to my.newpaltz.edu and do the following:
- Students: Click Information Technology Services on the left, then Sign-up for Web Space.
- Faculty/Staff: Click Employee Resources on the left, then Request Shell Account
I can't access my website
If you are able to connect via SFTP, but your website is not loading, there are a few things to check:
- Your website name address is: www.newpaltz.edu/~ (that's a tilda symbol) followed by your username. Your username should be lower case. So if your username was 'hugohawk' your web address would be www.newpaltz.edu/~hugohawk
- Do not use shell.newpaltz.edu as the website address, only for connecting via SFTP.
- Do you have an index page? If you do not have a file called 'index.html' (all lower case), then the main root of your web page will not load, and you will get a "forbidden' message.
- Are you putting your files in the public_html subdirectory that you see when you log in via SFTP? If files are not in public_html (or within subdirectories inside of public_html) they will not be accessible via the web.
I'm still having issues
- If you're still having issues logging into your site, or accessing your site via your web browser, we can help! Go to the service page for shell and click "Request Assistance". Make sure to provide any error messages you are receiving when trying to connect to your site via SFTP or with a web browser.
- Please note: We are unable to provide any design assistance, and can only troubleshoot connectivity or log in issues.