GCG Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do I get a Bioscience UserID?

"gcg.unc.edu" is the ITS computing platform specifically dedicated to the molecular biology application GCG and other biological software. As such, the availability of user IDs on this system is strictly related to the need to access these applications.

In order to get a user id on gcg.unc.edu you must first get an onyen account.  To sign up for an onyen, make sure you have a PID and go to the onyen website.  Click on the button to create an onyen.  Once your onyen account is functional, return to the onyen website.  Near the bottom of the page under the "Other Services" heading, follow the link to subscribe to services.  Login when prompted, and you will be brought to the subscription page.  The services available to you will be shown in the "Unsubscribed Services" box.  Click the button for the bioscience services to activate your service.  Close this window and repeat the above steps to return to the subscription page.  Make sure that bioscience services appears in the Subscribed Services box.

If there is no option to subscribe to bioscience server access, you should send an email to research@unc.edu requesting GCG access.

Note:  Because onyen user ids are not created until 1AM, after creating an onyen, please allow time for that user id to actually be created before writing to research@unc.edu for access to gcg.unc.edu (in other words, after creating an onyen wait until the next day to contact them).

Where do I buy manuals?

GCG manuals are no longer available in print form locally. They are all online at GCG Manuals.

How do I print from the Bioscience computer?

There are two ways to get printout from "gcg.unc.edu" (the bioscience computer). The first method is to transfer a file (regular text or print file) to your local (desktop) machine (using ftp), then print it from your local machine.

The other method is to print the file directly from "gcg.unc.edu" to a networked printer.

How do I connect to the Bioscience server?

The Bioscience server has recently switched over to using the SSH protocol instead of a normal telnet.  To access the server, follow the steps below:

Windows Users:

  1. Download the Secure Shell Client from:  http://shareware.unc.edu.
  2. Run the SSH Client.
  3. Click on the Quick Connect button and fill in the fields as follows:
    • Host Name: gcg.unc.edu (Important: see the Note below the “All other Macintosh Users:” instruction)
    • User Name: your onyen
  4. Click Connect.  You will be prompted for your password, enter your onyen password and hit ok.
  5. You may now begin using the command-line interface of GCG. For help in using this interface, please see the GCG Manuals.

Macintosh OS X Users:

  1. Download and install X11. For Mac OS 10.3 through 10.3.9 X11 can be found at: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/x11formacosx.html. For Mac OS X 10.4: Install X11 using the Mac OS 10.4 install DVD.
  2. Run X11, at the $ prompt, type in "ssh -X 'your onyen'@gcg.unc.edu" and hit enter (Important: see the Note below the “All other Macintosh Users:” instruction).
  3. Type in your onyen password when prompted and hit enter.
  4. You may now begin using the command-line interface of GCG. For help in using this interface, please see the GCG Manuals.

All other Macintosh Users:

  1. Download and install MacSSH from http://www.macssh.com.
  2. Run MacSSH, and from the File Menu, select "Open Connection".
  3. Type in "gcg.unc.edu" (Important: see the Note below the “All other Macintosh Users:” instruction ) when you are prompted for the host name.
  4. A window will pop up and prompt you for your username and password.  Enter your onyen and your onyen password, and hit ok.
  5. You may now begin using the command-line interface of GCG. For help in using this interface, please see the GCG Manuals.

 

How do I get an Xwindow server?

If you want to use the GCG Gui (Graphical User Interface), which GCG calls Seqlab, you must do several things.

First, you must have Xwindow server software for your local computer. Currently, we recommmend X-Win32 for Windows and X11 for Macintosh OS X.  There is no free XWindows server for Mac OS 9 or earlier currently available.  ITS has a site license for X-Win32. To get X-Win32 go to https://shareware.unc.edu.  Download and install X11. For Mac OS 10.3 through 10.3.9 X11 can be found at: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/x11formacosx.html. For Mac OS X 10.4: Install X11 using the Mac OS 10.4 install DVD.

After you have installed the Xwindow Server software, you can then follow the subsequent steps to start the GCG GUI.

  1. Start X-Win32 or X11.

For a Macintosh, do the following:

    • At the $ prompt of the X11 terminal window, type " +xhost gcg.unc.edu".

For Windows, do the following (these steps only need to be taken once when you install X-Win32):

    • After starting X-Win32, you should see a small blue X icon in your system tray, right-click on it and select X-Config.
    • Under the sessions tab, click the Add... button.
    • Select XDMCP as your connection method and click Next.
    • In the window that appears next, type "gcg.unc.edu" into the host name field, "gcg" into the session name field, and select "Query" as the XDMCP mode.
    • Keep the Default options for all other settings and click Save.
    • Now that you are back at the initial window, select the Security tab.
    • Click the Add... button and type "gcg.unc.edu" into the window that has just appeared. Hit ok. Under the same tab, check the Access Control box.
    • In the main X-Win32 config window, hit ok to save these settings.
  1. Start your SSH client, connect to gcg.unc.edu, and log in.
  2. At the $ prompt on "gcg.unc.edu" type in: setenv DISPLAY yourIPnumber:0.0 (where ip number is the ip number of the machine you are sitting at.) The command must be entered using the same case as shown here. Unix is case sensitive.
  3. type: seqlab &
  4. After a few seconds you may receive a message from XWin telling you that an XClient is attempting to connect. Select “Allow it”, and click OK. Following this, the Seqlab windows should appear

How do I use Seqlab?

Please view to our Seqlab Tutorial to become familiar with the Seqlab interface. For more in depth information, you can refer to the Seqlab Manuals.