When our system processes your enrolment from NSS data, it automatically creates a username (also known as login id) for you as part of your account but does not set a password. In order to learn your username and set your password, you need to initialise your account. Several slightly different procedures for doing this are described below.
If you are enrolled in a first year computing course such as ENGG1811
Your tutor will help you with this in your first lab, although you are welcome to do it anytime before.
If you are enrolled in a first year computing course such as COMP1917 or COMP1911
Your tutor will help you work through Lab0. The first exercise in Lab0 is to initialise your account.
For any other students or if you wish to initialise your account before your first lab, follow the steps below:
You will need to know your student number to initialise your account.
Your student number is on your student card which you collect from FMAssist.
When you got your card, you should have received your UniPass; if for some reason you didn't, then go to the IT Service Desk in the Library. Most methods of initialising your account require your UniPass.
If you are in one of the CSE Linux laboratories
ie. you are looking at a login screen (which is dark blue with a single box in the middle for entering your username) you will use the Linux initialisation program which requires your student number and UniPass.
If you are at another UNSW computer or at home
Go directly to the Yellow Form. From here on the procedure is exactly the same as if you had started the Linux initialisation program at Step 2.
If you have any problems initialising your account or logging in afterwards, ask the CSE Help Desk or your tutor for assistance.
Your account should remain active from year to year as long as you remain enrolled in a CSE program so there is no need to re-initialise it. You will, however, have to accept the Conditions of Use every year and will be sent a reminder email about this at the beginning of session 1.
Staff and visitor accounts are handled somewhat differently to student accounts in that they are manually created by SS upon receipt of a new person form, and the employee/visitor will be informed of their username. Once you know this, you can initialise your account by running the program called newacc, which can be done remotely.
if you are at CSE, locate an unused linux lab computer showing a login screen and enter newacc for the username, no password;
the program will then ask you for your username and ask you a question to verify your identity;
the program will then ask you to set a password. You will need to set a strong password: one which is not a word in a dictionary and preferably contains numbers, capital letters and punctuation characters;
you will then exit newacc.
You should be able to login with your new username and password within 5-10 minutes of running newacc.
Your first login may be a bit slow as the system creates a home directory for you. If you encounter problems while running newacc, or can't login afterwards, contact SS.