Zephyr How-to Contents: Basics What is Zephyr? Getting Connected Starting zephyr Stopping Zephyr Writing a personal Zephyr message Classes (group messages) Subscribing to zephyr classes Sending Messages to zephyr classes Seeing who else is on Zephyr Troubleshooting Getting rid of multiple logins on Zephyr (Flushing) Seeing messages you missed (zrepeat) Cool Typing Changing your signature Receive new email notification through Zephyr Shortening what you type to send a message (Aliases) Bolding letters and words Stopping class messages without unsubscribing Stopping login/logout messages without unsubscribing Hiding from others Sending messages to someone outside CMU Andrew Etiquette Lurkers ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ################################################################################ What is Zephyr? ################################################################################ Zephyr is a text-based messaging system. Think of it as AIM without all the bells and whistles programmed in. You can use zephyr to send messages to anyone at CMU, and a couple other schools (basically any school on the AFS network). You can also have group discussions on classes, which are similar to chat rooms (sorta). Zephyr can be very simple to get started, and you can add and use other features as you go along. ################################################################################ Getting connected: ################################################################################ From a Windows machine: 0. Open an SSH Client Use the SSH client of your choice. The one they taught you to use at CSW is SSH Secure Shell. You don't want that. It sucks and does not have ANSI colors enabled as a default (nor does it default to xterm). If you need a good Windows SSH client you should install PuTTY (http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/) which is a much better client IMHO. 1. Connect to "unix.andrew.cmu.edu" 2. Log in using your Andrew userid and password. (At this point you may send messages, but not receive.) From a Macintosh machine (Mac OS X 10.3 or greater, haven't tried on earlier versions): 0. Open Terminal.app (It can be found under Utilities in the Applications folder) other SSH clients should work although Terminal.app is sufficient 1. ssh [yourandrewID]@unix.andrew.cmu.edu (you shouldn't need to specify which server, that will pick a random one) 2. When prompted type your password. (At this point you may send messages, but not receive.) From a (campus) UNIX machine: 0. Logged in? Skip to "Writing a Personal Zephyr message" ################################################################################ Starting zephyr: ################################################################################ 1. At the terminal prompt, type "zstart" You are now able to send & receive zephyrs. On UNIX machines, zephyrs will show up in their own boxes in the upper right hand corner of your screen. Clicking on the message will get rid of them. WARNING: In remote (ssh) terminals the messages will impose themselves on whatever is being displayed (starting at the cursor). See Remote Zephyr Warning! ################################################################################ Stopping zephyr (logging out): ################################################################################ 1. Type "zstop" to stop receiving messages. 2. Type "logout" to log out from unix#.andrew.cmu.edu ################################################################################ Writing a Personal Zephyr message: ################################################################################ 1. Type "zwrite userid" (Where userid is the Andrew userid of the person receiving the zephyr) If screen says, "Userid not logged in to messages", you cannot send a message to that person until they log on. If screen says, "Type your message now. End with a Ctrl-D or period on a line by itself", you may send a message to that person. 2. Type your message. Remember to press "Enter" at the end of each line (about 80 characters). 3. To send the message, type "Enter" to reach a new line, a period, then "Enter" again. ################################################################################ Subscribing to zephyr classes: ################################################################################ Remember, don't type the square brackets, they're just to show that you're not really supposed to type the word. These are like chat rooms where people can send & receive messages. People subscribed to the zephyr class receive all the messages sent to that class. 0. In your home directory, open a file called ".zephyr.subs" (hint: type 'pico ~/.zephyr.subs') If this file does not exist, opening it in pico will create it. 1. Type "[class],*,*" on a line by itself. 2. Type "Ctrl-X" to exit Pico. Type 'y' to save the changes you made. 3. Type 'zctl load' This will make the changes come into effect. ################################################################################ Sending Messages to zephyr classes: ################################################################################ Remember, don't type the square brackets, they're just to show that you're not really supposed to type the word. Also, NEVER replace [class] with 'zephyr'. A LOT of people will be VERY ANGRY at you. 0. Type 'zwrite -c [class] -i instance' and press Enter. -c is the zephyr class -i is the instance, or subject. Please make the subject one word, or multiple words separated by periods instead of spaces (e.g. - "garage.hours"). Avoid symbols. 1. Type your message. Remember to press "Enter" at the end of each line (about 80 characters). 2. To send the message, type "Enter" to reach a new line, a period, then "Enter" again. Or just press 'Ctrl-D' ################################################################################ Seeing who else is on Zephyr: ################################################################################ Set-Up: Set up a file with a list of who you want to see if they are online. 0. In your personal main directory, open a file called ".anyone" (hint: type 'pico ~/.anyone') 1. Type Andrew (or Athena) userIDs, one per line, no symbols. 2. Type 'Ctrl-X' to exit Pico. Type 'y' to save the changes you made. 3. To check your list without editing it, type 'cat .anyone' Using it: 0. While logged into zephyr, type 'znol' This will show you all the people on your list & are logged in to zephyr. If you are not logged in to zephyr, type 'znol -l' Adding People: Type 'echo userid >> .anyone' Removing people: Type 'cat .anyone | egrep -v ^userid$ > .anyone' You will also receive login and logout messages each time someone in your .anyone logs in or logs out, respectively. From a UNIX machine: This will open a window with a list of all the people in your .anyone who are currently online. 0. Open a new Xterm window. 1. Type 'zwatch' ################################################################################ Getting rid of multiple logins on Zephyr (flushing): ################################################################################ This is for cases where you lost your connection but didn't log out from zephyr. Zephyr will show that you are still logged in. These phantom connections are also called "Ghosts." 0. Before zstart-ing again, type 'zctl flush_locs' You can now log in, but you are hidden when you 'zstart' again (no one can see when you log in). 1. Type 'zctl unhide' ################################################################################ Seeing messages you missed (zrepeat) ################################################################################ This displays the last message you received. 0. Type 'zrepeat' and press Enter. 1. To see messages before that one, type 'zrepeat n' where # is the n'th/rd to last message you want repeated. Example: 'zrepeat 2' will display the second to last message you received. ################################################################################ Remote Zephyr Warning (only relevant to ssh session) ################################################################################ From my experience this means, if you're editing something in [texteditorofpreference] or running a longer program, the zephyr message will appear "on top" of [texteditorofpreference] from wherever your cursor is placed. It's very hard to describe, the picture named rem_term_prob.png should illustrate this. Annoying? Yes, especially because sometimes it decides to write in something to my buffer. Here's a workaround figured out between mrwright and myself (djurado): If you want to be able to receive zephyrs without interrupting whatever you are editing or running in your remote session, just open another one! Now that you have two remote sessions, let's call the one you want to work in term0 and the one you want zephyrs received in term1. In term0, type 'zctl wg_shutdown'. In term1, start zephyr as instructed above. By doing this you can work in term0 and still receive messages in term1. Alternatively, if you're only using term1 for zephyrs you can type 'owl' for a zephyr specific environment. NOTE: This will allow you to use zephyr when you're done editing or running whatever you're working on, however it will not allow you to receive zephyrs in term0 again. To re-enable zephyrs in term0 just type 'zctl wg_startup'. ################################################################################ Changing your signature (zsigs) ################################################################################ This is to change the name that appears with every message you send. 0. Type 'zctl set zwrite-signature "foo"' Example: 'zctl set zwrite-signature "Buy More Tangerines!"' Note: Signatures work best if they are only one line. Most people will punt you for extraneously long signatures. ################################################################################ Receive new email notification through Zephyr: ################################################################################ This sets up zephyr to send you a personal message each time you receive new email. 0. In your personal main directory, open a file called ".zephyr.subs" (type 'pico ~/.zephyr.subs') 1. Type "mail,*,%me%" on a line by itself. 2. Type 'Ctrl-X' to exit Pico. Type 'y' to save the changes you made. ################################################################################ Shortening what you type to send a message (Aliases) ################################################################################ Set-Up: This is to shorten what you type each time you send a message to a friend or class. 1. In your personal main directory, open a file called ".cshrc" (hint: type 'pico .cshrc') Leave the contents in the file untouched and add your shortcuts to additional lines. 2. Type 'alias ""' Example: alias zu "zwrite userid" (Replace u & userid with the initial and userid, respectively, of the person you are writing to) alias zz "zstart; znol" alias zadd 'echo \!* >> ~/.anyone' alias zremove "cat ~/.anyone \| egrep -v \"^\!\*\"$ \> ~/.anyone.temp \; mv ~/.anyone.temp ~/.anyone" Notes: a. Commands that need a subject are left blank at the end, like the class instance or finger profile. You will have to fill in the instance or userid when you use these aliases. b. The ";" symbol acts like pressing "Enter" c. Long commands need to be on ONE line. For the last alias, open pico by typing pico w .cshrc. This allows you to paste it all onto one line. 3. Type "Ctrl-X" to exit Pico. Type y to save the changes you made. 4. Open your login file by typing pico .login (This makes the aliases work next time you log in). 5. At the end of the file (after the last line), type source .cshrc 6. Type "Ctrl-X" to exit Pico. Type y to save the changes you made. 7. To use aliases before logging in again, type source .cshrc at the normal prompt. ################################################################################ Bolding letters and words ################################################################################ This makes your letters blue on most telnet screens. 1. In your message, put @b(word) around the word, phrase, or letters you want bolded. Example: Pointers are @b(cool)! will make cool bold. Note: You can also use this in your zsig. ################################################################################ Stopping class messages without unsubscribing: ################################################################################ This is for cases when you want to have personal conversations without seeing class messages. 1. Type "zctl punt class instance *@REALM" Example: zctl punt 213 \* \* The next time you log in, you will receive class messages again. ################################################################################ Stopping Login/Logout messages: ################################################################################ 1. Type "znol off" To get class messages back, type zctl unpunt 213 \* \*. ################################################################################ Unsubscribing to a zephyr class: ################################################################################ This will stop messages and pull it out of your .zephyr.subs file. 1. Type zctl dl 213 \* \* ################################################################################ Hiding from others: ################################################################################ This will allow you to send and receive messages, but not show up when someone types "znol" 1. Type "zctl hide" 2. To become visible again, type "zctl unhide" ################################################################################ Sending messages to someone outside CMU Andrew ################################################################################ You can send messages to people at MIT, in CS at CMU, or AB Tech, to name a few other groups that use zephyr. To send a message to someone in a different realm, type zwrite userid@REALM.ORG Example: zwrite someone@ATHENA.MIT.EDU zwrite geek@CS.CMU.EDU zwrite alum@ABTECH.ORG (This works better with real userids of course ;-) ################################################################################ Etiquette: ################################################################################ 1. No huge long zephyrs, unless you warn ahead of time so people can "punt" the class and instance. Some people are set up to see pop-up windows of messages or have a small buffer space. 2. If you want to discuss something unrelated to 213 on the 213 zephyr class (ie, if zephyr is your substitute for actually having a social life), please use the graffiti instance so other people can punt just that instance. Shamelessly ripped off from: Katherine Crawford's zephyr howto Other information: http://web.mit.edu/answers/zephyr/