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Note: these instructions assume you are using the new VNC launch script released in 2020. If you are using the older scripts, please follow instructions at your remote site to connect.

Also note that these instructions are intended for observing from official remote sites, if you are connecting from home during the COVID-19 pandemic you will not have a site manager to work with.

Perform Checkout a Few Days Before Your Run

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  1. Schedule checkout. Arrange a time with the site manager at your remote site to perform the checkout. If you're not sure who that person is, please contact your Support Astronomer to find out. The test can be completed any time within 5 7 calendar days of the run, but we strongly recommend doing it at least one business day prior to the run in order to provide adquate adequate time for troubleshooting.

  2. Determine account. Consult the online Keck telescope schedule to determine what your assigned observing account is.

  3. Obtain passwords. Your local site manager can provide you with the required passwords for local hosts, Keck firewall, and Keck observing accounts. If you are observing from home, check that you have submitted an SSH key (via your observer login page), that it is deployed, and that you have put your api key in the local config file of your Remote Observing software.

  4. Test VNC. Follow the instructions below to connect to the VNC sessions for your assigned instrument account.

  5. Report problems. In case any problems crop up, please immediately contact your assigned support astronomer (obtain name of SA from from the online Keck Observing schedule; corresponding telephone numbers should be posted in your observing area).

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  1. Log in to your local machine at your site. The login info should have been provided by your local site staff. Bring up a terminal if needed.

  2. In a terminal, type start_keck_viewers <account> where <account> is your numbered account for the instrument you are scheduled to use.

    • If you need to need to determine your account, see the Keck telescope schedule.The script will likely ask you for the Keck firewall password.

    • The program should bring up several (usually 4) VNC sessions.

  3. When you are done observing, type q to quit in the VNC launch application (in the terminal you used to launch the VNCs). This will close connections to Keck and generally cleanup all processes.

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