On November 24, Keck released a significant upgrade to the remote observing software which observers use to connect to the instrument VNCs from home. If observers have already configured their software to connect from home, they do not need to upgrade if they don’t want to. The current (v1.x) connection will still work. There are benefits of upgrading to version 2.0 however:
Benefits of v2.0 of the Remote Observing software for observers
Observers can upload and manage their own SSH keys via their observer login page. Observers no longer have to contact Keck Staff in order to load their SSH key in to the system.
Once an observer’s SSH key is uploaded, they no longer need to obtain secure information from Keck Staff before connecting.
Once their key is uploaded, they will be given an “API key” which they will put in the local configuration file of the Remote Observing software. This key will enable a secure connection to Keck without the need to have the firewall password.
This means that observers will not need to obtain the firewall password from Keck Staff as the password changes over time.
We believe that this represents a significant benefit to the users and it also lessens the support burden on Keck Staff, so we encourage all observers to upgrade when it is convenient for them.
How to Upgrade
Observers must do three things to upgrade:
Upload their SSH key via their observer login page and note the “API key” that is assigned to it.
Update the Remote Observing software to version 2 by typing
git pullin the directory where the software is installed.Add the API key to the
local_config.yamlas described in the README for the Remote Observing software.