T01 - Computing Basics

Due: Tuesday, Jan 20 by 11:59 pm

In professional research computing, you will often inherit messy data, poorly named files, and servers you did not configure. You must be comfortable navigating these hostile environments without a mouse. To prove your competency in the shell, you will not be taking a quiz. Instead, you will complete a standard industry “wargame” designed to train security professionals and systems administrators.

Your objective is to complete Levels 0 through 12 of the Bandit Wargame hosted by the OverTheWire community. This simulation is not a game in the traditional sense; it is a series of progressive puzzles that force you to master the core Unix toolset: navigation, file manipulation, and data piping.

Connection Protocol

The wargame is hosted on a remote server, just as the University cluster is. You will access it via SSH.

• Host: bandit.labs.overthewire.org
• Port: 2220
• User: bandit0
• Password: bandit0

Note: This server uses a non-standard port (2220) instead of the default 22. You must check the ssh man page (man ssh) to find the flag required to specify a port.

The Scope

You are required to retrieve the passwords for Levels 1 through 13. Each level gives you the password for the next. The challenges you will face map directly to the skills you need for this course. Your proof of work is the password for Level 13 (the password you obtain after completing Level 12).

Submission

You will submit several passwords for Levels 1, 4, 8, and 13 on gradescope.