Introduction
For pedagogical reasons, most of the work you will be asked to do during your studies at EPITA will be carried out in a Linux environment. The school's machines run on the NixOS distribution. More rarely, some Windows or macOS machines may also be made available.
In the Linux universe, a distribution is a coherent set of deployable software. At EPITA, we provide multiple configurations that include the operating system, necessary settings and software that we call images. NixOS uses a declarative configuration model, enabling consistent and reproducible system setups.
EPITA campuses have machine rooms intended for student use and equipped with a set of ready-to-use workstations called PIE (Parc Informatique de l'EPITA). The PIE serves as the computing environment for your entire academic experience at EPITA. NixOS images are carefully configured to fit the needs of EPITA classes. It facilitates TP, projects, and assignments, providing access to tools and configurations necessary for your studies.
As the PIE is administered by the Forge, you must use your Forge Account to login.
Student File Storage
AFS (Andrew File System) handles student file storage, providing each student with a 2GB volume. This allows you to find your files on any computer in the school. About AFS
Rules & Behavior
At Kremlin-Bicêtre and Villejuif, machine rooms are accessible 24/7. In total, almost 1,000 workstations are deployed on the EPITA campuses. We do our best to keep these machines in working condition, so we ask you to respect some rules to help us with this task:
- Do not eat
- Do not drink anything else than water in a closed bottle
- Do not damage the equipment
- Do not disconnect any cable
- You may bring your own keyboard/mouse or plug in your USB keys and yubikeys, but please use an available USB port
Finally, in order to respect your fellow students and assistants, it's important to maintain acceptable hygiene.
These rules are specified in the machine room charter (in English), please carefully read and follow these guidelines. They are considered known when using machine rooms and the PIE. Non-respect of these rules may result in disciplinary action.
Reporting Issues
If, despite our best efforts, you notice a problem on a machine room workstation, please notify us on our Fleet Manager