Advisory: Issues Launching Software from the Linux Labs

Issue

On or around 5/11/2026, reports were received that students were unable to load software in the KGCOE Linux environment, including Synopsys, Cadence, and Silvaco tools. The issue was not seen with faculty or staff accounts.

Cause

Preliminary findings determined that ITS made an unannounced change to student accounts that changed the default Unix shell from /bin/bash to csh. This can be confirmed by entering the command echo $0, which will return the current Unix shell. This change caused issues with loading certain scripts and links to modulefiles required to launch the aforementioned software.

Resolution

While this change is being investigated, students will need to manually change their default Unix shell to /bin/bash from start.rit.edu. Go to start, and when you log in with your student account, select Shell Preferences from the home screen:

On the Shell Preferences page, you will see an option to select a shell. From the list, select /bin/bash, and then click Save Changes.

You will need to log out of any existing shell and console sessions (i.e. SSH, FastX, etc.) and log back in for this change to take effect, though it may take up to 10-15 minutes to apply. You can confirm that the change has taken effect by entering the command echo $0, which should return bash or /bin/bash if successful.

If you are still having issues loading software with the correct shell:

• Please contact Mike Vasile for any issues related to the ICE/VLSI lab systems, KGCOE tool servers, or EME research systems/servers.
• Please contact Finetti Kounnavong for any CE research systems/servers.