At IU, what is ezreset, and how can I use it to reset my accounts to their default settings?

On this page:

• About ezreset
• Using ezreset on Webserve
• Using ezreset on Mercury

About ezreset

On the new Indiana University web servers Webserve and Mercury, the ezreset command launches a script that backs up copies of your configuration files and replaces them with the versions that are included with new accounts. These configuration files control the appearance and behavior of programs such as Emacs, as well as the general environment of your account. If problems arise with these files as a result of migrating to the new servers, you can use ezreset to replace them with working copies.

Using ezreset on Webserve

Note: For information about the recent migration to Webserve, see About the IU central web server migration or the IU Webmaster's Migration Information page.

On Webserve, some login files will prevent you from running Unix commands. If you receive a "Command not found" error after entering a common command like ls or cd, use ezreset to restore the default settings.

Some Webserve users may also see an error when logging in:

The ezreset command will also correct this error.

To run ezreset on Webserve:

1. Log into your Webserve account using SSH. For detailed instructions, see the IU Webmaster's Connecting to Webserve page.
   
   
2. At the Unix prompt, enter: /usr/local/bin/ezreset

Once you run this utility, you will be able to use SSH on Webserve without receiving the error messages listed above.

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Using ezreset on Mercury

To run ezreset on Mercury:

1. At the Unix prompt, enter: ezreset
2. You will see the following message: Ezreset will reset your .login, .profile and other config files back to the original newuser configuration. Your files will be saved as .filename.mmddyy. Continue (y/n)?
3. To replace these files with the default versions, press  y .
   
   
4. You will see: Your account has been reset.

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Also see:

• In Pine, how can I update or refresh my .pinerc configuration file?
• In Unix, what are some common dot files?