Before you can connect to a CS Department course server, you need to connect to the MSU Student VPN.  That applies both on-campus and off-campus.  More information about the MSU VPN here:
     MSU - Secure Remote Access

Once you are connected to the MSU VPN, open up your preferred SSH client use the following information:
1) Username: $netid@student.montana.edu (example: b22r163@student.montana.edu)
2) Password: Your $netid password
3) Hostname: csciXXXvm.cs.montana.edu (Example csci112vm.cs.montana.edu)

OpenSSH client is free software that is pre-installed on Microsoft Windows, macOS and Linux.  The command line you would use follows this pattern:
     ssh -l $username $hostname
Example: ssh -l b22r163@student.montana.edu csci112vm.cs.montana.edu

If using a different ssh client, just put in the three pieces of information into the associated fields and you should able to connect.

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