Instructions: Accessing the HPC

Your terminal

OSX users may have tcsh as your shell language by default. Consider changing it to bash.

Allowing HPC access from home

If you aren't on campus, you'll need to use a VPN to allow access. See here for some useful links to relevant software.

Accessing the HPC with a visualizer

https://hpcgui.fiu.edu

Accessing the HPC via the command line

You can access the HPC through your bash terminal with the following command:

ssh [username]@hpclogin02.fiu.edu

Remember to replace [username] with your FIU username! E.g., tsalo006, mtobia, alaird.

The terminal will now prompt you for your password. Use the same password you use for your email and MyFIU.

Now you should be on the HPC. You will automatically be logged on in your home directory (i.e., /home/[username]). This is a folder that no one except you and the HPC admins can access. You will put a lot of your work here, including materials for the training.

Set up SSH key for your laptop

This will allow you to SSH onto the HPC without having to type in your password. (Note: the following instructions are adapted from this resource).

First, generate authentication keys for your laptop. In your laptop terminal (i.e., not SSHed onto the HPC):

ssh-keygen -t rsa

Just hit Enter for the filename and password (so there is no password).

Now add your laptop's public key to the list of authorized keys on the HPC:

cat .ssh/id_rsa.pub | ssh [username]@hpclogin02.fiu.edu 'cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys'

Remember to replace [username] with your username!

Now you should be able to SSH onto the HPC without typing in your password.

Also consider making aliases for the different HPC nodes to make it easier to SSH onto the HPC.

For example, in your .bash_profile, add:

alias hpc1="ssh [username]@hpclogin01.fiu.edu"
alias hpc2="ssh [username]@hpclogin02.fiu.edu"