How do I login to a cluster?

Overview

Teaching: min
Exercises: min

Questions

• How do I log into the cluster?

• Are there other methods to log in than the command line?

• How do I choose which method to log in?

Objectives

• Log in to MASSIVE M3.

• Understand login methods available to you.

Traditional methods: the command line interface

Traditionally, you log into a cluster on the command line, and access the cluster on the command line as well. Most clusters operate with a Linux operating system (rather than Windows or Mac).. As the cluster is a remote resource and not right in front of you, to log in you will need to secure shell, or ssh in.

Whether your local workstation is a Windows, Mac, or Unix based operating system may impact how you login to the cluster and access the command line interface, but we will outline instructions for all options here.

Windows 10

If you’re using Windows 10, you should be able to ssh into the cluster using the command prompt.

1. Type cmd into the search bar, and open the command prompt.
2. In the command prompt, type ssh username@m3.massive.org.au, replacing username with your M3 username. Your username will have been sent to you in a welcome email, or you can find it in the HPC ID portal.
3. You will be prompted for a password. When you type it in, nothing will appear on the screen - this is normal behaviour!
4. Once you have logged in, you will see the message of the day, and the command prompt should show [m3username@login1 ~] or similar.

Troubleshooting

• If it’s the first time you’re logging in, you will get a message asking if you’re willing to accept the cluster’s public key. This is one way to confirm you’re logging in to the computer that you think you are, so you don’t unintentionally send your password somewhere else.
• If you type your password wrong multiple times, you may be locked out of the system and recieve a message saying “Connection reset by peer”. In this case, wait 10 minutes and try again, or if you’ve forgotten your password, reset it in the HPC ID portal.
• If the command prompt doesn’t recognise the ssh command, use one of the Other Methods listed here.

Mac and Linux

1. Open a terminal.
2. In the terminal, type ssh username@m3.massive.org.au, replacing username with your M3 username. Your username will have been sent to you in a welcome email, or you can find it in the HPC ID portal.
3. You will be prompted for a password. When you type it in, nothing will appear on the screen - this is normal behaviour!
4. Once you have logged in, you will see the message of the day, and the command prompt should show [m3username@login1 ~] or similar.

Troubleshooting

• If it’s the first time you’re logging in, you will get a message asking if you’re willing to accept the cluster’s public key. This is one way to confirm you’re logging in to the computer that you think you are, so you don’t unintentionally send your password somewhere else.
• If you type your password wrong multiple times, you may be locked out of the system and recieve a message saying “Connection reset by peer”. In this case, wait 10 minutes and try again, or if you’ve forgotten your password, reset it in the HPC ID portal.

Other Methods

Some older Windows computers or some especially fussy computers may have trouble using the inbuilt command line to ssh into M3. There are other tools available to help you do this, including:

• PuTTy
• Cygwin
• WinSCP
• The Windows Subsystem for Linux

We’ll show you the steps for PuTTY here as it’s the most beginner friendly, but feel free to try a more advanced option if you’re comfortable with ssh.

EXERCISE Using one of the methods above, ssh into M3.

You have successfully logged in! You will notice that you logged into the cluster with a password, but it’s more secure to log in using keys - keys also save you from typing in your password every time you access the cluster! There are some instructions for setting up an ssh key on docs.massive.org.au here:

Less traditional methods to access the cluster

On MASSIVE M3, we offer some other methods to access the cluster beyond the command line. This includes a desktop interface, JupyterLab, and even a terminal which can be logged into with your AAF login rather than an ssh command.

The benefit of these alternative interfaces is they’re often more user friendly than the command line, and it enables you to run visual software on the cluster. M3 isn’t the only cluster that provides access to the cluster via things like desktops - here, we use a tool called Strudel.

EXERCISE: LOGIN TO STRUDEL, EXPLORE

Key Points