tutorials

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Connect to the HPC system:

There are two methods of connecting to the HPC system. Clients that are connected to the Grinnell College network can SSH to the cluster. Clients that are off-campus can connect to the cluster in a web browser by visiting https://hpc.grinnell.edu

1. SSH: Use a command line application (Terminal, Powershell, etc) to connect to the cluster. You'll be prompted for your Grinnell College account password. 

  ssh [username]@hpc.grinnell.edu

2. Web-based access: Direct your browser to https://hpc.grinnell.edu. You'll be ushered through Single Sign On (including Duo MFA) and will be logged into Open On Demand where various applications and functions are available.

Moving files to/from the HPC system:

There are both command line and graphical options for managing your files on the HPC system. Which you choose will depend on how many files you have to move, how large they are, whether you want to script or automate the file management, etc. 1. One command line option is scp or secure copy. For example, to copy a file named example.txt from your local computer to your home directory on the HPC system: 

  scp ~/example.txt [username]@hpc.grinnell.edu:~/

More information on scp is available here. Because this option relies on SSH, this option only works from a computer connected to an on-campus network.

2. Another command line option is rsync. rsync will synchronize files and directories between a source and destination (i.e. your local computer and the HPC system). 

  rsync /local/directory [username]@hpc.grinnell.edu:/remote/directory

More information on rsync can be found here. Because this option relies on SSH, this option only works from a computer connected to an on-campus network.

3. If you prefer a graphical user interface, you can use SFTP clients such as FileZilla or Cyberduck The connection details for these applications will be:

  1. Protocol: SFTP
  2. Server: hpc.grinnell.edu
  3. Port: 22
  4. User: [username]

Because this option relies on SSH, this option only works from a computer connected to an on-campus network.

4. Open OnDemand is a graphical, web-based option for managing your files on the cluster. Direct your browser to https://hpc.grinnell.edu and login. From the 'Files' menu, select 'Home directory'. Here you'll have tools for viewing and managing the files in your home directory on the cluster.