Using the shell
To access and use AWI's HPC systems login via a terminal is needed, using ssh.
Although, in general it is possible to use tools with a graphical user interface (GUI) remotely via ssh, some basic knowledge on how to use the shell is required.
We advise all new users, who have never worked in a shell on a Unix-like system, to go through this nice introduction:
https://swcarpentry.github.io/shell-novice/
This tutorial is a good starting point where you learn to navigate in the filesystem, manipulate files, and create and run scripts.
Login with ssh-keys
Resources
Example: stan
Here is an example for my (Natalja's) desktop connecting to NEC SX-ACE Stan. Please replace username and remote machine accordingly!
Generate a key on your local desktop or whatever machine you want to connect to stan0 and stan1
rakowsky@binf02l006:~$ ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa_awihome-stan -t rsa -b 4096
Here, we stick to rsa to be on the safe side to generate a portable key. For more recent machines, ssh.com recommends ecdsa:
ssh-keygen -t ecdsa -b 521
You are asked for a passphrase. A passphrase increases the security in case your account is hacked or your notebook gets lost, and it is a must for connections between systems at different locations, e.g., from AWI to HLRN or from home to AWI.
Two files are generatedthe private key ~/.ssh/id_rsa_awihome-stan remains on your local machine,
the public key ~/.ssh/id_rsa_awihome-stan.pub is copied to the remote machine.
- Our recommendation is to have a pair of private+public keys for each local+remote connection. It helps to keep an overview and a good naming scheme helps to prevent the danger of overwriting an existing key.
Copy the public key to Stan, here to stan1, this also makes the key available on stan0, as they share the home directory:
rakowsky@binf02l006:~$ ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa_awihome-stan.pub rakowsky@stan1
For some destinations, to increase the security, the public key has to be uploaded in a web portal, and it is not placed in your remote home directory.
Log in to stan0 or stan1 with
rakowsky@binf02l006:~$ ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa_awihome-stan -Y rakowsky@stan0
Or, for convenience, add an entry to ~/.ssh/config on your local desktop. Generate this file, if not yet present.
rakowsky@binf02l006:~$ cat ~/.ssh/config
Host stan
Hostname stan.awi.de
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_awihome-stan
User rakowskyand log in with
rakowsky@binf02l006:~$ ssh -Y stan