Introduction to High Performance Computing (Part 2): Setup

There is one piece of software you will wish to install before the workshop and you should also sign up for an account on the Cirrus HPC Service before the workshop - instructions on how to do this are below.

Though installation help will be provided at the workshop, we recommend that these tools are installed (or at least downloaded) beforehand.

SSH

All students should have an SSH client installed. SSH is a tool that allows us to connect to and use a remote computer as our own. Please follow the directions below to install an SSH client for your system.

Windows

Install MobaXterm from http://mobaxterm.mobatek.net. You will want to get the Home edition (Installer edition).

macOS

macOS comes with SSH pre-installed so you do need to install anything.

Linux

Linux users do not need to install anything, you should be set!

Access to Cirrus

Getting access to the Cirrus HPC system is a two step process: you first need to register an account on SAFE (the service administration website) and then setup an account on Cirrus itself (through the SAFE web interface).

Register SAFE account

Note: If you are already registered on the ARCHER SAFE or Tier2 SAFE you can use these login credentials and you don’t need to re-register.

  1. Go to the SAFE New User Signup Form
  2. Fill in your personal details. (You can come back later and change them if you wish.)
  3. Click “Submit”

You are now registered. A single use login link will be emailed to the email address you provided. You can use this link to login and set your password. At this point your account is registered on the SAFE but you do not have a user account on Cirrus. To obtain a machine account on Cirrus please follow the instructions below.

Create a Cirrus login (machine) account

If you are not already, Login to SAFE. Then:

  1. Go to the Menu “Login accounts” and select “Request login account”.
  2. Choose the “dcXXX” project from the “Choose Project for Machine Account” box.
  3. Choose “Cirrus” from the list of available systems.
  4. Enter the username you would prefer to use on the system. (Every username must be unique so you may be asked to choose another if you choose one already in use,)

Now you have to wait for your request to be approved. When this has happened, your account will be created on Cirrus. Once this has been done, you will be sent an email. You can then pick up your password for Cirrus from your SAFE account:

If you are not already, Login to SAFE. Then:

  1. Go to the Menu “Login accounts” and you will see your Cirrus account listed. Click on the appropriate account.
  2. This will display details of your account. Click “View Login Account Password”. You will need to enter your SAFE password and then click “View”, and you will see your password for your Cirrus account.

You can then use this password to log into your Cirrus account. When you log in for the first time, you will be asked to choose a new password.