HPC:Login

Connecting to the PMACS Cluster

Currently, secure shell is the only supported method of connecting to the cluster. The login machine name is consign.pmacs.upenn.edu You should probably add "ServerKeepAliveInterval 60" to your SSH client's configuration. After your account is created, you can connect using your PMACS credentials.

SSH Clients

Windows

The University of Pennyslvania officially recommends SecureCRT as its supported shell client for Windows. However, inexperienced Unix users may find SecureCRT's interface both difficult to navigate and outdated. An alternative software we recommend is MobaXterm. MobaXterm comes with a variety of tools such as Keypair generation, FTP, SFTP, tabbed windows, and more.

MobaXTerm

Once you have installed MobaXTerm, you can launch the software and find this screen.

At the upper left of the window, click "sessions".

This is your sessions window, where you can manage different types of connections (SSH, FTP, SFTP, et cetera).

To connect to the cluster, select "SSH".

You are now presented with a few options. In the "Remote Host" field you can either enter: mercury.pmacs.upenn.edu if you have not logged into the cluster before. Otherwise, the "Remote Host" field can be consign.pmacs.upenn.edu if you intend to submit jobs to the cluster. You should also check the box "Specify Username" and in the "Username field" enter your PMACS username. Leave the port number 22.

For example:

Mac OSX

Mac OSX already comes with the Terminal application preinstalled which can be used to SSH to the cluster. OSX users do not need install any additional software in order to connect to the cluster. However, more experienced users may find using a third party software such as iTerm2 more to their liking.

VPN for Off-campus access

The PMACS Cluster is behind a firewall. All users authorized to use the PMACS cluster can use this VPN to establish secure connections to the PMACS cluster when trying to SSH from off-campus. Please download Forticlient from one of the appropriate links below for your operating system. Once a VPN tunnel has been setup, normal SSH connections to the cluster head node: consign.pmacs.upenn.edu can be established.

Note 1 There may be other VPNs managed by PMACS/UPHS. Please ensure that while connecting to the PMACS cluster, you are using this VPN only.

Forticlient Software

The Forticlient gives you access to secured University of Pennsylvania resources. Please download and install Forticlient to use the PMACS cluster.

First download the appropriate installer for

Mac OSX

Windows

GNU/Linux

Please also see the section below for more information on how to run the VPN client on GNU/Linux systems.

Once the appropriate installer has been downloaded and installed, a reboot may be required to connect. See pictures below for details on how to configure the Standalone VPN client (works for Windows and MacOS). Separate information for GNU/Linux VPN clients is also below.

Important Host/Server Names

consign.pmacs.upenn.edu : head node/login server ; Do NOT run jobs on consign
mercury.pmacs.upenn.edu : file transfer server and the server where home directories are initailized on First Login; Do NOT run jobs on mercury either
juneau.med.upenn.edu : VPN used to connect to the cluster. Use your PMACS username and password to login into the VPN.
- But first see note about the VPN (above).

First Login

Temporary Password Change

All PMACS accounts are provisioned with a temporary password. Before you can log into the PMACS cluster for the first time, you will need to change this temporary password. Change of the temporary password and enrollment into the PMACS password reset system can be done here

Enrollment into the PMACS Password Reset system

All PMACS account passwords are set to expire every 180 days. To avoid your password from expiring and possibly preventing access to the PMACS cluster, all cluster users are encouraged to enroll into the reset system. The password reset application can be access here. Once enrolled, this system will also allow you to recover forgotten PMACS passwords and reset known/expired PMACS passwords.

Initialize your home area

With the newly changed password log into the file transfer host: mercury.pmacs.upenn.edu

  ssh <your_user_name>@mercury.pmacs.upenn.edu

Remember to replace <your_user_name> above with your PennKey username

Upon login, you will see a message similar to

 
 Creating home directory for <user_name>

You are now ready to start using the PMACS HPC cluster :

 
  ssh <your_user_name>@consign.pmacs.upenn.edu

Remember to replace <your_user_name> above with your PennKey username.

Once your home area has been initialized, you are ready to use the PMACS cluster. Do NOT attempt to run jobs on mercury.pmacs.upenn.edu or submit jobs from mercury.pmacs.upenn.edu. Please look at the PMACS HPC Users Guide for information on how to run jobs on the PMACS cluster.

File transfer to and from the PMACS HPC Cluster

Transferring data to/from the PMACS HPC cluster is done with program that supports the SSH v2 protocol. Programs like SCP, sFTP, rsync, WinSCP, Filezilla etc. are all supported.

All file transfer operations to/from the PMACS HPC cluster must be done via the dedicated file transfer server: mercury.pmacs.upenn.edu

File transfer using command line tools

Poplar command line programs for file transfer include SCP, sFTP, rsync, PSCP etc.

The following examples show how to transfer data (in this case, a file named "test") from a laptop/desktop computer to the PMACS HPC using the rsync program via the file transfer server: mercury.pmacs.upenn.edu

Be sure to replace "PMACSUSER" in the command below with your PMACS userid

% rsync -av test PMACSUSER@mercury.pmacs.upenn.edu:~/

File transfer using graphical tools

Poplar command line programs for file transfer include WinSCP, FileZilla etc.

The image below shows the settings to use in FileZilla, for file transfer to the PMACS HPC via the file transfer server: mercury.pmacs.upenn.edu

Be sure to replace "PMACSUSER" in the image below with your PMACS userid

Optional Section: Instructions for generating Public-Private keypairs

For added convenience and security, Public-Private Keys may be used for SSH connections to the PMACS cluster.

On Mac OS X and GNU/Linux systems, run the following command from within a terminal and follow the on-screen instructions. Please DO NOT copy-paste. Read each command and run the command on your own:

$ ssh-keygen
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key ($HOME/.ssh/id_rsa):
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa.
Your public key has been saved in $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx asrini@
The key's randomart image is:
+--[ RSA 2048]----+
|          .      |
|       kjweo     |
|        x B E x  |
|         * B l + |
|        S +aser .|
|           + +   |
|          . weq  |
|           . x 12|
|            45+  |
+-----------------+

On Windows machines you can generate and use PublicKeys with Putty. Here is a link to a Youtube channel which has video tutorials for generating and using Public keys.

After generating a Public-Private keypair, copy the contents of the .ssh/id_rsa.pub file to a file named .ssh/authorized_keys in your home area on the PMACS cluster.

INSTRUCTIONS BELOW, TO COPY PUBLIC KEYS, INDICATE USING THE HEAD NODE. YOU CAN ALSO USE OUR DEDICATED FILE TRANSFER NODE: mercury.pmacs.upenn.edu

[$USER@consign ~]$ if [ ! -d $HOME/.ssh ]; then mkdir -m 700 $HOME/.ssh; fi 

[$USER@consign ~]$ vim .ssh/authorized_keys

One SSH public key per line; save and close the file

Then change the permissions on the file:

[$USER@consign ~]$ chmod 600 .ssh/authorized_keys

INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE, TO COPY PUBLIC KEYS, INDICATE USING THE HEAD NODE. YOU CAN ALSO USE OUR DEDICATED FILE TRANSFER NODE: mercury.pmacs.upenn.edu

More VPN Info

Below are screenshots that describe how to use the PMACS VPN on Windows or MacOS systems:

Below are screenshots that describe how to use the PMACS VPN on GNU/Linux systems: