Logging into the Cluster
Using SSH
For logging into and executing commands on a remote machine, we use the SSH client ssh.
Note
To be able to log into the Research Computing systems, you must be on the Dartmouth network. This includes being on-campus wifi (Dartmouth Secure) or on VPN if coming from off-campus.
On OSX machines, this client is available using the Terminal application. On Windows machines, we can use the MobaXTerm application to start ssh sessions.
There are a couple of tools that are available on both platforms:
This option allows you to open a ssh session without having to install any software on your machine.
- FastX This option is an ssh client that renders graphical output from remote Unix/Linux servers. Useful for applications, e.g., Matlab, that are usually used through an interactive, graphical interface.
Usage
Discovery cluster
ssh <my netID>@discovery.dartmouth.edu
Andes8
128 cores, 1.5TB memory
ssh <my netID>@andes8.dartmouth.edu
Polaris8
192 cores, 1.5TB memory
ssh <my netID>@polaris8.dartmouth.edu
With X11 forwarding
ssh -Y <my netID>@discovery.dartmouth.edu
What is X11 forwarding?
X11 forwarding is what allows you to run a GUI (Graphical user interface) from the command line. For example, you can launch firefox, or run Matlab interactively. Another use case for X11 forwarding would be to display a graph, or an image.
X11 forwarding on a Mac
If you would like to enable X11 support for your native terminal with Mac OSX, you can download a free application called XQuartz