Since you are on campus, you do not need to use the UConn VPN. If you’re in a rush—or excited to get on the HPC ASAP!—feel free to move directly to Step 3. If you’re up for it though, it’s probably worth reading how to log into the HPC when off campus. To learn how, just click “No” to this question.

To keep everyone’s data safe and secure, we only allow users to access the HPC from computers/tablets/phones that are connected to the UConn-Secure Wifi or ethernet ports at UConn. But don’t worry! You can still log in to the HPC from home! There’s just a couple of extra steps.

To connect to HPC from off campus, you will first need to connect to the UConn Virtual Private Network (VPN). The VPN makes sure you belong to the UConn community by having you log in with your netID and password. Once you connect to UConn’s VPN, you will be able to log in to the HPC.

Instructions for Setting up the UConn VPN

1. Download the UConn VPN (instructions here).

2. Follow the installation instructions below to install and connect to the VPN.

   1. Windows users

   2. Mac users

   3. Linux users

3. Once you are connected to the UConn VPN, you can move to Step 3.

To log in to the HPC from a Windows computer, you need to use an SSH client. The Storrs HPC Admins recommend MobaXterm. Here are some abridged instructions:

1. Download MobaXterm

2. Install MobaXterm

3. Open MobaXterm

4. Click Session (top left corner )

5. Click SSH

6. For “Remote Host,” enter the following address: hpc2.storrs.hpc.uconn.edu

7. Check the “Specify username” checkbox

8. In the text box to the right of “Specify username,” enter your UConn netID

9. Click “OK”

10. A new tab should pop up asking for your password

11. Enter your password

12. Success! You are logged into the cluster and ready to move on to Step 4.

To log in to the HPC from a Mac, you need to use an SSH client and an X-server. We recommend XQuartz as the X-server. Here are some abridged logging in.

1. Download XQuartz

2. Install XQuartz

3. Open the app “Terminal” on your Mac
   
   

   Open

   

   Terminal Icon

4. Below is the basic command for logging into Terminal. Please replace “netid” with your actual netID (format: abc12345). Then hit “Enter.” It should ask for your Password.

   ssh -Y netid@hpc2.storrs.hpc.uconn.edu

5. If it asks for your password, type in your password. Then hit enter.

6. Once connected, you should see a terminal prompt like this:

   Welcome to the Storrs HPC cluster. If you need technical support, please read the wiki or email us at hpc@uconn.edu [netID@login4 ~]$

    

7. Once you are connected, you can move on to Step 4.

8. If the above instructions do not work, please see our troubleshooting instructions below.

Troubleshooting for Mac Users

Sometimes the default settings for logging into HPC from a Mac can get messed up, especially after big updates to the Mac operating system (Mac OSX).

To resolve this problem, a couple of lines may need to be added to the user's ~/.ssh/config file. You will have to open and edit the file from “Terminal” using a text editor, like Vim. Vim is installed by default on all Macs. Here are some abridged instructions on how to edit the file using Vim.

1. Open Terminal

2. Open the file like this:

   vi ~/.ssh/config

3. Scroll to the bottom of the file

4. Click the letter “i”

5. Copy and paste the lines below into the file.
   HostkeyAlgorithms +ssh-rsa
PubkeyAcceptedAlgorithms +ssh-rsa

6. Hit the “Esc” key.

7. Type :wq

8. Hit enter.

Once the above two lines are added to the local ~/.ssh/config on a Mac, you should be able to access the HPC using the normal instructions we mentioned above. If you are still experiencing issues, please feel free to reach out to the Storrs HPC Admins for help by emailing us at hpc@uconn.edu.

To log in to the HPC, aka “the cluster,” you need to use an SSH client. On Linux, open the terminal app and simply run:

(Where 'Your_NetID' is your own NetID consisting of 3 letters and 5 numbers)

Once connected, you should see a terminal prompt like this:

If the above works, then you can move on to Step 4. If you are experiencing issues, please feel free to reach out to the Storrs HPC Admins for help by emailing us at hpc@uconn.edu.