HPC Cluster Getting Started

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Who Can Access the ELSA HPC Cluster

Currently, anyone with a TCNJ login and password can activate their account on the cluster. This may change in the future if there is contention for the resource.

How Do I "Activate" My TCNJ Account on the Cluster

Activating your account creates some critical files that are needed before you can use the cluster. This only need to be done once. It estabishes your HPC home directory which is a space for you to store your personal files, programs and their configurations. It also creates SSH keys which are used by to encrypt network traffic between computers.

  1. To begin, point your web browser to https://elsa.hpc.tcnj.edu:4200/. This step needs to be done from an on-campus computer (wired or wireless) or from an off-campus computer utilizing the TCNJ VPN.
  2. At the elsa login: prompt, enter your TCNJ username
  3. At the password: prompt, enter your TCNJ password (the same one you use to access email, Canvas, etc.)
  4. Once successful, you should see messages similar to the following (this assumes you haven't set up your account previously).

    Creating directory '/home/hpc/your_username'.
    Creating ECDSA key for ssh

  5. At the $ prompt, type exit and close the browser window/tab.

You are now ready to access your cluster account using Open OnDemand or an SSH shell.

Accessing the Cluster via Open OnDemand

Once you have activated your account, you can use the web portal to access common functions on the cluster. This web portal is called Open OnDemand and can be accessed at https://ondemand.hpc.tcnj.edu/ from an on-campus (wired or wireless) computer or from off-campus using the TCNJ VPN. Use your existing TCNJ login and password when prompted. To logout of Open OnDemand, you must fully quit your browser.

Accessing the Cluster via SSH

Sometimes you need to directly access the Linux command-line on the HPC cluster to manage files or submit jobs. In order to do so, use one of the methods below depending on your local operating system.

Open OnDemand

Open OnDemand offers a web-based SSH client that works computers running Windows and Mac operating systems. Firefox or Chrome are the recommended web browsers to use.

To access a Linux terminal using Open OnDemand, follow these steps:

  1. Login to Open OnDemand at https://ondemand.hpc.tcnj.edu/
  2. Choose Clusters from the menu
  3. Select >_ELSA HPC Cluster Shell Access for regular access or >_ELSA HPC Developer Shell Access if you need to do software development or compile code

This will open a new tab or window and drop you at the Linux command-line in your cluster home directory. When done using the terminal, type exit before closing the terminal tab/window.

MacOS

MacOS (aka Mac OS X) already has a built-in SSH capable terminal program. It can be accessed by going to Applications > Utilities > Terminal or by clicking the search icon and typing terminal. If you will be a frequent user of the Terminal application, it is suggested that you add it (i.e. drag it) to your application dock for easy access in the future.

Microsoft Windows

Windows, unfortunately, doesn't seem to include an SSH terminal program with the base operating system. You will need to download one from the Internet. The two applications below are the most popular.

Launch MobaXterm or PuTTY and connect to the cluster. Use elsa.hpc.tcnj.edu when prompted for a hostname, and use your TCNJ username and password when prompted for credentials. The video below shows you how to use MobaXterm to connect to the HPC cluster.

Transferring Files To and From the Cluster

Coming soon

MobaXterm on Microsoft Windows

Filezilla on MacOS

Open OnDemand

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