How to Connect#

VUB-HPC clusters#

VUB researchers with a VSC account can access the VUB-HPC clusters via the web portal or via the terminal with SSH.

Connecting via the web portal#

web portal: VUB OnDemand

VSC docs: Open OnDemand

Connecting via a terminal with SSH#

login nodes: <VSC-ID>@login.hpc.vub.be

Connecting with SSH requires an SSH key pair and a terminal application. Please follow the instructions in the VSCdocVSC docs corresponding to your operating system:

VSC cluster login instructions

Windows (MobaXterm)

macOS

Linux

Helpdesk If you have issues connecting to the VUB-HPC clusters, please consult our connection checklist.

Connecting from outside Belgium#

The web portal is accessible from abroad without restrictions.

By default, SSH connection from outside Belgium to any of the VSC clusters is blocked by an extra firewall layer. Users located abroad can still log in to the cluster by manually registering their session as described below:

  1. Go to the VSC HPC firewall web page

  2. Log in with your VUB account

  3. A new page will ask for authorization. Click Authorize

  4. You should see a page similar in style to the VSC account page with the title HPC firewall, the message “Logged on successfully as vsc10xxx.” and some other information.

At this point, you will be able to log in to Hydra as usual. Once you are logged in the cluster, the web page of the HPC firewall can be closed.

More information in VSCdocAdditional firewall layer

Other VSC Tier-2 clusters#

Users with a VSC account (VSC-ID) can also run their jobs on the clusters of the other Flemish institutions that are part of the VSC. All VSC sites provide a common user environment (i.e. the VSC_ environment variables), but the configuration of the job scheduler may differ from VUB-HPC. In general the Slurm commands sbatch, srun, etc. work in all clusters but UGent support staff recommends using their Torque frontend via jobcli.

The other VSC Tier-2 clusters can be also be accessed via an VSCdocOpen OnDemand web portal.

Please contact the respective HPC teams if you have any issues using their clusters.

The hardware specifications of each cluster are available in VSCdocTier-2 Hardware

Important

Usage of the Tier-2 clusters at the HPC sites UGent and UAntwerpen is free, whereas usage of the KU Leuven/UHasselt site requires purchase of credits.

VSC Tier-1#

Users who have obtained a Tier-1 project grant or starting grant can connect to VSC Tier-1 via the VSCdocweb portal or with SSH to a login node.

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