How do I log into SCIAMA?

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SCIAMA has in total dedicated 8 login servers that you can reach under the URL loginX.sciama.icg.port.ac.uk (with X in {1,…,8}).

They vary slightly in the available hard- and software:

  • login1-login4: Intel Westmere CPUs with 12 cores, 24 GB memory per server
  • login5-login8: AMD Opteron CPUs with 12 cores , 16 GB memory per server

 

Depending on the login server, there are now different ways available to access SCIAMA remotely.

CLI shell (SSH)

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All SCIAMA login servers are providing services for access via SSH clients. Linux/Unix/macOS usually have such clients installed as command-line tools. Thus, logging into SCIAMA can be done by the following simple command:

ssh <username>@<URL of login server>

For Windows, it requires the installation of a ssh client from an external source. We recommend the PuTTY software bundle, which provides not only a SSH client, but also additional tools (key generator, key manager, SCP/SFTP client) as well.

CLI shell + graphical support (SSH+X-forwarding)

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Some programs on Sciama come with graphical user interfaces. Thus cannot be run via a pure CLI. Fortunately, SSH allows to forward any graphical interface from Sciama to a remote computer via so-called X-forwarding. This requires that the remote computer runs an X server for the graphical support. (Most) Linux systems come with this pre-installed, but for Windows and macOS. a third-party X server software needs to be obtained (e.g. Xming for Windows and Xquartz for macOS). X-forwarding can then be activated using the ‘-Y‘ argument for the CLI ssh clients i.e.

ssh -Y <username>@<URL of login server>

or enabling it in the PuTTY configuration.

Graphical shell  / NoMachine / X2Go

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Login1 and Login2 are also running services to access SCIAMA via NoMachine. This provides a full virtual Desktop environment. For details on how to obtain/configure this software, please see HERE.

As an alternative to NoMachine Login3 and Login5 are running X2Go services providing a full virtual desktop environment. Details on downloading and configuring X2Go Client please read the following article: X2Go.

Due to the relatively higher workload for such services on the login servers, try to limit the use of this methods to cases where it is absolutely necessary.

 

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