Connecting to HPC-UGent

How do I request a VSC-id?

1. Navigate to https://account.vscentrum.be

2. Accept the certificate

3. Choose 'UGent' as Home Institution

4. Login, either using

   • your UGent account credentials

   • your 'welkom' account credentials (for industry and other research institutes)

5. Upload your public ssh key by selecting the key file via the Browse button and click Submit

6. Once the key is uploaded, you will receive an e-mail

7. Click on the link in the e-mail to confirm your VSC-id request

8. You will receive another e-mail once your request is processed and your VSC-id is created

These steps are also described in Chapter 2 of the HPC-UGent tutorial.

How to create a public/private ssh keypair?

Windows

1. Download the complete PuTTY package (free of charge) and install the package
2. Start the PuTTYgen Key Generator
   
3. Choose 'RSA' in the Parameters section at the bottom and keep the number to 4096
4. Click 'Generate' and move the mouse cursor over the PuTTYgen window to generate random data
   
5. Once the keypair is generated, set properties:
   • Key comment - Fill in this field to make your keypair easier to identify later on. Choose for instance 'your_name@computername'.
   • Key passphrase - Choose a passphrase to protect your private key against unauthorized use.
6. Save both public and private ssh keys on your personal computer. We recommend using the names
   • 'id_rsa.pub' for the public key
   • 'id_rsa.ppk' for the private key

Linux / MAC OS X

1. Open a Terminal
2. Enter the command ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096

Two files are generate in the .ssh dir:

• private key: id_rsa
• public key: id_rsa.pub

These steps are also described in Chapter 2 of the HPC-UGent tutorial.

How to connect to the HPC infrastructure?

The way in which to connect with the HPC-UGent infrastructure depends on your OS.

Consult Chapter 3 of the HPC-UGent tutorial for a full description.