Connecting to HPC via Windows with PowerShell
- On-campus (main or VIMS) via Windows PowerShell
- On-campus (main or VIMS) via Windows PowerShell w/ Xming X11 forwarding
- Off-campus via Windows PowerShell through the IT bastion host
- Off-campus via Windows PowerShell through the IT bastion host via Linux w/ Xming X11 forwarding
Connecting directly to HPC clusters from on-campus (main or VIMS) via Windows PowerShell
Using ssh to connect to an HPC cluster front-end (such as bora.sciclone.wm.edu or james.hpc.vims.edu) consists of one command of the form:
ssh <username>@<hostname>
that you enter into a Windows PowerShell session. Note that <username>
can be omitted if it matches your local computer username. It will be explicitly included in all examples. For almost all HPC users, your <username>
is your W&M username. Here is an example with <username>
= ejwalt
making an ssh connection to the HPC front-end with <hostname>
= bora.sciclone.wm.edu
:
This is now a command-line session on bora.sciclone.wm.edu.
Connecting directly to HPC clusters from on-campus (main or VIMS) via Windows PowerShell w/ Xming X11 forwarding
To use X11 graphics on Windows from the HPC cluster, you will not only need to pass -Y
, but you also need to install an X11 program for your Windows computer. We recommend downloading and installing Xming
Additionally, one command must be entered into the PowerShell window:
setx DISPLAY "locallhost:0.0"
Then be sure to close and restart Windows PowerShell
Once Xming is installed and running, a program running on the cluster will be able to display X based graphics on your local machine. To log on to the bora.sciclone.wm.edu
front-end from on-campus and allow X11 forwarding, the command is:
ssh -Y <username>@<hostname>
Here is an example with the -Y
passed along, note that the session is able to launch the program xterm
from bora which opens a new terminal on my local computer (the white window):
This is now an X11 capable command-line session on bora.sciclone.wm.edu.
Connecting to HPC clusters from off-campus via Windows PowerShell through the IT bastion host
To ssh through the IT bastion host to a HPC cluster front-end server, you must simply add -J <username>@bastion.wm.edu
to the previous ssh command:
If you do not have an ssh key added to the bastion host (see https://code.wm.edu/IT/bastion-host-instructions for more information), you will need to authenticate via DUO after entering your W&M password. Once this is complete, you will then need to enter your W&M password again to log into bora.sciclone.wm.edu
. In this case, the command is:
ssh -J <WM username>@bastion.wm.edu <username>@<hostname>
This is now a command-line on bora.sciclone.wm.edu that connected through the bastion host.
Connecting to HPC clusters from off-campus via Windows PowerShell through the IT bastion host w/ Xming X11 forwarding
To use X11 graphics on Windows from the HPC cluster, you will not only need to pass -Y
, but you also need to install an X11 program for your Windows computer. We recommend downloading and installing Xming
Additionally, one command must be entered into the PowerShell window:
setx DISPLAY "locallhost:0.0"
Then be sure to close and restart Windows PowerShell
Once Xming is installed and running, a program running on the cluster will be able to display X based graphics on your local machine. To ssh through the IT bastion host to a HPC cluster front-end server, you must simply add -J <username>@bastion.wm.edu
to the previous ssh command:
If you do not have an ssh key added to the bastion host (see https://code.wm.edu/IT/bastion-host-instructions for more information), you will need to authenticate via DUO after entering your W&M password. Once this is complete, you will then need to enter your W&M password again to log into bora.sciclone.wm.edu
. To log onto the HPC cluster through the bastion host while forwarding X11 graphics, the the command is:
ssh -Y -J <WM username>@bastion.wm.edu <username>@<hostname>
Here is an example with the -Y
passed along, note that the session is able to launch the program xterm
from bora which opens a new terminal on my local computer (the white window):
The is now an X11 capable command-line session on bora.sciclone.wm.edu connecting through the bastion host.