Registration/Login/Client

SSH Clients

Only the secure shell ssh is allowed for login. The following clients are recommended for using the bwHPC clusters.

For the login <username>, see section "Login Username", for the login <hostname>, see the cluster-specific instructions in section "Login Hostnames".

If you are new to SSH login, you can refer to the various examples to see how this works.

Login from Linux, Mac OS and other Unix-like Systems

Most Unix and Unix-like operating systems like Linux, Mac OS and *BSD come with a built-in SSH client provided by the OpenSSH project.

To use this client, simply open a command line terminal (the exact process differs on every operating system, but usually involves starting an application called Terminal, Console or Command Prompt) and enter the following command to connect to a cluster:

$ ssh <username>@<hostname>

If you are on a Linux or Unix system running the X Window System (X11) and want to use a GUI-based application, you can use the -X option for the ssh command to set up X11 forwarding:

$ ssh -Y <username>@<hostname>

Graphical SSH File Transfer through FileZilla

Many GUI applications that support SFTP transfers on Linux don't work well with 2-factor authentication, e.g. Nautilus and Dolphin don't support it. A good alternative for Linux is FileZilla.

Start FileZilla, Select "File -> Site Manager..." from the main menu and set up a new connection with the following settings:

Protocol: SFTP - SSH File Transfer Protocol
Host: <hostname>
Logon Typ: Interactive
User: <username>

Login from Windows OS

For windows we suggest using MobaXterm for login and file transfer.

Windows Subsystem for Linux

After installing a linux system with WSL you can use the instructions for linux.

More recent versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11 using the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) also come with a built-in OpenSSH client.

MobaXterm

The bwHPC support team recommends to use MobaXterm instead of PuTTY or WinSCP on Windows. MobaXterm provides a built-in X11 server allowing to start GUI based software.

Select the session type ssh.

Start MobaXterm, fill in the following fields:

Remote name              : <hostname>
Specify user name        : <username>
Port                     : 22

Click 'OK'. A terminal will be opened and there you can enter your credentials.

Then click on the "Connect" button.

Files can be transferred between the local system and the cluster by navigating to the respective folders in the split file view and then either dragging files and folders between the views or by clicking on a file/folder with the right mouse button and then selecting "Upload" or "Download" from the menu.

Necessary File Transfer Configuration

When using File transfer with MobaXterm version 23.6 the following configuration change has to be made: In the settings in the tab "SSH", change the option "SSH engine" from "<new>" to "<legacy>". Then restart MobaXterm

PuTTY

Putty is a small client that comes as a single executable and does not require a specific installation procedure.

PuTTY cannot do file transfers. There is a second download for a command-line tool pscp.exe on the same website.