<aside> 💡 Welcome to the Quick-Start Guide for Using the Abacus Cluster!
Please note that this guide is not exhaustive. For more detailed information, please refer to the main page and explore the introductory section for an overview of a typical workflow. This guide aims to get you up and running quickly with the essential steps and best practices for using the Abacus cluster.
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This cluster is organized as follow:
Compute nodes: at the moment we have 3 GPU capable nodes:
Users are not allowed to log-in directly into the nodes
In addition, each compute node have also plenty of NVMe (super fast) storage, to optimize the usage of the GPU.
Login node: we have a node (login node) which is the user’s entry point to request compute resources
Shared storage: a storage server with fast SSD disks on which we create and share data across compute nodes
Resource access and management is handled by the SLURM workload manager.
In order to improve the reproducibility of your work and maintainability of the cluster, your code must be run inside containers.
access the cluster, follow these steps:
Set Up the Jumphost
First, configure the jumphost by following the instructions provided on this page.
Request Access
To request access to the server, contact one of the system administrators. The administrator will give you your username and provide you with an initial password.
Generate an SSH Key Pair
Since password-based authentication is disabled for login, you must generate an SSH key pair to access the cluster. If you don’t have any keys, Follow these steps:
For Linux:
a. Generate the Key Pair:
Open a terminal and run the following command:
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "comment-for-remembering-its-purpose/remote-location"
~/.ssh/id_rsa).b. Locate Your Public Key:
The public key is usually saved at ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
C. Send Your Public Key to the Administrator: Send the public key to one of the admins via email or any other secure communication method.
For Windows:
a. Install OpenSSH (if not already installed):
Recent versions of Windows 10 and 11 include OpenSSH by default. If it’s not installed, you can add it through the "Optional Features" in the Windows settings.
b. Generate an SSH Key Pair:
Open a PowerShell terminal and run:
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "[email protected]"
Follow the prompts, and when asked where to save the key, press Enter to accept the default location (C:\\Users\\YourUsername\\.ssh\\id_rsa).
C. Send Your Public Key to the Administrator: Send the public key to one of the admins via email or any other secure communication method.
Login to the Cluster
Once the administrator has configured your key for access, you can log in to the login node (a virtual machine from which you will launch your code on the compute nodes) using SSH. Use the following command:
ssh "username"@abacus-login.fbk.eu
If everything is set up correctly, you should log in without being prompted for your user’s password but for you ssh key passphrase (if you set it, as you should).
Change Your Password
After logging in for the first time, you must change your password to ensure security. Use the following command:
passwd "username"
<aside> 💡 HINT:
Here is an example of config file in you .ssh dir, which will allow u to ssh into the frontend (login node) via fbk’s jumphost
Host fbkjumphost
HostName jump.fbk.eu
User <your user>
IdentityFile <path/to/your/PRIVATE/key>
Host login
HostName abacus-login.fbk.eu
User <your user>
IdentityFile <path/to/your/PRIVATE/key>
LocalForward <choose-a-port> localhost:<choose-a-port>
ProxyJump fbkjumphost
now you can connect via ssh login
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💡 Important Note: Always keep your private key (~/.ssh/id_rsa) secure. Do not share it.
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Users must avoid to put working data and model in their /home directory on the login. Use this for operational data, not for heavy files. For those you should use the storage dedicated to your unit and the NMVe storage on each machine.