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Connecting to HiPerGator

Depending on how you plan to interact with the cluster, there are several interfaces to interact with the system, manage data, start computational jobs, and view results. Some users prefer to log in to the Linux command line. Others run Jupyter Notebooks, which can be accessed in several ways. Others launch graphical programs. And the list goes on. The capabilities and use cases are diverse. The most common methods are outlined below, with some example use cases, general information, and a link to get more information. Check out the methods and learn more about those most applicable to your intended use.

SSH Connection with a Terminal or SSH Client

This is, perhaps, the most common method of connecting to HiPerGator, and even if you predominantly use a different method, there are times when you may need to connect with SSH.

Quick information

  • Hostname: hpg.rc.ufl.edu
  • Port (only needed for SSH key authentication):

Using SSH, you can get connected to a terminal window and the Linux command line on HiPerGator. From there, you can use BASH commands to manage and edit files, run short scripts, submit and check on batch jobs, and get connected to an interactive development server to run more in-depth analyses.

There are three main methods of connecting with SSH. These are briefly described below, with links to pages with more details.

Using a Command Line Client to connect

MacOS, Windows, and Linux all have Terminal emulators (e.g., Terminal, Command Prompt, PowerShell) connecting with SSH to HiPerGator at the hostname hpg.rc.ufl.edu.

Please review this page, which details connecting via SSH using a password and outlines how the Duo Security Multifactor Authentication prompt is managed on HiPerGator. There is also information on advanced options, such as setting up SSH multiplexing and using SSH keys instead of a password to authenticate.

Quick How-To Videos

Check out these short videos on connecting with SSH:

Using a Graphical SSH Client

More common on Windows computers are graphical SSH Clients, like Bitvise and PuTTY (while there are others, these are UF IRM Fast Path-assessed applications). Once connected to HiPerGator, they provide a similar command line interface, but rather starting at a command line, they have a window to enter the hostname (hpg.rc.ufl.edu), username, and password.

Please review this page, which details using Bitvise as an example of an SSH Client.

Using the Terminal in Open on Demand

Our Open on Demand portal at https://ood.rc.ufl.edu/ provides a convenient terminal window in your web browser. Authentication is handled via the web browser, and the terminal window opens in a browser tab. Again, the text command line interface is essentially the same, but access is via your browser.

Please review this page, which details using Open on Demand to open a terminal.

Web Browser Interfaces

Another class of interfaces allows interacting with HiPerGator via your web browser. Some examples of these are to run graphical applications like MATLAB, RStudio, or one of several integrated development environments (IDEs).

Quick Information

  • Open on Demand: https://ood.rc.ufl.edu/
    • Many tools and graphical applications
  • JupyterHub: http://jhub.rc.ufl.edu/
    • JupyterHub is an alternative portal to start a Jupyter Notebook with preset resource settings for each session.
  • Galaxy: https://galaxy.rc.ufl.edu/
    • Galaxy is a web-based framework for accessible, reproducible, and transparent biological computing.

Open on Demand

Open on Demand, accessed at https://ood.rc.ufl.edu/, provides many tools and graphical interfaces for HiPerGator. As noted above, there is a terminal interface. Additionally, Open on Demand provides a file management interface and is the primary mechanism for launching graphical applications, a HiPerGator Desktop environment, and Jupyter sessions.

Please review this page, which details the features of Open on Demand.

JupyterHub

JupyterHub is an alternative portal that can be used to start a Jupyter Notebook easily. It can be accessed at http://jhub.rc.ufl.edu and has preset resource settings for each session.

  • Compute resources can only be used from your primary group, there is no way to specify to use a secondary group.
  • Note: Jupyterhub and OutOfMemory (OOM) – if your Notebook stops responding, it might indicate that the job is running out of memory. Currently, this does not produce an error message. You can check your /home/username/jupyter slurm spawner logs to be sure. You will need to restart the job with additional RAM.

Please review this page for additional information.

Web Application Hosting

Research groups established on HiPerGator can purchase access to web application hosting platform either for publicly accessible or HiPerGator integrated web applications and use it to deploy custom web interfaces or web applications for the group. (PUBAPPS documentation).

Graphical User Interfaces (GUI)

Using Graphical User Interface (GUI) applications that can run on Linux is possible on HiPerGator. See the OOD page for additional information. You can use pre-configured applications, start a terminal via a 'Console' (terminal emulator), or open a HiPerGator Desktop (xfce4 based Linux desktop) session and run any linux GUI application in that environment.