Setup Instructions

Create a Repository

Create a GitHub repository named NETID-hpds for your coursework:

Make sure the repository is marked private and not public.
Add dthain and JinZhou5042 as collaborators.
When turning in assignments, just paste the repository URL into the Canvas assignment submission.

Request a CRC account

You only need your own CRC account. There is no special CRC project or course account to join. Wait for the CRC account confirmation email and follow the first-login instructions in that message, including the Okta synchronization step if it is requested.

Create an NSF ACCESS Account

Go to the ACCESS Account page and select Register. Register with your Notre Dame email address and complete the profile, email verification, and authentication steps.

If you already have an ACCESS or former XSEDE account, use that account. Do not create a second one.

After registration, open your ACCESS profile and copy the ACCESS ID exactly as shown. Your ACCESS ID is not necessarily the same as your Notre Dame NetID.

Join the course allocation

The course has an active allocation on Purdue Anvil through this ACCESS project:

Project: CIS261613
Title: Graduate Course in High Performance Distributed Systems
PI: Douglas Thain

The course will provide Anvil resources for all students. Email your name, Notre Dame NetID, and ACCESS ID to the TA at jzhou24@nd.edu.

The TA will add your ACCESS ID to the course project. Check My Projects in the ACCESS Allocations portal. You can use Anvil after it appears under CIS261613 with a resource username. Provisioning may take some time after you are added.

Set up SSH access to Anvil

Anvil uses SSH keys for terminal access. Start on your laptop and create a key for Anvil:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_anvil

Press three Enters until you see the output. The command creates a private key named id_ed25519_anvil and a public key named id_ed25519_anvil.pub.

Display the public key on macOS or Linux:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_anvil.pub

On Windows PowerShell, use:

Get-Content ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_anvil.pub

Copy the complete line beginning with ssh-ed25519. Open Anvil Open OnDemand, log in with your ACCESS identity, and select Clusters -> Anvil Shell Access. In the Anvil shell, run:

mkdir -p ~/.ssh
chmod 700 ~/.ssh
vim ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Paste the public key into authorized_keys and save the file. Then return to your laptop and replace ANVIL_USERNAME with the resource username shown in My Projects:

ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_anvil ANVIL_USERNAME@anvil.rcac.purdue.edu

The first connection may ask you to confirm the host key. A successful login opens a shell on an Anvil login node.