Please read through our Acceptable Use Policy before you log on to Solstorm.
Connect to the system
An SSH client (ssh) is the required tool to connect to Solstorm. An SSH client provides secure encrypted communications between two hosts over an insecure network.
For windows users you can download and use Putty.
How to log on to Solstorm
If you already have ssh installed on your UNIX-like system, have a user account and password, login may be as easy as typing:
# ssh solstorm-login.iot.ntnu.no -l [username]
Logon errors
The most common error at logon is “Server unexpectedly closed network connection”. This error-message is normally due to using wrong username or password more than 3 times within 5 minutes. To resolve this error you need to contact support at cluster@iot.ntnu.no. Please provide username and your IP in the email for us to be able to unban your logon.
Change password
At first logon, and at least once a year after that, you must change you password.
# passwd
How to transfer files to/from Solstorm
Files can be transferred securely with rsync, scp or sftp. Scp works similar to normal cp. Sftp work similar to normal ftp. Type man sftp, man scp or man rsync in the terminal for usage examples.
Connect to solstorm-login.iot.ntnu.no using the tool of choice.
Suitable ssh- and sftp clients for Windows
Several Windows clients for ssh/sftp can be found here
Hardware overview
Software overview
Solstorm is using modular loading of software which enables support for multiple versions of the same software.
How to use modules is described here.
List of software available through modules below.
How to start a compute-job
No compute-job is allowed to run on the login-node.
On the login-node start screen, and jump to a free compute-node, load necessary modules and start the job.
# ssh solstorm-login.iot.ntnu.no -l [username] # screen # ssh compute-x-y # module load <program>/<version> # <program>
How to use screen
Screen is typically used to keep a session running when not logged on.
Start screen
# screen
List screens
# screen -ls
Connect to running screen-sessions
# screen -rd <session number from screen -ls>
Tips and tricks from former students
- Ensure that you rerun compute jobs on nodes with similar hardware for comparable results.
- To ensure that your code is working as expected, start with a small subset of data before you start long-running computational work.
- Make sure your code writes output to files (at /storage/users/<username>), not to temporary local storage or to screen output.
Due to ongoing work where solstorm is located there is a potential for: - Sudden downtime and unstability (typically due to electrical work) - Running compute-jobs can be terminated without warning (typically due to high temperatures)