If you're interested in getting an account with us, we've prepared a step-by-step guide to assist you in the process. It contains everything you'll need to know, plus contact information if you have questions we didn't think of. Click here to view the guide.
If your experience with computers has been mostly with PCs, there are some things about High Performance Computing (HPC) that you might find confusing at first.
Kerberos The first aspect of working with our systems that is different from working on a PC is an added layer of security called Kerberos. (As you work with our systems and other HPCMP systems in the DoD, this word will come up over and over, as well as its adjective, kerberized.) Kerberos is a software package that you must download and install on your local system.
Kerberos - SecurID Kerberos adds an additional security component to the usual "user name and password": a small, credit-card-sized device with a numeric pad called a "SecurID." Each user is issued a SecurID when their account is created. Your SecurID is associated with you, and comes pre-programmed with a unique four-digit PIN. You should protect the card and the PIN as you would a password.
You can't log onto our systems without your SecurID! If your SecurID is damaged or stops working, you'll have to contact the Service Center for a replacement. If it is lost, contact the Service Center immediately.
Kerberos - Logging on When you log onto a kerberized system, you will first enter your user name and Kerberos password. Then, you will be prompted for your SecurID passcode. Note: this is NOT your SecurID PIN! Using the numeric pad on your SecurID, input your PIN and press the diamond key (not the "P" key). The SecurID will then display a six-digit number; this number is your passcode. Enter the passcode into the login prompt to finish logging on.
Note: The passcodes generated by your SecurID have only a one minute lifespan. If you look closely at the left side of the LCD display on your card, you will notice a column of bars that diminishes over one minute, and then resets. This indicates the remaining time in the current passcode's lifespan. If there are only a few bars left, you may want to wait until the column resets before entering your PIN.
Kerberos - ticket Once you've gone through all that, you will have what is called a Kerberos ticket. As the name implies, this is your "admission ticket" into kerberized systems. In fact, it is a valid admission ticket into any kerberized system in the DoD on which you have an account. This "ticket" does not last forever; its lifetime is determined by our system administrators. (Twenty-four hours is common.) Once the time is up, the ticket expires, and you have to go through the process again.
This whole process is usually referred to by the shorthand phrase: "Getting a Kerberos ticket." Without a ticket, you can't get in!
Another aspect of working with our systems that is different from working on a PC is that you can't just log on and "start working." Our computers are shared among many users. Because of this, you can't just log on to one of these systems, upload your programs, and start running them. Your programs have to "get in line" and wait their turn. This "line" your programs are put into is called a queue. Just to make things more confusing, your programs aren't called programs at all! They are called jobs. So, putting your programs in line to run on an HPC system is called submitting jobs to the queue.
There are actually several different queues available on each of our systems. Some of them have a higher priority than others (like the express checkout at the grocery store). When your account was first created, you were given permission to submit jobs to certain queues. Which ones? That depends; if you don't know, the Service Center can tell you.
Last update: September 11, 2007
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