Installing and Using No Machine to connect to the Redhawk Cluster. Mac version

Transcription

1 Installing and Using No Machine to connect to the Redhawk Cluster Mac version No Machine (also called NX) is a tool that can be used to connect to Miami s Redhawk cluster when a graphical interface is needed. This document outlines how to install and use No Machine on a Mac computer Download required files Visit to download the NX Client for Mac OSX: NX Client download page On the download page, download the NX Client for Mac OS. The currently available version of the NX Client is 3.5. Install downloaded software Install the software by extracting the downloaded package, and then double-clicking the package to begin the install process.

2 Initial Setup of NX Client To setup a NX Client session to connect to the Redhawk cluster, run the NX Client for OSX using either the Finder or by searching for the application. On machines running the 10.6 (Snow Leopard) version of Mac OS X a dialog to install the Rosetta package may be displayed the first time you run the NX Client. If this is displayed, accept the offer to install Rosetta. The first time you run the NX Client, the NX Connection Wizard will run: Select Next to start the NX Connection Wizard.

3 Here, enter a name for the session in the Session box, enter redhawk.hpc.muohio.edu in the Host box, and drag the slider at the bottom to LAN if you will be connecting from on campus. For other connections select the type of connection ISDN or ADSL are appropriate for a cable modem or DSL connection. Access and changing this setting are discussed later in this document.

4 Click Next to continue with the setup.

5 Use the drop down option to change from the Linux desktop type from KDE to Gnome. (Note that the KDE desktop can be used on the cluster, but all setup and testing for NX has been done using the Gnome desktop.)

6 Click Next to continue with the setup.

7 Click Finish to complete the setup and create a desktop shortcut labeled with the session name assigned in the first step. NX will automatically start a new session using this connection. Connecting to the cluster using the NX Client You can start a new NX client session using the NX Client for OSX.

8 Enter you Miami unique ID in the Login field and enter your password in the Password field. Note that the last login used may be filled in automatically. Click Login to connect to the cluster. The first time you login to the cluster using NX, an authentication warning may be displayed. Click Yes to continue the connection process.

9 As the connection is established, the NX window will show the progress. Once a connection is established, the Linux desktop will display:

10 Working with the Linux desktop To open a terminal session, select Terminal using the Accessories sub-menu on the Applications menu.

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12 To start a file browser in the Linux desktop, double-click the home folder on the desktop or select a location from the Places menu. Other applications including file editors (Emacs and Gedit) and web browsers can be found under the Applications file menu. Connecting to other cluster nodes when using the NX Client When connected to the cluster using the NX Client, if you need to connect to the interactive node of the cluster using the ssh c-0-0 command, no additional setup is needed to display graphical output from commands executed on the c-0-0 node in your NX session. If you wish to run an interactive batch job to connect to one of the cluster s compute nodes, add the - V option to your qsub command (for example qsub IV ) so that graphical output from the compute node will be routed back to your session on the cluster head node and displayed in your NX session. Ending your NX session When you have finished working on the cluster you can choose to disconnect or terminate your Linux desktop. If you disconnect your session, your Linux desktop and all open programs continue to run. The next time you connect using the NX Client, you will re-connect to the running desktop. If you choose to terminate your desktop, all running programs will be terminated and you will be logged out. The next time you connect using the NX Client, a new desktop session will start. Note that if your session is accidentally disconnected (for example, your computer crashes), your NX session will be disconnected, and the next time you run NX, you will be re-connected to your previous

13 session. Also, the disconnect option will allow you to disconnect from a session and then re-connect to it from a different computer. Please note that when you disconnect from a session, it continues to run on the cluster head node, and will consume a small amount of resources on this system, so if you do not plan on re-connecting to a session within a few days, please go ahead and terminate the session. To disconnect or terminate your session click the red X in the upper left corner of the NX Client session (similar to ending other Mac applications): A dialog box will open and ask if you wish to disconnect or terminate the desktop session. Click on a button to select that option:

14 Changing your NX Configuration to accommodate a slower network connection To access the NX Configuration settings for a stored connection profile, run the NX Client for OSX. When the NX Client starts, make sure that the appropriate session name is selected, and click on the configure button.

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16 The configuration options will be displayed: Drag the slider control in the Desktop section to change the settings related to the network connection performance. When the slider is set for lower performance connections like Modem, the NX client will automatically adjust communications between your Mac and the cluster to reduce the amount of network bandwidth that is used. Click Save and the Ok to return to the NX Client login screen where you can provide your password and connect to the cluster. If you would like to create an additional NX Client profile for example Redhawk Modem - rather than changing the settings for an existing profile, run the NX Connection Wizard application and repeat the steps described above to create a new connection profile.