Local SSH vs OOD

SSH vs OOD

SSH OOD
Network UVA Network/VPN required No network requirement
Execution On front-end, no running code On production nodes, can run code
Resources ijob resources specific to terminal No need for ijobs, have resources already
Notes Must take extra care to use properly Some extensions may be unavailable

Why Even SSH?

  • Extension Availability
    • But if one isn’t available just reach out to us!
  • Local preferences
    • But you can export the settings.json file to HPC
  • No queue wait time
    • But if you are requesting appropriate, interactive resources the wait time will be minutes at our busiest

In Most Cases, Use OOD

We strongly urge our users to use OOD.

Those resources are available and best for our users.

All functionality is the same and you will always have access to compute resources.

You will not need to worry about overwhelming with processes or fight with ijob terminals.


Setting Up SSH

Download SSH Extension

Search for “Remote – SSH” in the Marketplace.

It is not necessary but it is a tool to make it much easier

Screenshot of the Remote - SSH extension in the VS Code marketplace

Create Connection

Connect to Host > Add New SSH Host…

ssh -YA mst3k@login.hpc.virginia.edu

Modify your config file

You can later open and edit the config file as you need

Screenshot of the VS Code Remote Explorer panel showing Connect to Host option
Screenshot of the Add New SSH Host input dialog in VS Code
Screenshot of the SSH config file opened in VS Code for editing
Screenshot of the SSH config file showing the newly added HPC host entry

You Are Now Connected!

Screenshot of VS Code showing a successful connection to UVA HPC displayed in the status bar

Now that you are connected you can open up your workspaces you’ve created, open your folders, etc.

You can see your connection in the bottom right

You still stay connected so long as you stay on the network

Screenshot confirming the active VS Code SSH connection to the HPC cluster

Running Code with SSH

Run an IJob

Open a new terminal

ijob -c 6 -A hpc_training -p interactive --time=00:30:00

Starts an ijob on the interactive partition with 6 cores for 30 minutes

Will need to wait for resources to be available

An ijob is specific to the terminal you start it in, you only have access to those resources in that terminal

The job ends if you close the terminal

Screenshot of a VS Code terminal with an active ijob session on the interactive partition

Important Caveats:

This is for running code via terminal commands

If you want to run python code you need to “Run Python File” first, then type in ijob command in that new terminal

Different method for JupyterLab

DO NOT RUN JOBS FROM IJOBS

Screenshot illustrating the warning that jobs must not be run from within an ijob session

Logging Out

VSCode can create many processes on the front-ends.

If you are going to use SSH you must use it properly.

Disconnect your session every time you are finished.

Do not leave it running in the background.

In most cases, OOD interactive app is superior and preferred to SSH.

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