Linux Cycles
Instructional Unix Cycle Servers
The CSE Instructional Linux cluster is colloquially known as "attu" and it is, at present, eight separate computers:
attu1 - attu7: SuperMicro, 192GB RAM, 2 14-core Intel Gold 6132 processors @ 2.6GHzattu8: Dell PowerEdge R430, 128GB RAM, 2 12-core Intel E5-2670v3 processors @ 2.3GHz
and connecting to
attu.cs.washington.edu with an SSH client will connect you, to one of the eight servers. You can also connect directly to one of the eight servers, by pointing your SSH client at
attuN.cs.washington.edu, where
N is a number between
1 and
8.
Real-time statistics on load and memory usage on this cluster is available at this link.
If you need to have long running jobs (e.g., hours/days of CPU time), please inform support@cs of your requirements/intentions. Otherwise it is possible that your jobs may be classified as "runaways" and will be killed (at worst) and stopped (at best) until it is made clear that they are actually performing useful work.
Research Unix Cycle Servers
Members of the CSE research community needing general UNIX cycles can use any of the research Linux cycle servers:
recycle.cs.washington.edu: 512GB RAM, 4 12-core Intel E7-4850 processors @ 2.3GHzbicycle.cs.washington.edu: 512GB RAM, 4 12-core Intel E7-8850 processors @ 2.3GHztricycle.cs.washington.edu: 512GB RAM, 4 12-core Intel E7-8850 processors @ 2.3GHzbam.cs.washington.edu: 256GB RAM, 2 18-core Intel E5-2699 processors @ 2.3GHzboom.cs.washington.edu: 256GB RAM, 2 18-core Intel E5-2699 processors @ 2.3GHz
Process limits are governed by
Cgroups. Please compute responsibly.
barb.cs.washington.edu is available as an administrative login server.
Contact support@cs for additional Linux servers designed for remote access.
TeX and LaTeX
In response to complaints about out-of-date LaTeX installations in CentOS 7 / CentOS 8 / Rocky Linux 8 (TeX Live 2018, at best), we have made a VM that runs the recently-released TeX Live 2022. If you are having issues getting your TeX or LaTeX documents to compile successfully (those preparing materials for ACM conferences, especially), please connect (via ssh to "texlive.cs.washington.edu" and build your documents there.
If you find that there package(s) missing, please send e-mail to CSE Support and let us know - put "texlive" in the subject line - and we'll get them installed as soon as possible.
Printing
Any application with printing interface using IPP protocol on any network can use this service provided that valid CS.WASHINGTON.EDU Kerberos credentials are used to run the application. (However, only research account holders can print to research printers.)
[+] CUPS Print Servers and Configuration
[-] CUPS Print Servers and Configuration
Printing from a non-CSL-supported Unix platform requires that CUPS or IPP-compatible software be installed, and may also require additional configuration and software. The IPP printing service for all printers and platforms is implemented by (CUPS), the Common Unix Printing system. We operate multiple servers under one name:
- kups.cs.washington.edu, for GSSAPI Kerberized print service
On many Linux distributions, configuring client-side CUPS for printing can be done by editing or creating /etc/cups/client.conf to point to a CSE IPP server. For instance, to gain access to all printers, /etc/cups/client.conf may have this one line:
ServerName kups.cs.washington.edu
It may be necessary to restart the "cups" daemon on your machine after creating or editing this file.
Details on setting up CUPS can be found in Documentation/Help tab at Common UNIX Printing System.
Before you can access the print server via CUPS commands, you must have valid CS.WASHINGTON.EDU Kerberose tickets. If you log on to a CSL-supported Unix machine, a ticket-granting Kerberos ticket, valid for 10 hours, is automatically created for you.
You can check the existence or expiration time on the ticket by klist command, and you can renew or reinitialize the ticket by using kinit command on your Kerberos principal (in the form of <username>@CS.WASHINGTON.EDU, where the domain name must be capitalized). Additional software may be required, e.g., krb5-user for Ubuntu; krb5-workstation for fedora and CentOS, to have the commands available. (If you are asked, the default Kerberos realm is "CS.WASHINGTON.EDU" and you want to enter that in all caps.) Below are examples of the command usage:
% kinit <username>@CS.WASHINGTON.EDU
Password for <username>@CS.WASHINGTON.EDU:
% klist
Ticket cache: FILE:/tmp/krb5cc_3512_WgqmOLeMCJ
Default principal: <username>@CS.WASHINGTON.EDU
Valid starting Expires Service principal
12/18/2017 11:57:43 12/18/2017 21:57:43 krbtgt/CS.WASHINGTON.EDU@CS.WASHINGTON.EDU
renew until 12/25/2017 11:57:43
% kinit -R
% klist
Ticket cache: FILE:/tmp/krb5cc_3512_WgqmOLeMCJ
Default principal: <username>@CS.WASHINGTON.EDU
Valid starting Expires Service principal
12/18/2017 12:05:25 12/18/2017 22:05:25 krbtgt/CS.WASHINGTON.EDU@CS.WASHINGTON.EDU
renew until 12/25/2017 11:57:43
[+] Printing from Terminal
[-] Printing from Terminal
Files can be printed from a terminal using the lp (System-V style) or lpr (BSD-style) commands.
- List available printers: lpstat -p -d
- List print options: lpoptions -p printername -l (example: "psc441")
- Print a file: lpr -P<printer> <options> <filename> or lp -d<printer> <options> <filename> where <printer> is the destination printer, <options> are the print options, and <filename> is the name of the file you want to print
- Finding a job-id: lpq -P<printer> or lp -p <printer>
- Cancel a job in the queue: cancel <job-id> <printer> or lprm -P <printer> <job-id>
- You can turn on/off banner page and duplex printing for all CSE public printers by selecting your preferences at https://lpprefs.cs.washington.edu.
Network File Access
The recommended way of connecting to CSE files and folders from a non-lab managed machine is via the fuse-sshfs package (most applicable directories are already exported on lab-managed machines). It is also possible to request exports of a specific directory to a local desktop by emailing support@cs.
[+] Mapping Your Home Directory
[-] Mapping Your Home Directory
- Install the fuse-sshfs package (if you haven't already) using the standard install method for your distro (ex: sudo yum install fuse-sshfs on CentOS)
- Create a folder in your local home directory to act as a mount point:
cd
mkdir csehomedir
- Instructional Accounts: sshfs attu: ~/csehomedir
- Research Accounts: sshfs <server>: ~csehomedir where <server> should be one of the cycle or login servers (bicycle, tricycle, recycle, barb).
[+] Mapping a Project Directory
[-] Mapping a Project Directory
- Install the fuse-sshfs package (if you haven't already) using the standard install method for your distro (ex: sudo yum install fuse-sshfs on CentOS)
- Determine Your Project Server:
- Instructional Projects: Use 'attu' for the <server> name.
- Research Projects: Use a cycle or login server as the <server> name (bicycle, tricycle, recycle, barb).
- Create a folder in your local home directory to act as a mount point:
cd
mkdir <projectname>
- Mount the remote directory by running sshfs <server>:/projects/<projectname> ~/<projectname>
[+] High-Level File System Structure
[-] High-Level File System Structure
The following table shows the topmost directory structure of remotely-accessible directories in the school.
/projects Project directories, instructional/research UNIX
/homes/gws Research Home Directories, research UNIX
/iws Instructional home directory, instructional UNIX
/grail Grail home directory, grail servers
/sys System home directory, system servers
/cse Data that is not platform-specific, research UNIX
/sources Local CSE source files, research UNIX
Remote Access
We provide ways that you can telecommute and use CSE resources and software. If your destination is Unix, we offer several packages for connecting, including: OpenSSH and XTerm for X support. If your destination is Windows, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is the current (and only) supported method.
[+] Accessing Remote Windows Machines
[-] Accessing Remote Windows Machines
Access to remote Windows machines from Linux is provided by
xfreerdp, an open source client for the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) from the FreeRDP project. From a Linux graphical terminal, use the command
xfreerdp --help to show the various settings you can use to connect.
EXAMPLE: xfreerdp /u:joe /d:CSENETID /v:aqua.cs.washington.edu
- NOTE: If you are not connecting from a machine joined to a CSE Windows domain (ex: a personal laptop), the target computer name and your domain\username will be of the form <hostname>.cs.washington.edu and <domain>.cs.washington.edu\<username> respectively.
These machines are available for remote access:
- CSE Windows Virtual Lab (CSENETID) - Each machine has a near identical software config to that of the Windows Instructional Lab Workstations in the Allen Center.
- CSE Research Windows Terminal Server (CSENETID) - aqua.cs.washington.edu is a large terminal server dedicated to research users only.
- Faculty/staff/grads can also use remote desktop to their own machines located in the CSE building.
- In special cases, labs are set up for remote usage for PMP students.
[+] Accessing Remote Linux Machines
[-] Accessing Remote Linux Machines
Remote access for Linux machines is available using OpenSSH or optionally a combination of Xterm and OpenSSH (for X support).
- Open a terminal:
- Open a Standard Terminal: Activities-> Applications-> Terminal (if using the GNOME desktop)
- Open a X Terminal (for optional X support): Activities-> Applications-> xTerm (if using the GNOME desktop)
- Run ssh <hostname> (or ssh -X <hostname> for X support) where hostname is the name or IP of the machine you wish to connect to.
- Any commands run from this window will actually be executed on the remote machine (including X applications).
Again these machines are available for remote access:
- Instructional Unix Servers: The attu cluster is a set of eight servers (attu1-8). You can connect to a specific server by name, or if you connect to attu.cs.washington.edu, you will be connected to one of the eight servers. Because these are time-shared systems, a single-process CPU time limit policy applies to this cluster.
- Research Unix Cycle Servers: Members of the CSE research community needing general UNIX cycles can use any of the research Linux cycle servers: recycle.cs.washington.edu, bicycle.cs.washington.edu, and tricycle.cs.washington.edu. Barb.cs.washngton.edu is available as an administrative login server.
- Contact support@cs for additional Linux servers designed for remote access
Linux Virtual Machines or "Home VM"
The CSE lab prepares virtual machine images that, in a rough sense, allow you to take a lab Windows or Linux workstation home with you. More details can be found HERE.
Software
The CSE Linux cycle, admin, and desktop machines run RockyLinux as their OS. RockyLinux is a n open source project, which produces a free derivative of the RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) distribution.
RockyLinux releases have a multi-year life cycle. Updates for security and bug fixes are frequently provided throughout the release cycle and periodic 'point releases' may introduce new features and rebase key software components to new versions.
We install a standard set of packages each release. The instructional software is usually a superset of what is installed on the research systems, since they have additional 'courseware', requested by instructors, which varies each quarter.
Software updates and security fixes are routinely applied, as received from the upstream distribution.
Only CS Lab staff have root access. NFS file access from lab-managed file servers is available only to lab-managed Unix systems.
For more details see RockyLinux at CSE
