Greetings all HPC Users,
With regards to the email we sent earlier this month, we would like to gladly announce that the VPN testing phase has gone considerably smoothly, and we have managed to fix several reported issues on the VPN servers. So far, we have not encountered any more errors or breaking bugs until today, which is a good sign that we could move things to the next phase. Moving forward, we will fully enforce VPN usage starting 1st August 2022. For more details on how to connect to VPN gateway, please read the VPN documentation page.
What does this mean for HPC users?
Direct SSH to HPC Login Node (umhpc.dicc.um.edu.my) will no longer be possible without first establishing the VPN connection. All users will encounter an error where the host (umhpc.dicc.um.edu.my) cannot be resolved if the VPN is not connected. After establishing VPN connection, all HPC usage and activities remain unchanged.
Users are still given the freedom to choose whether to use a terminal session by SSH into the Login Node or use Open OnDemand portal at https://umhpc.dicc.um.edu.my.
After users establish connection to the VPN gateway, SSH proxy is no longer needed if they need to access internal resources like VNC or Open OnDemand portal. If you are one of the VNC session users, we strongly recommend you to use the Interactive Desktop feature provided in the Open OnDemand portal.
Things to keep in mind
Due to the nature of VPN protocol, users might experience slower data transfer rate compared to no VPN implemented. If you have huge data that needs to be transferred in or out from HPC storage, we suggest you visit us at our lab in IPPP with your huge data.
Also, users with an expired password will be unable to authenticate with the VPN gateway, so make sure you update your password immediately if the system prompts about expired password. You must request a password reset if your password expired before you are able to authenticate with the VPN gateway.
If you encountered any problems while using the VPN, please let us know through the service desk. Also, don’t forget to join the DICC Official Telegram Channel to receive the latest news and updates on the HPC cluster.
Thank you.