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

Installing and Using No Machine to connect to the Redhawk Cluster Windows version No Machine (also called NX) is a tool that can be used to connect to...
Author: Dwain Phillips
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Installing and Using No Machine to connect to the Redhawk Cluster Windows 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 Windows computer Download required files Visit http://www.nomachine.com/download-client-windows.php to download the NX Client for Windows:

NX Client download page On the download page, download the NX Client for Windows along with the four additional downloads. The currently available version of the NX Client is 3.5. Install downloaded software The NX Client package should be installed first. During the installation, all of the default options can be used. Next, the add-on downloads should be installed. The nxfonts-75dpi package should be installed first. For all of these installations, the default options can be used. Initial Setup of NX Client

To setup a NX Client session to connect to the Redhawk cluster, run the “NX Client for Windows” using either the desktop shortcut that was created during the installation process or by selecting it using the Windows start menu.

Select “Next” to start the NX Connection Wizard.

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.

Click “Next” to continue with the setup.

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.)

Click “Next” to continue with the setup.

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 desktop shortcut or by using the Windows start button to start the NX Client for Windows.

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. As the connection is established, the NX window will show the progress.

Once a connection is established, the Linux desktop will display:

Working with the Linux desktop To open a terminal session, right click on an empty part of the Linux desktop and select “Open Terminal”. You can also start a terminal using the “Accessories” sub-menu on the “Applications” menu.

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 PC crashes), your NX session will be disconnected, and the next time you run NX, you will be re-connected to your previous 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 “X” in the upper right corner of the NX Client session:

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:

Changing your NX Configuration to accommodate a slower network connection To access the NX Configuration settings for a stored connection profile, you must run the NX Client for Windows. The NX installation process should have created a shortcut to this on your desktop:

Otherwise, it can be found in the NX Client for Windows program group using the Windows start button. When the NX Client for Windows starts, make sure that the appropriate session name is selected, and click on the configure button.

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 PC and the cluster to reduce the amount of network bandwidth that is used. Click “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” found in the NX Client for Windows program group and repeat the steps described above to create a new connection profile.

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