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CRC Using Shared Computing Resources for a Class
Using CRC Shared Computing Resources for a Class
Table of Contents
For Instructors
Instructors should request access to the clusters for their class before the semester begins. Accounts will be available via a negotiated start time and discontinued during negotiated end time. If an instructor wants to guarantee access time to nodes during class or lab time, please specify this in the request so that a node reservation can be established.
Introduction
The Shared Research Computing Resources are primarily used for research. Occasionally they are used for classes. The following notes are for instructors, TAs, and students to enable them to better utilize these systems. This document contains information that will be useful to people who are using these resources for a class.
Getting An Account / Setting Up Class Access
Instructors who wish to use the Shared Research Computing Systems for a class should request that their class have access to these resources before the semester begins. When the semester starts login accounts for students and instructors will be created automatically according to the course roster received from the Registrar's office. Instructors can request that Teaching Assistants be added to the class.
Getting Started
Each of the clusters has a Getting Started guide. It is recommended that instructors, TAs, and students consult this guide before using these systems.
Logging In The First Time / Default Password
The Getting Started guide for each system will guide you on the process for logging in. Login accounts for students and instructors will be created automatically near the beginning of the semester. If a student does not have an account, one will be created. If a student already has a research account then this account will simply be added to the class group. The username and password for all student accounts will be the same as your NetID username and password, unless otherwise instructed.
Student accounts are only good for one semester.
Accounts created for classes are not intended to be used for research and will be deleted at the end of the semester!
Group Memberships
If you have a research account, or are in more than one class, then your account will belong to multiple groups. Use the id command to determine your group memberships. Here is an example of output from the id command:
In this example the default group is the value assigned to gid, which is group1. The other group memberships are group2 and group3.
Shared Data Storage
Each class has a shared file storage space to be used at the discretion of the instructor. It will be located at the $PROJECTS/groupname path where groupname is the name of your class group.
Determining your group membership
See above regarding group membership.
Everyone in the class has read-write access to the shared storage space
Everyone in the class has read-write access to the files in the shared storage space unless the owner of the file sets the file permissions otherwise. If you intend to store files here that you do not want others to read then be sure to change the file permissions accordingly.
Please see our FAQ for more information about using the $PROJECTS storage space.
Submitting Jobs (including Interactive Jobs)
To submit jobs of any type please refer to the Getting Started documentation for each system. It is important to review this document before using the system.
These systems are heavily used for research purposes. Therefore, interactive access to the systems during class time might not be possible. If the instructor would like to guarantee interactive access then a node reservation needs to be requested ahead of time. The instructor should use the Getting Help document to request a node reservation for the class. Instructions will be provided on how to access the reservation.
If you have a research account, or are in more than one class, then your account will belong to multiple groups. If you are a member of more than one group then any job you submit will run with the privileges of your default group only which might not be your class group. Other group memberships will be ignored. If you need to access a node reservation or access files owned by your class group (and your default group and class group differ) then you need to add the following line to your SLURM batch script:
where YourGroupHere is the group assigned to your class. This will cause your job to run with the privileges assigned to your class, rather than to your default group.
Queue Policy Differs Between Systems
Please be aware that the partition policy is different on each system. Your job submission must conform to the queue policy as defined on each cluster. Some clusters are designed for jobs of 8 processor cores or less while others are designed for more than 8 cores. Jobs that do not conform to the published policies will not run correctly. Please see the Getting Started guides for details.
Important Request
We are requesting that job names be prepended with the short class name and number
#SBATCH --job-name=class101-myJobNameHere
Where "class" could be: stat, caam, comp, dsci, etc...
Where "101" is the related three digit number for the class.
Where "myJobNameHere" is something descriptive for yourself.
This helps us identify class related jobs so we can provide the correct level of support.
Instructions for Submitting Jobs
For more information on how to construct a SLURM script and submit a job, please see the Getting Started guide.
Determining your group membership
See above regarding group membership.
Using turnin to Submit Homework Assignments
Some classes will use the turnin software to submit homework assignments.
Tutorials and Getting Help
Those without sufficient Linux experience can take a look at our online tutorials .
We also have a Getting Started Guide and FAQ for each system.
If none of these resources provide the assistance you need then please click Here to get help.