Skip to content
Snippets Groups Projects

System Administrator Guide

Last edited by Eric Franz

AweSim

System Administrator Guide for AweSim Compatibility

Who is this for?

This document is prepared for system administrators in charge of both workplace network configuration as well as workstation (desktop, laptop) software configuration.

Services

AweSim provides services for accessing HPC web applications as well HPC software as a service via remote desktop. This guide will help ensure that your users can access AweSim services from their workstation.

Connecting to AweSim

Connecting your users to AweSim is a three-step process.

Network Configuration

AweSim’s services are primarily hosted at Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC). These services are delivered almost exclusively as HTTP, HTTPS, and SSH traffic over their standard network ports of 80, 443, and 22, respectively.

OSC services are accessed at the following domains:

  • apps.awesim.org
  • glenn.osc.edu
  • oakley.osc.edu
  • ruby.osc.edu
  • sftp.osc.edu

OSC operates on the following publicly-facing IP address ranges:

  • 192.148.247.0/24
  • 192.148.248.0/24
  • 192.148.250.0/24
  • 192.157.5.0/24

Should your network operate behind a firewall that restricts access to remote destinations, the preceding information should be used to construct rules to allow network access to the full suite of AweSim services.

Software Configuration

AweSim’s services, such as web applications, remote desktops, HPC applications, remote terminal shells, and file transfer, are accessible via standard protocols. While there are several ways to access AweSim services beyond what is described here, the following set of Windows applications will allow your users to access AweSim services with the least amount of complication. Please contact your AweSim technical representative should you find any of these conditions impossible to fulfill.

AweSim Connect Application

The AweSim Connect application is the recommended resource for accessing AweSim resources from Windows machines. Connecting to many of the applications at AweSim require a secure SSH tunnel to a running supercompute node. This has traditionally been achieved through a manual PuTTY connection and separate desktop applications. The AweSim Connect application is a single-executable that operates as zero-installation bundle of applications and as a launcher for those applications.

The AweSim connect is currently distributed with the following helper applications, which are deployed in the folder next to the location where AweSimConnect.exe is launched. These files are cleaned up on application exit. The following helper applications are deployed by AweSim Connect:

  • plink.exe PuTTY Link Command Line Tool - Used to create the SSH tunnel.
  • putty.exe PuTTY - Used to establish interactive shell sessions.
  • vncviewer.exe TurboVNC - Used to view a remote desktop.
  • WinSCP.exe WinSCP - Used for file access.

Download AweSim Connect Latest Build

Web Applications

Up-to-date versions of Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome on supported versions of Microsoft Windows will be able to run AweSim web applications without any difficulty. Microsoft Internet Explorer may be able to run AweSim web applications, but at a reduced level of support.

Remote Desktops

AweSim offers many desktop applications accessible via the VNC protocol. These sessions are tunneled through the SSH protocol to ensure they are secure and for reliability purposes. For Windows users, SSH tunneling is provided through the PuTTY utility, which can be downloaded from here:

PuTTY/Plink http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

TurboVNC is the supported VNC client for displaying the remote desktop applications, it can be downloaded from here:

TurboVNC http://sourceforge.net/projects/turbovnc/files/

Terminal/Shell Access

Your users may access the HPC systems via a command line shell using PuTTY, or the command-line equivalent, Plink, to connect via SSH.

http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

File Transfer

Files and general data may be uploaded/downloaded to/from the HPC systems via standard sFTP, utilizing the same port as SSH. The AweSim Connect app provides support for WinSCP, which is included in the AweSim Connect package.

WinSCP https://winscp.net/eng/download.php

Additional Workstation Configuration Documentation

Configure Licensing Servers

Due to their unique nature, licensing servers are configured on an ad-hoc basis. Contact your AweSim technical representative to make arrangements for license-server compatibility.

Contact AweSim