Frequently
Asked Questions
Questions about logging in
I
can't log in. Are the systems
down?
If you're unable to log on to
an NCCS system, first check the
system status page. The status page
will show any known system outages,
planned downtimes, and regular
maintenance windows. If none
of these apply to you, contact NCCS
User Services for assistance.
I
tried three times to log in,
and then I got a "Permission
denied (publickey, keyboard-interactive)" message.
What's going on?
As a security measure, some
NCCS systems lock out userids
after three consecutive failed
attempts to log in. If you
are locked out, you must call
User Services at 301-286-9120
to have your userid unlocked.
How do I change my login shell?
To change your login shell on halem, charney,
or palm, issue the following
command:
chsh
You will be prompted for the path of the
new shell, e.g., /bin/bash,
/bin/csh, /bin/tcsh.
For all other HPC systems, you must e-mail
NCCS
User Services and
request the change.
Questions about terminology
What is
a PIN?
"PIN" stands for personal identification
number, a four-digit number that
is assigned to you by NCCS User
Services along with your userid.
You use your PIN in combination
with the tokencode on your authentication
key token (AKT) to login to NCCS
systems.
What
is a tokencode?
A tokencode is the sequence
of numbers on your AKT.
Tokencodes change every 30 - 60 seconds.
What
is a passcode?
A passcode is a combination
of two sequences of numbers that
you use to log in to an NCCS
system. The first sequence is
your four-digit NCCS PIN, which
is a permanent number assigned
to you by NCCS User Services.
The second sequence is your AKT
tokencode, which changes every
30 - 60 seconds. Together these two
sequences of numbers form a one-time-use
passcode.
To enter your passcode, type
your PIN and and tokencode as
one sequence, without spaces.
Other questions
I
forgot my password. How do I recover it?
If you forget your password,
you must call NCCS User Services
at 301-286-9120 to have it reset.
For security reasons, we will
not e-mail passwords.
When you call User Services
to ask that your password be
reset, we will ask you for your
personal identification number
(PIN) and the serial number on
the back of your AKT. If
you do not have these numbers,
we will ask for your NCCS Identification
Code: the secret word, phrase,
or other identifier you specified
when you applied for your userid.
These are security measures to
ensure that we are actually talking
to you and not someone pretending
to be you.
Note that User Services will
NEVER ask you for your system
password(s)---and you should
never volunteer your passwords
under any circumstances.
How
do I change my password on Sourcemotel?
To change your password, first log on to
sourcemotel.gsfc.nasa.gov using
your existing password. Click
on "My Page," then on "Account
Maintenance," and then on the
"change password" link.
How do I bring up an xterm window on the HPC
systems?
The method for bringing up an xterm window
is slightly different
for each major operating system
from which you're accessing an
HPC system.
On a Windows OS, start
your x-server (e.g., Exceed),
open your ssh client (e.g., PuTTY),
and enable
x11 forwarding in the settings.
On a Linux OS, ssh
using the -X option.
On a Macintosh OS, open
the X11 application and ssh using
the -X option.
How
do I generate a public ssh key
on my system?
To generate a public key, run the
command-line program ssh-keygen
(you can use either protocol
1 or 2). The public key will
be placed at ~/.ssh/identity.pub (protocol
1) and ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub or
~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub (protocol
2).
How
do I set up a passwordless CVS
environment on Sourcemotel?
1. Generate ssh keys on the system from
which you are connecting.
2. Log into sourcemotel.gsfc.nasa.gov and
click on "My Page," then on "Account
Maintenance," and
then on "Edit Keys."
3. Copy and paste the ssh keys you generated
into the space provided and save.
I
want to run a batch job, but
I don't know what to enter for
the -A option in PBS or the -P
option in LSF. What should
I do?
The -A option in PBS and the -P option in
LSF require you to enter
your Sponsor Code Account (SCA).
To see a list of the SCAs on
which you are authorized for
a particular HPC system, execute
the command getsponsor.
What are the Rules of Behavior for using NCCS computing resources?
The Rules of Behavior for using NCCS computing resources are documented here.
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