Accounts

Please note: RRA is for research-related use only against sensitive datasets (HIPAA, PHI/PII, CUI, etc.) or with datasets with an accompanying DUA.

To request an account on RRA, please send an email (from your official USF email address) to rc-help@usf.edu with the subject "RRA Account Request". In this email, please also provide the name and email address of your authorized faculty sponsor or staff member.

Multifactor authentication requirement

Due to the sensitive datasets employed on RRA, use of DUO mobile is required to successfully authenticate and login to the cluster. Research Computing staff highly recommends use of the DUO mobile app with push notifications as the default. Unfortunately, without push notifications files will not be able to be uploaded as WinSCP/SFTP clients do not offer to the user other confirmation methods: SMS and telephone call.

Connecting & Accessing

To connect to RRA, you will need to use an SSH client or utilize the RRA Desktop Environment.

NOTE: Due to the sensitive nature of the RRA cluster, users connecting from off-campus must first connect to the USF VPN (https://vpn.usf.edu) before connecting to the RRA cluster. Any non-VPN connection attempts to the RRA cluster from off-campus will be rejected.

Connecting via SSH

The following information will be needed to connect via SSH:

• Your USF NetID and Password
• Hostname: rra.rc.usf.edu
• SSH Port: 22 (This is the default)

SSH clients for Windows

• PuTTY: https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html
  • Note: PuTTY is the recommended client to use when connecting to RRA. IT staff will provide full support for users utilizing this connection method, however, graphical (X11) connections are not provided.
• Cygwin (Includes OpenSSH): http://www.cygwin.com/
  • Note: Cygwin is for advanced users who are familiar with using a UNIX/Linux environment! We can only provide limited support for this method… So be warned!

SSH clients use on Mac OSX and Linux

• OSX SSH Tutorial
  • http://osxdaily.com/2017/04/28/howto-ssh-client-mac/
• Linux SSH Tutorial
  • https://acloudguru.com/blog/engineering/ssh-and-scp-howto-tips-tricks

Connecting via X2Go

Windows, Mac, and Linux users can take advantage of X2Go as well to connect to RRA via the RRA Desktop Environment.

Note: Please read and understand all instructions related to your OS before getting started.

Accessing Data on RRA

You will probably be interested in transferring files to and from RRA. Please see our guide to accessing data on RRA for more information

Linux Tutorials

If you are new to Linux or UNIX, you may wish to review some online tutorials. We’ve compiled a collection of tutorials here that we think new users will find helpful. We highly recommend that if you are new to Linux/UNIX-based environments that you take the time to go through at least one of the tutorials. You can safely skip any sections related to installing Linux, unless you wish to do this on your own.

Getting Work Done

To start using RRA for productive work, see the following documents:

1. Guide to SLURM - This guide will provide all of the information you need to successfully use the SLURM job submission system on RRA.
2. Locate the documentation for your application on this list: Available Applications. If its not there, then we haven’t worked with it before. You can either compile and install it yourself, or contact us to have it done for you.
3. Available Hardware - This page provides a breakdown of all the HPC hardware that is part of RRA. This is useful for referencing our resources or determining how best to compile or prepare your application.
4. Environment Modules - Environment Modules give you access to applications and features on RRA. Taking the time to learn their use is essential for making the most of RRA.

Running Graphical Applications

In order to run graphical applications such as Comsol, Matlab, Mathematica, HFSS, etc., please see the documentation for the RRA Desktop Environment.