Connecting To CIRCE

Accounts

Please note: CIRCE is for research-related use only.

To request an account on CIRCE, please send an email (from your official USF email address) to rc-help@usf.edu with the subject "CIRCE Account Request". In this email, please also provide the following info:

  • Faculty Sponsor Full Name:
  • Faculty Sponsor Department:
  • Faculty Sponsor USF Email Address:

Connecting & Accessing

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

Connecting via SSH

The following information will be needed to connect via SSH:

  • Your USF NetID and Password
  • Hostname: circe.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 CIRCE. 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

Connecting via X2Go

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

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

Accessing Data on CIRCE

You will probably be interested in transferring files to and from CIRCE. Please see our guide to accessing data on CIRCE 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 CIRCE 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 CIRCE.
  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 CIRCE. 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 CIRCE. Taking the time to learn their use is essential for making the most of CIRCE.

Running Graphical Applications

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