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Urblauna access and data transfer

Connecting to Urblauna

The Urblauna cluster is intended for the processing of sensitive data and as such comes with a number of restrictions.

All access requires the use of two factor authentication and outside of the UNIL/CHUV networks the UNIL VPN is required.

Note for CHUV users: in case of problems connecting to Urblauna please contact your local IT team to ensure that the network connection is authorised.

2 Factor authentication

When your account is activated on urblauna you will receive an email from noreply@unil.ch that contains a link to the QR code to set up the 2 factor authentication - this is not the same code as for EduID!

To import the QR code you first need to install an application on your phone such as Google Authenticator or FreeOTP+. Alternatively desktop applications such as KeePassXC can also be used.

If you lose the secret then please contact us in order to generate a new one.

Web interface

As for Jura there is a web interface (Guacamole) that allows for a graphical connection to the Urblauna login node

To connect go to u-web.dcsr.unil.ch

You will then be prompted to enter your username and password followed by the 2FA code that you received

urblauna_rdp.png

SSH interface

There is also SSH terminal access which may be more convenient for many operations. Unlike connections to Curnagl no X11 forwarding or use of tunnels is permitted. The use of scp to copy data is also blocked.

To connect:

ssh username@u-ssh.dcsr.unil.ch

You will then be prompted for your UNIL password and the 2FA code that you received as follows:

% ssh ulambda@u-ssh.dcsr.unil.ch

(ulambda@u-ssh.dcsr.unil.ch) Password: 
(ulambda@u-ssh.dcsr.unil.ch) Verification code: 

Last login: Wed Jan 18 13:25:46 2023 from 130.223.123.456

[ulambda@urblauna ~]$ 

Please note that these are not the EduID password and 2FA code!

Data Transfer

An SFTP server allows you to import and export data.

From Laptop or Jura to Urblauna

Here is the procedure to transfer a file, say mydata.txt, from your Laptop or Jura to Urblauna.

From your Laptop or Jura:

cd path_to_my_data

sftp <username>@u-sftp.dcsr.unil.ch

You will be prompted for your password and the two factor authentication code as for an SSH connection to Urblauna.

sftp> put mydata.txt

sftp> exit

Your file "mydata.txt" will be in /scratch/username/.

Data is copied to/from your scratch directory ( /scratch/username ) and once there it should be moved to the appropriate storage space such as /data or /archive - please remember that the scratch space is automatically cleaned up.

From Urblauna to Laptop

Here is the procedure to transfer a file, say mydata.txt, from Urblauna to your Laptop.

Log into Urblauna and type:

cp path_to_my_data /scratch/username/

From your Laptop:

sftp <username>@u-sftp.dcsr.unil.ch

You will be prompted for your password and the two factor authentication code as for an SSH connection to Urblauna.

sftp> get mydata.txt

sftp> exit

Your file "mydata.txt" will be in your current working directory.