Accounts and Access

To access the Shared Computing Cluster (SCC), you must have an SCC account as a result of being a member of a Research Computing project active on the SCC; more limited access is also available through a Linux Virtual Lab/scc-lite account. These accounts are separate from a general Boston University (BU) computing account. Having a BU Kerberos username and password does not automatically give you access to the SCC.

Once you do have your SCC account, you can log in to the machines listed below using your BU login name and Kerberos password. There are two ways to access the SCC. The newer and generally recommended way is using SCC OnDemand, using just your web browser. To do this go to scc-ondemand.bu.edu – there is documentation on SCC Open OnDemand available. The second, older way to access the SCC is using a separate program called an ssh client to login to one of the machines listed below. Instructions on connecting to the SCC using SSH for various operating systems are here. Duo Two-Factor Authentication is also required for both of these ways of accessing the SCC.

  • Users on the Charles River Campus should generally use scc1.bu.edu or scc2.bu.edu.
  • E&E Department users can also use geo.bu.edu.
  • BUMC users should generally use scc4.bu.edu. Note: Off-campus log in to scc4 requires using OnDemand or, for SSH connections, using a VPN or logging in first through another login node, such as scc1.bu.edu.

Usage Policies

Your usage of the SCC must abide by the BU Ethics Policy and the BU Information Security Policy and Guides.

Researchers using the SCC must also abide by the guidelines of the Office of Reseach Compliance at Boston University.

Passwords🔗

When you first receive an SCC account, you should receive email with instructions on how to access your account using your BU login ID and Kerberos password; external users only will get an email letting them know their new BU login ID and letting them set up their BU Kerberos password. Only your BU Kerberos password can be used to access our password-restricted web materials, including SCC OnDemand.

If you forget your BU Kerberos password, you can change it here.

With your Kerberos password, you can also change your shell.

Accessing the SCC🔗

There are two ways to access the SCC, both of them require using Duo Two-Factor Authentication:

  1. Login to SCC Open OnDemand using just a web browser. This is recommended for most users. To do this go to scc-ondemand.bu.edu – there is documentation on SCC Open OnDemand available. OnDemand is recommended for interactive usage of the SCC (i.e. using applications, developing code, debugging, exploring datasets, etc.) or when a graphical user interface is desired.
  2. Use ssh. Instructions on what you need to do to access the system for all major operating systems are available. Most users will find this more complex and OnDemand is certainly better for more advanced functions.

Using X Windows to Display Graphics – applies only to ssh access

If you follow the above steps properly, you should also be able to display graphics on your machine, such as running MATLAB’s GUI. You can test this by running the command xclock on one of the SCC login nodes; this command should bring up a window with a simple analog clock. If you can see the clock, you should be all set for other applications as well. If you can’t, you will first need to run (and possibly install and/or configure first) an X Windows client on your workstation. Instructions on doing this for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux are available.

As a rule, the graphics performance offered by the OnDemand web interface to the SCC will be drastically superior to that achieved by X Windows. OnDemand is also generally significantly easier to use.

Additional Considerations – VPN and VNC – applies only to ssh access🔗

Use of a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is generally not necessary for using the SCC although it may make things more convenient for those using scc4.bu.edu as their login node (which allows access to data in the /restricted partitions). From off-campus, users who wish to access scc4 should either use a VPN or else first log in to either scc1.bu.edu or scc2.bu.edu and then from there log in to scc4.bu.edu.

VNC (Virtual Network Computing) is a means to make graphical applications (such as the Matlab development environment) potentially run faster and be more responsive to user input. This functionality has been supplanted by the OnDemand web interface which is recommended for all SCC users for interactive and graphical applications. The use of VNC involves more complexity compared with OnDemand but it may be preferred by some users.

Using SCC with GitHub 2FA

If you wish to use two-factor authentication with GitHub, you also need to make changes to your SCC account.