Simple Server Guide

Simple Server Guide

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for accessing and using the DOE lab server infrastructure.

Step 1: Get Server Access

Receive your server access email containing:

• Username and password
• Wireguard configuration file
• Server domain name (e.g., anthony.doelab.site)

Step 2: Install and Configure Wireguard

1. Install Wireguard on your system:
   • Windows: Download from wireguard.com
   • MacOS: brew install wireguard-tools
   • Linux: Use your distribution’s package manager

1. Add the provided configuration file to Wireguard

2. Activate the VPN connection

Note: Wireguard VPN work with HCMUT1/HCMUT2 WiFi networks. Remember to change your DNS to 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8

Step 3: Connect via Remote Desktop

1. Open your Remote Desktop client

1. Important: Set color depth to 16-bit

1. Enter the server domain name (e.g., anthony.doelab.site)
2. Use your provided username and password

Step 3.1: Access Compute Node

In the server terminal, run:

srun --x11 --pty bash

You can see the shell prompt is changed to the compute node name.

This connects you to an available compute node with 1 CPU. Use -c x to request x CPUs if needed:

srun --x11 --pty -c 2 bash  # Request 2 CPUs

Step 3.2: Manage Software Modules

On the compute node, use these commands:

module avail          # List available software/tools
module load <tool>    # Load a specific tool
module unload <tool>  # Unload a specific tool

Step 4: Setup SSH Remote Development

Configure your preferred IDE (VSCode, etc.) on your laptop for SSH remote development:

• Enable SSH remote extension
• Connect to the server using SSH
• Code and use terminal directly from your IDE

See detail in this article from Microsoft.

Step 5: File Transfer with FileZilla

1. Open FileZilla
2. Connect to: sftp://{server_name} (e.g., sftp://anthony.doelab.site)
3. Enter username and password
4. Leave port field empty
5. Transfer files between your computer and server

Step 6: Troubleshoot RDP Issues

If your RDP session hangs (black screen or crash):

1. Connect via SSH to the server

ssh {username}@{server_name}  # e.g., ssh

1. Run htop to view running processes

htop

1. Find and kill your own xrdp session

Press F4 to filter processes, type xvnc to find your session, and press F9 to kill it.

For more information regarding how to use htop, you can refer to this article.

Step 7: Contact Administrator

If you encounter issues that cannot be resolved through the above steps, contact the administrator at: ngthung@hcmut.edu.vn

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Quick Reference Commands

Command	Description
srun --x11 --pty bash	Connect to compute node (1 CPU)
srun --x11 --pty -c 2 bash	Connect to compute node (2 CPUs)
module avail	List available software
module load <tool>	Load software module
module unload <tool>	Unload software module
htop	Monitor processes and kill sessions