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Logging in to Biowulf 2021 copy

For this tutorial, you will be using either your own Biowulf account, or a student account. If you do not have a Biowulf account, see the instructor to get the login and password for a student account. To work on the NIH/Biowulf system you will need to be working on a government-issued computer on either the NIH PRIVATE wireless via VPN or a direct connection.

Logging into Biowulf from a Windows PC

  1. If you are using a Windows PC, you will need to download and install the PuTTY program. https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html
  2. Go to the section "Alternative Binary Files" and download 64 bit putty.exe
  3. After installing PuTTY, click on the desktop icon. A graphical interface will come up. Where it says "Host Name (or IP address) type "biowulf.nih.gov" (without the quotes). Leave the Port set at "22", and make sure the Connection Type is set to "SSH". Click on the "Open" button.
  4. If this is the first time logging into Biowulf with this account, you will see a warning message. Choose "yes".
  5. You will be prompted for your userid. Enter your NIH/Biowulf ID or a student account number.
  6. Next you will be prompted for a password. NOTE: The cursor does not move when you enter your password! Don't let this fool you. Enter your password once and hit "return/enter" on your keyboard.
  7. When you see the command prompt dollar sign ($), you will know you are logged in.

Logging into Biowulf from a Mac

  1. If you are on a Mac, you do not need PuTTy. Find the program "Terminal" on your machine, and enter the following statement at the prompt:

    ssh username@biowulf.nih.gov

    where "username" is either your NIH/Biowulf login or your student account number.

  2. If this is your first time logging into Biowulf, you will see a warning statement with a yes/no choice. Choose "yes".
  3. Type in your password at the prompt. NOTE: The cursor will not move as you type your password! Don't let this fool you. Type your password in once and hit "return/enter".
  4. When you see the command prompt dollar sign ($) you will know you are logged in.

Working on Biowulf - here's two things you should always do.

When you log into Biowulf, you are automatically in your home directory (/home). This directory is very small and not suitable for large data files or analysis. Change to your data directory as follows: 1. Use the "cd" command to change to the /data directory.

$ cd /data/username

  1. When working on Biowulf, you can not work on the "login node". Instead, you need to work on a node or nodes that is sufficient for what you are doing. For now, you will use the "sinteractive" command to start an interactive session. Further on in the tutorial you will see examples of how to work on Biowulf with "batch" and "swarm" jobs.

    $ sinteractive