Hydro Login Methods

Note

All users must have a valid NCSA account with DUO setup in order to access the Hydro system. For help with your account or getting an allocation on Hydro, please see the Account and Allocation Managment page.

Once you have an approved Hydro allocation, the primary methods for accessing Hydro are:

Connecting with SSH

Direct access to Hydro is available via SSH.

To connect to Hydro via SSH, use the following command where <username> is replaced by your NCSA account username:

ssh <username>@hydro.ncsa.illinois.edu

Authentication and DUO MFA

Upon connecting, you will be prompted to enter your NCSA password.

<username>@hydro.ncsa.illinois.edu's password:

After successfully entering your password, you’ll be prompted to authenticate with a two-factor method with a message like this:

(<username>@hydro.ncsa.illinois.edu) Duo two-factor login for <username>
Enter a passcode or select one of the following options:

1. Duo Push to XXX-XXX-1234
2. Phone call to XXX-XXX-1234
3. SMS passcodes to XXX-XXX-1234

Passcode or option (1-3):

NCSA requires multifactor authentication (MFA) for all users. You can choose one of the options listed to authenticate. Once your MFA method is accepted, you will be connected to one of Hydro’s login nodes.

Note

Login node usage policy

Login nodes are shared among all users and are intended for file management, job submission, and other tasks that do not require significant computational resources. Please do not run computationally intensive jobs on the login nodes. Please see the Running Jobs page for information on submitting jobs to the compute nodes.

VS Code Remote SSH extension

The Visual Studio Code Remote - SSH extension allows you to connect your VS Code window to a remote system via SSH and take full advantage of VS Code’s feature set. You can find the extension through VS Code’s built in extension browser or by visiting the VS Code Marketplace.

  1. Install the Remote - SSH extension into VS Code

    Remote ssh extension in VS Code.

  2. Follow the VS Code connect to a remote host instructions.

  3. Once connected to Hydro, you can interact with the remote system just like you would with your local machine.