Running Graphical Software on the HPC Systems


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The following instructions show how you can set up your windows desktop to receive graphics from the HPC' Compute Resources. This will allow you to run a number of applications interactively, where the processing is done on the computer resource, but the graphics are displayed on your desktop.

These instructions are assuming you are at QUT. It is possible to do this from your home computer, however, some additional steps are required.

Software Required

SSH Secure Shell
X-Win32

If you need this software installed, please contact your local IT support, or call the IT helpdesk on x84000.

First time setup

X-Win 32

Start X-Win 32
When asked for a connect method, click cancel.
You should see a blue X in your system tray
Right Click on the blue X and select 'Xconfig'
Select the Security Tab, and make sure 'Access Control' and 'Use Xauth' is ticked.
Click 'Add..' and type in "localhost", click OK.

Click OK, to save the configuration.

Secure Shell Client

Start SSH Secure Shell
Open the Menu, File -> Profiles -> Add Profile
Type the name "Lyra" and click add.
Open the menu, File -> Profiles -> Edit Profiles
Select "Lyra" from the list on the left.
Enter the hostname, "lyra.qut.edu.au" and your qut username

You MUST click ok before moving to the next tab. Otherwise your settings will not be saved.
Open the menu again, File -> Profiles -> Edit Profiles
Select the Tunnelling tab, and make sure 'Tunnel X11 Connections' is selected.

Click OK to save the settings.

That's it for configuration. You should only have to do this once.

Running a graphical program

Make sure X-win32 is running. There should be a blue X in your system tray.
Open SSH Secure Shell. (If you have just done the steps above it should already be running.)
Open the menu, File -> Profiles - > Lyra
When asked to save the new host key to the database, click 'Yes'.

When asked for your password, type in your 'lyra' password, (not your QUT Access password).
To test if everything is working, type "xterm" and you should see a window come up on your desktop.

You should now be able to run programs from Lyra, and have the graphics come up on your desktop.

These instructions will also work for Vega, just replace lyra with vega in the instructions above.