Goals: Walk new users through setting up SSH keys to authenticate to ARCC HPC clusters
What are SSH Keys?
Every HPC user at ARCC has an option for private identity keys on each system they have access to. These are private keys associated with that user’s identity on an ARCC HPC cluster. On our systems, the user also has a certificate associated with their private identity key.
On newer ARCC HPC systems, users may create a new SSH key by logging into the OnDemand resource associated with the HPC, and creating a key using the SSH key Manager application.
Warning: Please be careful with these files. Do not change their permissions, put them in an insecure digital location, or share them with others. They are your “virtual keys” to log in as yourself on the HPC. If provided to or shared with others, they will be able to log into that ARCC HPC resource as you
Creating a new key
Client Configuration
After creating and downloading your Personal SSH Identity Keys, the keys must now be set up on the system from which you’re going to be logging into the cluster from. If you set up an SSH key on a computer, that computer should be one that belongs to you or only you have access to. You should not set up your private SSH keys on a shared device or workstation since other users could gain access to the remote HPC cluster with your credentials if they had access to the keys.