Connecting to M3 via SSH

This page will take you through how to connect to M3 using SSH (Secure SHell). If you're familiar with ssh already, then simply connect to M3 with the below command using your HPC ID username and password

ssh username@m3.massive.org.au

If you are not familiar with ssh, read the appropriate section below for your operating system. If you have trouble at any step, please contact our help desk.

Your username and password

As explained in Create your HPC ID account, you must use your HPC ID username and password to connect to M3, not your usual organisational credentials.

Linux and macOS Users

First, open your Terminal application. For macOS users, search Spotlight for "Terminal", or open Finder, navigate to Applications > Utilities and double click on Terminal.app. With your terminal open, type

ssh username@m3.massive.org.au

where you replace username with your HPC ID username, and press enter. Enter your HPC ID password at the prompt and you will be directed to an M3 login node (we'll explain what this means later). Enter yes if you see the The authenticity of host can't be established warning (see Verifying the host key for details).

Windows users

Start by downloading PuTTY if you don't already have it from: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html. Then open PuTTY. You should see a dialog box. Then do the following:

1. Set the 'Host Name' to username@m3.massive.org.au where you replace username with your HPC ID username.
2. Set the 'Connection type' to SSH.
3. Click the 'Open' button to connect to M3.
4. Enter your HPC ID password when prompted.
5. Enter yes if you see the The authenticity of host can't be established warning (see Verifying the host key for details).

Have I connected?

If you have connected properly, you should see a bash prompt similar to below:

[lexg@m3-login3 ~]$ 

Advanced topics

Verifying the host key

If this is your first time connecting to M3, you will see a message like

The authenticity of host 'm3.massive.org.au (118.138.254.221)' can't be established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:/n6MOjwQ0XPiwiXXLfv0eu8S8aL32M8tX9uzBNtOra0.
This host key is known by the following other names/addresses:
    ~/.ssh/known_hosts:1: [hashed name]
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?

Type yes and press enter to continue connecting. This host key is just an identifier for the login node. You should not see this prompt again (unless the M3 login nodes' IPs or domain names change).

SSH keys

Advanced users may wish to configure their M3 account to allow access via an SSH key, saving you from typing in your password every time you connect to M3. GitHub provides a guide for generating an SSH key if you don't already have one, and adding it to ssh-agent. You can then copy that SSH key over to M3 using ssh-copy-id.

X11 forwarding

Currently, X11 forwarding is only possible on the login nodes, not the compute nodes. This means you can run basic graphical applications on the login node via X11 forwarding, but please don't put a heavy load on the login nodes. Instead, we suggest you use Strudel desktops for any graphical applications.