Login to the ML Cloud
Request Access
New users request access to MLCloud's resources through contacting the Group Managers of the user's research group. The Group Manager should then submit the request using the User Management System.
Once the request is processed, you will receive two emails - a welcome email and a password reset email.
Username Convention
To access the ML Cloud, you will receive a username with a format like pbb111. This naming convention, designed for GDPR compliance, ensures no personal information (like first and last names) is processed after user offboarding.
First Time Login
At the ML Cloud, we do not allow logging into our systems solely with a password; rather, we require key-based authentication.
Once the welcome message has been sent to you, the system will allow (whitelist) you a two day period to deploy your key on the login nodes. If you miss this window, you will not be able to access the system.
What if I missed the whitelisting period or no longer have access to the previous SSH keys?
Please send us a support ticket requesting a temporary password whitelisting extension. Alternatively, send us your public key in an attachment to the ticket and we will deploy the key for you.
Step One: Creating Your SSH Keys
It is important to generate secure key pairs. The current best key type is called Ed25519. Open a Terminal window and run:
ssh-keygen -a 100 -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
The generated keys for ed25519 are stored in the following files:
| Key | Explanation |
|---|---|
~/.ssh/id_ed25519 |
Your private SSH key that should be stored only on the machine it was created on. NEVER EVER TRANSMIT THIS FILE OFF ITS ORIGINAL COMPUTER. |
~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub |
Your public SSH key. This file is the ONLY one that is SAFE to distribute. |
What do the options to ssh-keygen mean?
The options to ssh-keygen listed above specify the type of the key (-t), the number of key derivation function rounds (-a), and the location to place the key (-f), which is selected to be the default. To distinguish multiple keys, give a comment to the key with -C. If the file ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 already exists, you probably don't want to override it as you might already be using it as credentials for another system. Instead, use a different file name, e.g. ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_mlcloud and remember to use the same file name on all subsequent command lines in this document.
Only the generated public key (in the example above ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub) should be uploaded to the ML Cloud.
Your SSH private key should only ever exist on the computer it was generated on, and should never be moved to another computer.
Step Two: Upload Your Public Key to the Login Nodes
To upload your public key to the login nodes on the ML Cloud clusters, you will need to use different commands, depending on the OS you are using:
For MacOS
Add your SSH key to the system keychain, run ssh-add --apple-use-keychain ~/.ssh/id_ed25519. Then run:
scp ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub YOUR_ML_CLOUD_USERNAME@IP_OF_LOGIN_NODE:~/.ssh/
For Linux
ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub YOUR_ML_CLOUD_USERNAME@IP_OF_LOGIN_NODE
For Windows
For Windows 10 or Windows 11, open Command Prompt, PowerShell, or Windows Terminal, your key will be stored in C:/Users folder by default. While in the terminal, run:
scp ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub YOUR_ML_CLOUD_USERNAME@IP_OF_LOGIN_NODE:~/.ssh/
Created: July 3, 2024