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Frequently Asked Questions

How do I connect to, and start using the cluster?

Refer to connection instructions on connecting here. You can connect with Putty, SSH in your terminal, or JupyterHub in your browser.

When I connect over SSH I get a message saying permission denied (public key)

This can be due one of these common reasons:

  • You have not provided your private key while connecting. ssh -i <private_key_location> <user>@unity.rc.umass.edu
  • You are not assigned to at least one PI group. We require at least one PI to endorse your account before you can use the cluster. Request to join a PI on the My PIs page.
  • You have not added a public key to your account on Unity yet. You can do this on the Account Settings page.
  • Your login shell is invalid. In Account Settings, try "/bin/bash" or "/bin/zsh".
  • You are a PI, and you are trying to use your PI group name to log in. Your login username should not start with pi_.

Where can I find software to use on the cluster?

Most of our software is package installed and is available by default. Non standard and version specific software are available as modules. The command module av will print all available modules. module av <name> will filter the available modules. Then you can use module load <name> to load a module and have access to its binaries (executables).

I'm looking for xyz software, could you install it?

Most software that is requested is free for use. If this is the case we will install it for you, just send us an email at hpc@umass.edu titled "software request: \<name>". If the software you want is licensed, we may be able to help since the campus often has site-wide licenses for many applications.

Can I run containers on Unity?

Yes! We support singularity containers, which are fully compatible with docker images. Run "module load singularity" to access it.

How much storage do I get on Unity and is it backed up?

Refer to storage information here. We do not provide backup solutions by default. We take snapshots of /home/ and /work/ every day at 1AM, but delete them after two days.

When I try to queue a job I get denied for MaxCpuPerAccount.

Resource limits are set per lab. Currently, they are 300 CPUs, and 64 GPUs. This allocation is shared across your entire PI group.

I'm a PI and I would like to purchase hardware to buy-in to Unity.

Great! Send us an email and we'll be happy to help. We are very flexible when it comes to the needs of research labs.