Minnesota Supercomputer Institute

Calhoun (SGI Altix XE 1300 Linux Cluster) Quickstart Guide

This guide will provide you with the basic information needed to get up and running on this machine. For detailed operations information, see the detailed user manual.

How to login

To login:

ssh -X -l username calhoun.msi.umn.edu

One only needs to use -l if his/her login name is different than the login name one uses on his/her own workstation.

How to compile code

The Intel and GNU compilers are available on Calhoun. To use the Intel compiler, you do the following:

module add intel

How to submit jobs to the queue using Portable Batch System (PBS)

Create a script file for PBS (see examples in the detailed user manual) and submit the script file to PBS by:

qsub myscript

Parallel codes with MPI

There are multiple MPI implementations on Calhoun. Modules for all of them are mutually-exclusive. That is, you can only have one MPI implementation loaded into your environment at any given time. The recommended MPI for use on Calhoun is Voltaire MPI. See the detailed user manual for details on all MPI implementations available.

To build with Intel and Voltaire MPI:

module load intel
module load vmpi

How to monitor the job status

To check the status of your own jobs in the queue, use the command:

showq -u userid

How to cancel/kill/remove my job