First steps

Welcome to the SCC!

This instructions are going to help you to access the SCC for the first time. Please follow the steps carefully and in the order given.

What we need from you

If you have been invited to be a user of the SCC, we need the following information from you in order to create your account:

  1. Your full name
  2. Your affiliations:
  3. Institution (e.g., PLUS, FH Salzburg, SALK, etc.)
  4. Department / Institute
  5. Your research group
  6. Your email address
  7. Your matrix account (if you do not have one yet, please create one at https://app.element.io or use an existing account from your institution)

What you should have gotten

If you were invited to be a user of the SCC, you have provided us with the following two channels of communication:

  1. Your email address
  2. Your matrix account

In order to securily supply you with the credentials needed to access the SCC, we are using both channels.

As soon as your account has been created, you are going to receive two messages:

  1. An email containing two pieces of information:
  2. Your username. This is your username on the SCC. Write this down. You are going to need it to log in.
  3. A one-time password. Please note that this password is not a login password. You only need it to get your initial password and the .ovpn profile file using the links provided in the matrix chat.
  4. A matrix message from the user @scc-admin:matrix.org containing two links:
    1. A link download your initial password
    2. A link to download your personal OpenVPN profile file (.ovpn)

Please note that you need the password from the email to access the information behind these links. Also note that the links can be used only once!

Use the links in the matrix message to get your initial password and OpenVPN profile file

  1. Click on the first link to get your initial password. You are going to be asked if you want to receive the secret. Confirm this and then enter the one-time password you received via email. This is going to show you your initial password. Write this down.
  2. Click on the second link to download your personal OpenVPN profile file. Again, you are going to be asked if you want to receive the secret. Confirm this and then enter the one-time password you received via email. This is going to start the download of your .ovpn profile file. Save this file somewhere safe on your computer.

Install the software

In order to access the SCC, you only need to software packages: SSH and OpenVPN.

Linux

SSH is usually already installed on Linux systems. If not, you can install it using your package manager. Look for something like openssh-client or ssh.

OpenVPN can also be installed using your package manager.

Mac and Windows

Both operating system come with an SSH client already installed.

For the OpenVPN client, head to Download the OpenVPN client: https://openvpn.net/client/ and install it.

Connect to the network

Linux

If you use a fairly recent Linux distribution, chances are high that you already use NetworkManager to manage your network connections. In this case, you can simply import the OpenVPN profile file into NetworkManager. Just make sure to:

  1. Set your username in the settings after importing the profile.
  2. Go to the settings:
  3. Routes...
  4. Check "Use this connection only for resources on its network"

Alternatively, you can also use the command line to connect to the VPN but in this case, you need to use one of the rather hacky workarounds in order to use the DNS servers provided by the VPN. Therefore, we recommend to use NetworkManager if possible.

Mac and Windows

Open the OpenVPN Connect programm you installed in the previous step and import the profile file you received. Then, connect to it.

Connect to the Login Node and set you password

For security reasons, you need to change your password the first time you log in.

Open a terminal and connect to the login node using the following command:

Replace USERNAME with your username!!

ssh USERNAME@login01.int.scc.plus.ac.at

If it asks you to accept the fingerprint, type yes and press enter.

Now, this is going to happen:

  1. It is going to ask for a password. Use the one you received via the first link in the matrix message.
  2. It is going to tell you that you need to change your password.
  3. It is asking for the same initial password again. Enter it.
  4. Now, it is asking you to enter a new password. Choose a secure password and enter it.
  5. It is asking you to enter the new password again. Do so.

Now you should be logged in to the SCC!