ARL DSRC Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents

1. How do I request a data transfer between systems or to or from the Center?

To request a data trasfer, download and complete the Data Transfer Request Form and send it to the ARL DSRC Helpdesk. If you are unable to download the form from this location, contact the ARL HPC Help Desk using the contact information below to request the form be sent to you.

2. What can the Advance Reservation Service (ARS) provide over the regular batch queue?

The Advance Reservation Service (ARS) provides a Web-based interface to the batch schedulers on computational resources across the HPCMP program. This service allows allocated users to reserve resources for later usage, at specific times, for specific durations, and works in tandem with selected schedulers to allow restricted access to those reserved resources.

3. How do I get an account to use classified resources?

Before you can get an account on any of our systems, you must first get an account on the Portal to the Information Environment (commonly called a pIE account). If you do not yet have an active pIE account, please visit the Obtaining an Account page and follow the instructions there before proceeding.

Additional Requirement for Classified Accounts

In addition to the normal requirements (above), users requesting a classified account must also send a Visit Request (VR) to ARL. You may save time by asking your security office to send a VR to both ERDC and ARL DSRC security offices at the same time. For questions about sending a VR for classified access, contact the ARL DSRC S/AAA:

4. How do I request a shared group or workspace on an HPC system?

A shared group can be requested in pIE, https://ieapp.hpc.mil/. Under the Unix Group Information Environment, a directory request can be made to the HPC Helpdesk using the contact information below.

5. How do I get more hours for my subproject?

Contact your subproject PI or S/AAA about gaining additional hours.

6. How do I get access to a subproject?

Contact the Subproject PI to be added to the subproject and granted access in pIE.

7. How do I get my application installed/built on an HPC System?

Our HPC systems provide you with adequate file space to store your codes. Data stored in your home directory ($HOME) will be backed up on a periodic basis. If you need more home directory space, you may submit a request to the HPC Help Desk at help@helpdesk.hpc.mil. For more details on home directories, see to the Baseline Configuration (BC) policy FY12-01 (Minimum Home Directory Size and Backup Schedule).

If you need to share an application among multiple users, BC policy FY10-07 (Common Location to Maintain Codes) explains how to create a common location on the $PROJECTS_HOME file system, to place applications and codes without using home directories or scrubbed scratch space. To request a new "project directory," please provide the following information to the HPC Help Desk:

  • Desired DSRC system where a project directory is being requested.
  • POC Information: Name of the sponsor of the project directory, user name, and contact information.
  • Short Description of Project: Short summary of the project describing the need for a project directory.
  • Desired Directory Name: This will be the name of the directory created under $PROJECTS_HOME.
  • Is the code/data in the project directory restricted (e.g. ITAR, etc.)?
  • Desired Directory Owner: The user name to be assigned ownership of the directory.
  • Desired Directory Group: The group name to be assigned to the directory.
    (New group names must be 8 characters or less)
  • Additional users to be added to the group.

If the POC for the project directory ceases being an account holder on the system, project directories will be handled according to the user data retention policies of the center.

Once the project directory is created, you can install software (custom or open source) in this directory. Then, depending on requirements, you can set file and/or directory permissions to allow any combination of group read, write, and execute privileges. Since this directory is fully owned by the POC, he or she can even make use of different groups within subdirectories to provide finer granularity of permissions.

Users are expected to ensure that any software or data that is placed on HPCMP systems is protected according to any external restrictions on the data. Users are also responsible for ensuring no unauthorized or malicious software is introduced to the HPCMP environment.

For installations involving restricted software, it is your responsibility to set up group permissions on the directories and to protect the data. It is crucially important to note that there are users on the HPCMP systems who are not authorized to access restricted data. You may not run servers or use software that communicates to a remote system without prior authorization.

If you need help porting or installing your code, the HPC Help Desk provides a "Code Assist" team that specializes in helping users with installation and configuration issues for user supplied codes. To get help, simply contact the HPC Help Desk and open a ticket.

Please contact the HPC Help Desk to discuss any special requirements using the contact information below.

8. How do I get access to the /work2 SSD file system that is on some of the HPC systems?

This directory is a specialized file system for unique security requirements. For information on how to access this directory or to establish the /p/work2 directory for your project, contact the ARL HPC Help desk using the contact information below.

9. What happens to my data after my account is deactivated?

The user and the Principal Investigator (PI) are responsible for arranging for the disposition of the data prior to account deactivation. The user may request special assistance or specific exemptions or extensions, based on such criteria as availability of resources, technical difficulties or other special needs. If the user does not request any assistance, then the respective center will promptly contact the user, the PI of the project, and the responsible S/AAA to determine the proposed disposition of the user's data. All data disposition actions will be performed as specified in the HPCMP's Data Protection Policy. If the center is unable to reach the aforementioned individuals, or if the contacted person(s) does not respond before the account is deactivated, the user's data stored on systems or home directories will be moved to archive storage, and one of the following two cases must hold:

  1. User has an account at another HPCMP center. Then, the user, the PI of the project or responsible S/AAA, as appropriate, has one year to arrange to move the data from the archive to the HPCMP Center where they have an active account. After this time period has expired, the center may delete the user's data.
  2. User does not have an account at another HPCMP center. Then, the user, the PI of the project, or responsible S/AAA, as appropriate, has one year to arrange to retrieve the data from the HPCMP resources. After this time period has expired, the center may delete the user's data.

Following the disposition of the user's data, the user account will be removed from the system.

In special cases such as but not limited to, security incidents or HPCMP resource abuse, access to a user account and/or user data may be immediately prohibited or deleted as appropriate for the circumstances as judged by the center or HPCMP.

Please note the following. Exceptions to this general data disposition policy can and will be made as necessary within the ability of the center to fulfill such requests, given reasonable justification as judged by the center. Also, contracts requiring data maintenance beyond the conditions of the data disposition policy cannot be accommodated by the center if the center is not a signatory to the contract. Such contracts may be considered when exceptions are requested.

If you have any questions concerning this policy, please contact the HPC Help Desk using the contact information below.

10. How do I request use of licensed software?

For ARL purchased licenses, the user just needs to Launch/Call the application in their job submission scripts. For Enterprise Licenses, they need to include the Software License Buffer (SLB) Hooks. For more information about the SLB. See the SLB User Guide.

Sample submission scripts for both of these instances can be found in the $SAMPLES_HOME directory on each system.

Additionally, each HPC system hosts a large variety of compiler environments, math libraries, programming tools, and third-party analysis applications which are available via loadable software modules. A list of software is available on the software page, or for more up-to-date software information, use the module commands on the HPC systems. Specific details of the computing environment on each HPC system are discussed in the system user guides, available on the documentation page.

To request additional software, or to request access to restricted software, please contact the HPC Help Desk at help@helpdesk.hpc.mil.

11. What COMSOL Modules are available?

The available comsol modules are dependent on the license renewals, the best way to see which modules are available please use following command on any HPC System:

SLB_check_licenses.pl comsol

12. Where do I find Sample Job Scripts?

The Sample Code Repository is a directory that contains examples for COTS batch scripts, building and using serial and parallel programs, data management, and accessing and using serial and parallel math libraries. The $SAMPLES_HOME environment variable contains the path to this area, and is automatically defined in your login environment.

13. Contact Us

For more information about requesting assistance, see the HPC Help Desk dropdown.