Skip to content

Log in to Bianca

The Bianca environments

The two Bianca environments to work on Bianca. At the left is a remote desktop environment. At the the right is the console environment.

There are multiple UPPMAX clusters one can log in to. Here it is described how to log in to Bianca:

Which way to log in to Bianca

After you've fulfilled all prerequisites for using Bianca, there are many ways to log in to Bianca.

Here is the decision tree, with more detailed explanation below it:

flowchart TD
  in_sunet(A.Can you get inside the university networks?)
  need_remote_desktop(B.Need/prefer a remote desktop?)
  how_login(C.How to log in?)
  need_remote_desktop_no_sunet(B.Need/prefer a remote desktop?)
  how_login_no_sunet(C.How to log in?)

  use_website[1.Use the Bianca remote desktop website]
  use_password[2.Use a terminal and password to access Bianca directly]
  use_ssh_keys[3.Use a terminal and SSH keys to access Bianca directly]

  use_website_no_sunet[4.Use the Rackham remote desktop website]
  use_password_no_sunet[5.Use a terminal and password via Rackham]
  use_ssh_keys_no_sunet[Use a terminal and SSH keys via Rackham]

  in_sunet --> |yes| need_remote_desktop

  need_remote_desktop --> |no| how_login
  need_remote_desktop --> |yes| use_website

  how_login --> |Using a password| use_password
  how_login --> |Using SSH keys| use_ssh_keys

  in_sunet --> |no| need_remote_desktop_no_sunet

  need_remote_desktop_no_sunet --> |no| how_login_no_sunet
  need_remote_desktop_no_sunet --> |yes| use_website_no_sunet

  how_login_no_sunet --> |Using a password| use_password_no_sunet
  how_login_no_sunet --> |Using SSH keys| use_ssh_keys_no_sunet

Decision tree on how to log in to Bianca

Question A, 'Can you get inside the university networks?' is commonly answered 'yes' for anyone with an email address at a university in Sweden. The UPPMAX documentation on how to get inside the university networks should allow anyone to do so.

Question B, 'Need/prefer a remote desktop?' is about if you prefer a visual/graphical environment to work with Bianca, which will be similar to what most of us are used to. A 'yes' is more suitable for new users, although it is considered a more clunky (it responds slower on user input) and clumsy (copy-pasting to it needs multiple mouse clicks) way to work. A 'no' is more suitable for users comfortable with a terminal and works smoothly.

How does the Bianca remote desktop look like?

One can pick multiple remote desktop environments, such as GNOME and XFCE (and KDE, don't pick KDE!).

The Bianca remote desktop

The Bianca XFCE remote desktop environment

A more populated Bianca remote desktop

A more populated Bianca XFCE remote desktop

  • A remote desktop environment, also called 'graphical environment', 'GUI environment', 'ThinLinc environment'
How does the Bianca console environment look like?

The Bianca console environment

The Bianca console environment

  • A console environment, also called 'terminal environment' or 'terminal'

Question C, 'How to log in?' is about how you prefer to login. The option 'Using a password' is more suitable for new users, as it is easy to setup and understand. However, one does need to type his/her password every time one logs in. 'Using SSH keys' is harder to setup, yet more convenient.

Will a local ThinLinc client work too?

No.

One really can only access the Bianca remote desktop environment via the website.

Here are the ways to log in to Bianca:

After login, you will be on a login node.

How to behave on a login node

On a login node, one can and should do simple things only: it is a resource shared with all other users on that node.

If you need to do more intense calculations, use the Slurm job scheduler.

If you need to do more intense calculations interactively, use an interactive node.