How to get started

How do I get an account to use OSC facilities?

OSC is open to all researchers at the University of Oxford. To use the OSC you must first set up a new project and then apply for an individual user account.

If you are not a member of Oxford University, but are a visitor, external collaborator or a potential customer from outside the University, please contact the OSC staff.

Please also see the information charging and access policy for information on the cost of using OSC systems.

Which OSC system should I use?

The OSC operates a number of high performance systems which all do slightly different things. You may find that the application which you plan to use has already been installed on some of them but not others. (You can check on our applications page). Alternatively, you may have a new application but are unsure of the best system to run it on. If in doubt, please contact the OSC staff.

You can find out more about the different OSC systems in operation by visiting the hardware page.

How to log on to the OSC systems

Linux, Mac (and other Unix/Unix-like) users should use ssh to connect to the OSC systems from a terminal e.g.

 ssh -X username@systemname.osc.ox.ac.uk

 (The -X allows you to open graphical applications such as the "emacs" editor on the OSC system. We usually recommend you use the -X flag).

Windows users should download and install an application called PuTTY. You should run PuTTY in "ssh" mode. If you have problems installing configuring PuTTY, the OSC staff will try to help although we recommend talking to your local IT support team first.

How to copy files on/off the OSC systems

Linux, Mac (etc) users should use scp.
 

scp myfile.txt username@systemname.osc.ox.ac.uk:mydirectory

or

scp username@systemname.osc.ox.ac.uk:myfile.txt localdirectory 

We do not support sftp.

Windows users should use pscp which is usually bundled with PuTTY.

What do I do next? 

1. Our Documentation & Help page provides a good overview of information and documentation.
2. Sign up for a free training course by visiting our Training pages
   
3. If you are familiar with Linux (or just feel brave!) you are welcome to try a tutorial for either one of the cluster systems or for our shared memory system.
4. If you are completely new the the Linux operating system, you should visit our Linux pages.
5. All  jobs are run using the PBS job scheduler so if you are new to PBS (or job schedulers in general), please visit our job scheduler pages to learn how to submit jobs and our applications page for application specific instructions.
6. If you are still unsure what to do next, please contact us - we're very used to new users and we don't bite!