Logging in to the CSF

You must use a Secure Shell (ssh) program to login to:

csf3.itservices.manchester.ac.uk

This requires your central IT username and central IT password (the same as used for many UoM services). For example, the following command can be run in MobaXterm on Windows, or in a Terminal window on MacOS and Linux:

ssh username@csf3.itservices.manchester.ac.uk
      #
      # Use YOUR University username here (this is of the form: mxyzabc1, NOT your email address!)

If unfamiliar with SSH apps, please see our notes on installing and running an SSH program for your particular platform:

Can’t Login? “Account Locked” Message?

Following the recent University-wide password reset, a number of users have been unable to login to the CSF, receiving an “account locked” message.

This is NOT a problem with the CSF. It is caused by your central IT user account being locked.

A common cause is that a mobile app or laptop/desktop app is still using your old password. For example, if you didn’t log out of an email app on your phone before changing your password, it could still be using your old password. You’ll need to sign out of the app and sign in again.

If you saved your password in an app such as MobaXterm, VSCode or WinSCP, then it may still be trying to login with your old password. You’ll need to remove the password from these apps (we recommend that you don’t save passwords in apps.)

You will need to contact the IT Help Desk to have your IT account unlocked – Research IT CANNOT do this for you.

Off-campus Access via the GlobalProtect VPN

Please see our dedicated guide.

Logging Out

Once you have finished using the system you should logout (so as not to waste system resources and also for security reasons). Note that you do not need to be logged in for your jobs to run once you have submitted them to the batch system. You can log out by using either of the following commands:

  • logout
  • exit

Access to External Websites and Repositories from the CSF

For security, it is not possible to directly access computers which are off-campus from the CSF.

To access off-campus web-sites from the CSF (e.g., to download a dataset) please use our proxy modulefile in your jobs.

VS Code – SSH login

Please see our VSCode page for details on how to install the Remote SSH extension in VSCode on your PC/laptop to allow it to login to the CSF.

Last modified on March 15, 2024 at 2:19 pm by George Leaver