PuTTY, XMing, WinSCP

Previous method: PuTTY, Xming, WinSCP method

If you are using the Windows7 Managed Desktop on campus then you do not need to do this installation step – both applications are already installed.

Otherwise, you need to install two small, free packages on your Windows system named PuTTY and Xming. Instructions for downloading and installing each package are now given. We’ll show how to use the packages after that.

• standalone putty.exe – Download to your desktop or P: drive – just run it when you want PuTTY (no need to install it as administrator). Allows you to log in to the CSF (using a secure shell).
• Xming windows installer.exe – Download and install. Allows graphical programs on the CSF to appear on your Windows desktop.

An optional but useful package is WinSCP for transferring files to and from the CSF:

• WinSCP download page – Download the latest Installation package (not the sponsored package) and install.

For reference the download pages are

• PuTTY http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html
• Xming http://sourceforge.net/projects/xming/
• WinSCP http://winscp.net/eng/download.php

Running Xming and PuTTY to Connect to CSF

Start Xming

If you want to use programs with user interfaces (e.g., gedit which is similar to notepad) then you must start Xming on your windows PC. This provides an X server which is needed to allow the CSF to open GUIs on your desktop.

1. Start the Xming program from the Start menu. That’s it!

Nothing will appear, you’ll just have a small X icon in the tray in the bottom right hand corner. You only need to do this once. Xming is now running and will allow user interfaces from the CSF programs to appear on your desktop.

Note, if you forget to start Xming before PuTTY (see below) you can start it afterwards – the order in which you start them doesn’t matter.

Configure PuTTY

You’ll only need to do this once. We’ll save the settings for the CSF to save typing them in every time (see below for running PuTTY if you’ve done this before)

1. Start the PuTTY program from the Start menu. Then:
• Select Connection > SSH > X11 in the panel on the left and tick the Enable X11 forwarding box.
2. Select Session in the panel on the left and fill in the details as shown below
• Host Name (or IP address) should be csf.itservices.manchester.ac.uk
• Saved Sessions should be named CSF, for example
• Click on Save – this will add a CSF entry to the list of profiles
  

Running PuTTY

1. Start the PuTTY program from the Start menu.
2. Double click the CSF entry in the Saved Sessions list.
3. If you see a window asking whether to connect, select Yes. You’ll only ever be asked this once.
   
4. You’ll then have a command window in which you enter your central services username and the CSF password that has been given to you. If asked, unblock PuTTY in the Windows Firewall.
   

You are now logged in to the CSF. You should see a message printed in the command window (which you should read to see if there are any service announcements).

Running a Graphical Program on CSF

If you started Xming earlier you should be able to run a graphical program and have it appear on your Windows desktop. Try the following:

1. Start the gedit text editor to edit a file (in this example we open a jobscript named ex1.sh)

gedit ex1.sh &                      # The & allows you to continue typing in the shell after gedit starts

This will display an editor (in this example I already have some text in the file)

Please note that most GUI applications should not be run on the login node, for example abaqus cae, fluent, vmd. Please use qrsh for these types of application.

Transferring files using WinSCP

WinSCP allows files to be transferred to and from the CSF using a drag-n-drop interface. We’ll set up a CSF session in WinSCP so you only need to type the settings in once:

1. Start the WinSCP program from the Start menu.
2. If you’ve already done the following step, jump to Step 4. Otherwise fill in the details as shown below:
   • Host name: csf.itservices.manchester.ac.uk
   • User name: your central University username
   • Password: your CSF password

   

3. Hit Save to create a saved session (give it a name)
   
4. Highlight the CSF session and hit Login. Enter your password when asked.
   
5. You can now drag-n-drop files between the two systems. Your local PC is on the left, the CSF on the right.
   

Troubleshooting

The following problems may occur when running PuTTY

Unable to open connection to xxxxx

This message may appear in a popup window from PuTTY. Ensure you specified the Host Name in PuTTY correctly. It should be:

csf.itservices.manchester.ac.uk

Access Denied

This message appears in the command window when attempting to log in to the CSF. Ensure you have typed your username and/or password correctly. You should use your central services username and your CSF password.

Cannot open Graphical Programs

When trying to start a graphics program on the CSF you will see a message similar to the following (using gedit in this example):

The application gedit lost its connection to the display localhost:25.0; 
most likely the X server was shut down or you killed/destroyed the application.

You must start Xming on your Windows PC then try running the command on the CSF again. There is no need to log out of the CSF.

Cannot Open Display

You will see a message similar to the following

cannot open display:

You have not enabled X11 Forwarding in the PuTTY configuration. You can check this by running the following command on the CSF:

echo $DISPLAY

• Without X11 Forwarding you will a blank line printed
• With X11 Forwarding enabled you will get something like localhost:22.0 (the number at the end will vary)

You must log out of the CSF (type exit in the command window), and log in again with X11 Forwarding enabled in the PuTTY configuration.