Navigating the Environment
Navigating the terminal is an essential skill for using High Performance Computing (HPC) systems effectively. The terminal, also known as the command line interface (CLI) or shell, provides a text-based way to interact with the computer and execute commands. For HPC users, mastering basic terminal navigation is crucial for accessing remote systems, managing files, and running jobs.
Basic Terminal Navigation
Below is a very basic introduction to navigating through the terminal environment. It is highly recommended that you become more familiar with navigating the environment through your own experience and external training. It is also highly recommended to become familiar with a terminal multiplexer of some kind like tmux or screen.
Accessing the Terminal
To begin, you'll need to open a terminal:
On Mac: Open the "Terminal" application from Applications > Utilities
On Linux: Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+T or search for "Terminal" in your applications
On Windows: Use PuTTY or Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to access a Linux-like terminal
Essential Commands
Here are some fundamental commands for navigating the terminal:
pwd: Print Working Directory - shows your current location in the file system
ls: List - displays the contents of the current directory
cd: Change Directory - moves you to a different directory
mkdir: Make Directory - creates a new folder
rm: Remove - deletes files or directories
cp: Copy - copies files or directories
mv: Move - moves or renames files or directories
Connecting to HPC Systems
To connect to an HPC system, you'll typically use SSH (Secure Shell):
Replace "username" with your account name and the address with the address of your HPC system of choice.