Connecting to Argon (Linux/Mac terminal)

You can connect to the Argon cluster on a Linux or Mac machine (or using WSL on Windows) by opening a terminal and using ssh with your HawkID and password:

ssh argon.hpc.uiowa.edu

Note that if, on the machine you’re using, your username is not the same as your HawkID, you’ll have to specify your login username:

ssh hawkid@argon.hpc.uiowa.edu

By default, ssh uses port 22, which is blocked from outside connections by the University of Iowa network. So if you are connecting from off-campus, you will have to specify port 40:

ssh -p 40 argon.hpc.uiowa.edu

Note that you do not have to set up a VPN to connect to Argon; however, you will be prompted for two-factor authentication via Duo.

To set up a password-less login using RSA keys, follow the instructions here.

Connecting to Argon (Windows)

Windows 10 and 11 ship with OpenSSH built in, so you can connect from PowerShell or Command Prompt exactly as shown above — no extra software needed.

The most seamless workflow for Windows users is VS Code with the Remote-SSH extension. Once connected, VS Code lets you browse and edit files on Argon directly and provides an integrated terminal, so you rarely need to move files back and forth between machines.

WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) is another excellent option if you want a full Linux environment on your local machine. Git Bash is a lighter-weight alternative that provides a bash shell and ssh without installing a full Linux distribution.

If you prefer a standalone graphical SSH client, PuTTY still works fine. Specify argon.hpc.uiowa.edu as the host, port 22 on-campus (or 40 off-campus), and connection type SSH.

Connecting by Remote Desktop

It is also possible to connect to Argon by remote desktop using FastX2, which you can download from ITS. I have never personally done this, but instructions are available here. If anyone has tried this out and has any tips to share, let me know and I will make them available here.

Connecting through IDAS

This tutorial is organized around learning how to submit batch jobs to the HPC by logging into Argon directly. Another option is the University’s Interactive Data Analytics Service (IDAS). As the name indicates, this is intended to support interactive use. Rather than submitting a job and walking away, you will open an RStudio (or Jupyter) session and run things on the HPC interactively.

There are pros and cons to each approach. It is easier to get up and running with IDAS, but there is also power in learning how to submit, say, 100 automated jobs and walk away. Each approach is useful in various cases. See here for documentation and an FAQ comparing IDAS and Argon.