Server Access

Owner: Ronnie

This page is for anyone doing computational work — getting your accounts and access set up before you start. For the day-to-day how-to once you’re set up, see Lab Tutorials → Dry Lab.

1. PMACS HPC Account

Email Dr. Cheng with:

User's Full Name:
User's Email:
User's PennKey:
User's PennID:
Lab rotation end date / account expiration date (if applicable):

You’ll get an email with next steps. If you’re in the dry lab, also request access to the GPU nodes and the RStudio/Posix server (rstudio-pro3.pmacs.upenn.edu) by emailing psom-pmacshpc@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.

Reference: HPC Wiki – First Login, HPC User Guide.

2. PARCC / Betty Account

The PARCC cluster (“Betty”) is used for high-GPU/demanding jobs. See Lab Tutorials → PARCC for the full login/orientation walkthrough once your account exists.

3. VPN (for off-campus access)

Required for the RStudio/Posix server or PMACS cluster off-campus:

These PDFs are slightly outdated — we now use the Ivanti Secure Access client, not Pulse Secure. Every connection requires two-factor auth (Duo push, phone call, or SMS).

If you have connection issues, in order: restart the client → add a new connection with remote.pmacs.upenn.edu as the server URL → deep-clean and reinstall.

4. Set Up Your Environment

Once you’re in, continue to Computing Basics for IDE setup, command-line orientation, and Python/R environments.

5. Get Added to the Lab Software Group

Ask Jeff to add you to the hipaa_ycheng11lab group so files you create are shared with the lab (see Computing Basics → Command Line).