Get Access¶
To access the IMTM HPC cluster, you must first submit an official account request through the designated process. Access to the cluster is strictly limited to authorized users, such as affiliated researchers, students, or collaborators, whose requests have been reviewed and approved by the Head of the HPC Facility or the Institute Director.
All users are expected to comply with institutional policies, security guidelines, and usage terms related to the HPC environment.
Request Access¶
To request access, contact the cluster administrator at jan.lostak@upol.cz and include your Full name, Institution, Project or research purpose and your SSH public key.
Your access request will be reviewed by the Head of the HPC Facility or the Institute Director, who will determine approval based on institutional policies and resource availability.
Note
A new account comes with a home directory only. If you need space for larger data or want to share data with your team, request a project or a personal directory on /project together with your access request or at any time later, see Requesting Project Storage.
Generating SSH Key Pair¶
If you already have an existing key pair, you can skip this section and proceed directly to the connection instructions.
Linux / macOS¶
To generate an SSH key pair, use the built-in OpenSSH client. Open a terminal and run the command below. We recommend the modern Ed25519 key type.
The private key is saved to ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 and the public key, which you send with your access request, to ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub.
Tip
If you need an RSA key for compatibility with older tools, use at least 4096 bits: ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "your.email@example.com".
Windows¶
Windows 10 and 11 include the OpenSSH client, so you can run the same ssh-keygen command in PowerShell as shown above.
Alternatively, open PuTTYgen, select the key type (e.g., EdDSA / Ed25519, or RSA with 4096 bits), and click Generate while moving your mouse around to create randomness. After the key is generated, enter a key passphrase if desired, then click Save private key to store your private key and Save public key to save the public key, or copy it directly from the text box.
Warning
Always use a strong, unique passphrase to keep your private key secure, as this adds an essential layer of protection in case the key file is lost, stolen, or accessed by unauthorized users.
Connecting to the Cluster¶
To connect to the cluster, you need an SSH client. On Linux, macOS and Windows 10/11 you can use the built-in OpenSSH client; on Windows you can also use the PuTTY client.
Linux / macOS¶
Open a terminal and log in using the following command with your username, the login address and your private key file:
Windows¶
With the built-in OpenSSH client, use the same ssh command in PowerShell as shown above.
To use PuTTY instead, download and install it first. Once installed, launch PuTTY and import your private key file, as demonstrated in the image below.
After successfully importing your private key, configure the connection settings to access the cluster, as shown in the image below.
