Module which enables internet access on compute nodes for specific software as well as general port configuration tips

Port Configuration

The command get_free_port on our clusters can be used to determine a free port:

$ get_free_port
52778

Note: This command is only valid for the node you are running it on; for example, running this command on a login node would yield a port that is only valid for the login node. If you need a free port on the compute node, you will need to make sure the command is run within your slurm script or during your interactive session (using salloc). In simple cases, you can do something like this:

--port=$(get_free_port)

If this value is needed in multiple places, you could instead set a variable to use like so:

my_port=$(get_free_port)
--port=$my_port

proxy/default

In very limited and pre-approved cases, the proxy/default module can be loaded to access services and APIs on the compute nodes. Do NOT use this module on a login node - internet access is already enabled (and the load will fail anyway).

$ module load proxy/default
Http proxy settings allow access to a very limited and pre-approved list of internet API servers.
This is documented on Research Computing website. General internet access is not supported.

Currently Available Services

Getting Help

If you encounter any difficulties while working with ports or proxy/default on the HPC clusters, please send an email to [email protected] or attend a help session.