Holland Computing Center
STAT802
Create and access Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
01/23/2017
What is Anvil ?
• Anvil is the Holland Computing Center's cloud computing resource, based on
the OpenStack software
• Anvil was created to address the needs of NU's research community that are
not well served by a traditional batch-scheduled Linux cluster environment
• Examples of use cases that are well suited to Anvil include:
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A highly interactive environment, especially GUI applications
Research requiring root-level access, such as kernel modification or virtualization work
Alternate operating systems, such as Windows or other distributions of Linux
Test cluster environments for various software frameworks, such as Hadoop or Spark
Cluster applications that require a persistent resource, such as a web or database server
Steps for Anvil access
1. Connect to the Anvil VPN
2. Create SSH keys
• On Windows
• On Mac
3. Add the SSH key pair to your account
4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
Initial setup
• If you don’t have an HCC account, please fill the form,
http://hcc.unl.edu/new-user-request
• Install the free Duo Mobile application on your phone or tablet from the
Google Play Store, Apple App Store or Microsoft Store
If you need help with the setup, please put
a red sticky note at the top of your laptop.
When you are done with the setup, please put
a green sticky note at the top of your laptop.
1. Connect to the Anvil VPN
• For security reasons, both the Anvil web portal and the instances themselves
are not generally accessible from the Internet
• The Anvil web portal is accessible while on campus, but the instances are not
• In order to access the Anvil web portal and the instance from on and offcampus, you will need to first connect to the Anvil VPN
• If you've already connected to the campus VPN service before, you'll already
have the Cisco AnyConnect client installed and can use it to connect to Anvil
VPN
• Otherwise, please click the following link, https://vpn.unl.edu/
1. Connect to the Anvil VPN
• Cisco AnyConnect client:
• Click on https://vpn.unl.edu/
• Group = Full
• Enter your Blackboard/Canvas
username and password
• Click on the Login button
1. Connect to the Anvil VPN
• Cisco AnyConnect client:
1. Connect to the Anvil VPN
• Cisco AnyConnect client:
• Save the file in a convenient
location
• Open the file and follow the
installation steps
1. Connect to the Anvil VPN
• Open the "Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client" and connect
to anvil-vpn.unl.edu
1. Connect to the Anvil VPN
• Login with your HCC username and password
1. Connect to the Anvil VPN
• Login with Duo
2. Create SSH keys
• OpenStack uses SSH key pairs to identify users and control access to the VMs
themselves, as opposed to the traditional username/password combination
• SSH key pairs consist of two files, a public key and a private key
• The public file can be shared freely; this file will be uploaded to OpenStack and
associated with your account
• The private key file should be treated the same as a password. Do not share your
private key and always keep it in a secure location
• The process for creating key pairs is different between Windows and Mac:
• Creating SSH key pairs on Mac
• Creating SSH key pairs on Windows
2. Create SSH keys
WINDOWS
MAC
• To create SSH keys on Windows, PuTTYgen • To create SSH key pairs on Mac, the built-in
Terminal application is used, which is located
is used
in the Utilities folder under Applications
• This program is installed together with the
PuTTY package
• Download and install the PuTTY package by
opening this link,
https://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest
/x86/putty-0.67-installer.msi
2.1. Creating SSH key pairs on Mac
• Start Terminal
• Type: ssh-keygen -f ~/Desktop/anvil_key
2.1. Creating SSH key pairs on Mac
• A prompt will appear to enter a passphrase
• Don’t type anything – just press Enter twice to continue and create the key without a
passphrase
2.1. Creating SSH key pairs on Mac
• This will create two keys: anvil_key (private key) and anvil_key.pub (public key)
2.2. Creating SSH key pairs on Windows
• Start PuTTYgen
• Click on Generate to create the
key pair
• Move the mouse randomly
within the window for few
seconds to create the key
2.2. Creating SSH key pairs on Windows
• Save the public key:
1. Right-click again and choose
Copy or use Ctrl-C to copy the
key text
2. Paste the key into a text editor
of your choice
3. Save the file somewhere convenient
as anvil_key.pub
2.2. Creating SSH key pairs on Windows
• The private key needs to be
saved twice
• This is because PuTTY uses its own
PPK format for private keys,
and the command-line ssh program
uses the OpenSSH format
• To save the private key for use with
the ssh command, choose
Export OpenSSH key under the
Conversions menu
2.2. Creating SSH key pairs on Windows
• The private key needs to be
saved twice
• This is because PuTTY uses its own
PPK format for private keys,
and the command-line ssh program
uses the OpenSSH format
• To save the private key for use with
the ssh command, choose
Export OpenSSH key under the
Conversions menu
• Save the file somewhere convenient
as anvil_key
2.2. Creating SSH key pairs on Windows
• The private key needs to be
saved twice
• To save the private key in PuTTY
format file, click the Save private key
button
2.2. Creating SSH key pairs on Windows
• The private key needs to be
saved twice
• To save the private key in PuTTY
format file, click the Save private key
button
• Save the file somewhere convenient
as anvil_key.ppk
2. Create SSH keys
• Treat the private key file the same as you would a password
• Keep your private key in a secure location and do not share it with anyone
3. Add the SSH key pair to your account
• Connect to the Anvil VPN • Log into the Anvil web dashboard at
anvil-beta.unl.edu using your HCC
credentials • On the left-hand side navigation menu,
click Access & Security
3. Add the SSH key pair to your account
• Choose the Key Pairs tab in the main window section:
• On the right-hand side, click the Import Key Pair button:
3. Add the SSH key pair to your account
• In the pop-up window,
fill in the Key Pair Name field
with a convenient name
(e.g. sas_key_pair)
• Open your public key file
(anvil_key.pub),
select the entire text, copy it
and paste it in the
Public Key box
• Click the Import Key Pair
button to close the pop-up
and save the key
3. Add the SSH key pair to your account
• You should then see an entry with the saved key (the fingerprint value will be
different than the example below)
• The key pair can now be associated with any newly created instances
4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• Once the setup steps above are completed, you can create an instance within
the web dashboard
4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• Connect to the Anvil VPN • Log into the Anvil web dashboard at
anvil-beta.unl.edu using your HCC
credentials • On the left-hand side navigation menu,
click Images
4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• Click the Public button to see the list of publicly available images:
4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• Choose Windows 10 SAS
• Click on Launch Instance
4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• A pop-up box will appear with
additional details about the
instance
• There are 5 tabs: Details,
Access & Security, Networking,
Post-Creation, Advanced Options
• In the Details tab, enter a
name for the instance and select
general.large from the drop-down
menu under Flavor
Enter an instance name
4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• Click the Access & Security tab
• Under Key Pair, select your SSH key pair from the drop-down menu
• Under Security Groups, check the default box
4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• Click the Networking tab
• Under Available networks, click the small blue '+' icon in the Cluster Interface box
• This will add Cluster
Interface to the
Selected networks
4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• Click the Launch button to start the instance
• It may take several
minutes for the
instance to complete
5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• After an instance has been created, you can connect (login) and begin using it
• Connecting is done via SSH or X2Go for Linux instances and via Remote
Desktop (RDP) for Windows instances
• When the Windows instance is created, the password is set randomly using
your SSH Key Pair
• This password can be retrieved via the Dashboard web interface, and then is
used to login via Remote Desktop
5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• Connect to the Anvil VPN • Log into the Anvil web dashboard at anvil-beta.unl.edu using your HCC
credentials • On the left-hand side navigation menu, click Instances
My SSH Key Pair
• It may take several minutes for a Windows instance to complete setup and be
accessible.
• It is recommended to wait 10 minutes after the Status field
shows Active before trying to connect
5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• Retrieve the password
My SSH Key Pair
5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• Retrieve the password
My SSH Key Pair
5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• In the new pop-up window you will
need to select your private SSH
key file (anvil_key)
• Click the Choose File button to
open a File Explorer window
• Navigate to your private key file and
choose to open the file
5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• The large text box should now have
the contents of your private key
• Click the Decrypt Password button
anvil_key
5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• The randomly generated password
should appear in the Password field
• Copy and paste this password into
a convenient text editor
anvil_key
5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• Access to Windows instances is provided via Remote Desktop (RDP)
• Windows:
• The Remote Desktop Connection Client is already installed on Windows
• Start the client
• Mac:
• Install the free Microsoft Remote Desktop from the app store,
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-remote-desktop/id715768417?mt=12
• Be sure to use an up-to-date client program when connecting to Windows 10
instances (older RDP clients may have problems connecting to Windows 10
instances due to changes in security protocols)
5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• Determine the IP address of your instance
My SSH Key Pair
• The username used to connect is always cloud-user
• The password was retrieved earlier
5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• Start your Remote Desktop client
• Enter the IP address in the Computer field
• Click Connect
5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• Enter the username (cloud-user)
• Enter the password you retrieved
5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
• You may see a warning box about the
certificate of the remote computer
• To avoid this warning in the future,
check the box that says "Don't ask
me again for connections to this
computer“
• Click Yes
• The Remote Desktop session should
then start and you will be connected
to your instance
Review
• Connect to the Anvil VPN • Start your Remote Desktop Connection Client • Enter the IP address in the Computer field • Enter the username (cloud-user) • Enter the password (if you forget the password, you can always retrieve it
using the steps shown earlier) • Use SAS 9.4 • Install any other free software (e.g. R, RStudio, etc.) -
Summary
• Anvil is currently in the beta testing phase
• If you have any questions or issues, please e-mail us at [email protected]
• Your instances will be active until the end of the semester
• If you want to use the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance afterwards, please talk
to Dr. Reka Howard for extension
Find us at:
Holland Computing Center, 118 Schorr Center, Lincon, NE 68588
Peter Kiewit Institute, 1110 S. 67th Street, Omaha, NE 68182
http://hcc.unl.edu/
https://hcc-docs.unl.edu/
@NebraskaHCC