HPC/Support: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:06, September 17, 2014

For questions regarding the Carbon HPC system, first consult Frequently Asked Questions to find most answers.

If your question is not answered in the FAQ, send your support request to the NST IT help desk:

Before you hit "Send", check the following aspects of your message:

Choose an appropriate subject line.
Do not merely hit "Reply" on a previous unrelated message - doing so might cause the request to get lost or ignored.
Be as specific as possible in the body of your message. Include the following:
- The command you were trying to run or the menu item you chose.
- The exact error message you get. Copy & Paste the message text, or take a screenshot and attach it to your mail.
- The path and file name of relevant files. It is generally not necessary to include copies of files that reside on Carbon.
For PBS jobs:
- The job number.
- The working directory of the job.
- We may ask you to prepare a test directory.
  Ideally, errors are reproducible. To diagnose subtle errors (where your application runs but does not fail outright), we will need a test directory which contains only the following files:
  - the job file,
  - input files,
  - any data files required,
  - if available, a file with the expected (correct) output, with a name differnt from the one generated by the job, e.g. a file with an added extension .ref.
For remote access issues, include the following:
- The hostname you ran the command on (generally shown in the command prompt).
- The hostname you're trying to reach.
- The username you use to connect.
- The software name and version you use to connect (e.g. SSH, VNC, or a browser).
- Your operating system and version.
Review your subject line before you submit the message.

When you get our support response:

Carefully read it.
Follow all instructions and answer all questions.
For account- and password-related issues: it may take several hours for changes to take effect. If your initial attempt fails, wait at least that long before retrying.

To help us diagnose a problem:

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 ** The '''job number'''.
 ** The '''working directory''' of the job.
+** We may ask you to prepare a '''test directory'''.
+**: Ideally, errors are reproducible. To diagnose subtle errors (where your application runs but does not fail outright), we will need a test directory which contains only the following files:
+*** the job file,
+*** input files,
+*** any data files required,
+*** if available, a file with the ''expected'' (correct) output, with a name differnt from the one generated by the job, e.g. a file with an added extension <code>.ref</code>.
 * For remote access issues, include the following:
 ** The '''hostname''' you ran the command on (generally shown in the command prompt).