The Strelka computing cluster runs the Open OnDemand system, which provides access to files, jobs, and an interactive desktop via a web browser.  

Accessing the site

You must have a Strelka account set up to use Open OnDemand.  To obtain an account, complete a Strelka Account Request. 

Go to strelka.swarthmore.edu and log in with your Swarthmore credentials.  

Features

Open OnDemand is feature-rich, though not all features available from the Open OnDemand menus and interface may be available. Specifically, "Shell Access" from the site is not functional. The most useful applications are the file browser, Slurm job lists, the interactive desktop, and Jupyter Notebooks.

Files

Open OnDemand provides a helpful file browser, which shows a list of your files on Strelka and makes it easy to manage them. It is possible to upload and download files as well as view and edit text files, which can be handy for simple changes.  

Jobs

See a list of Slurm jobs running on Strelka.  The default view shows only your jobs, but it can be changed to view all jobs.  Expanding a job shows more details.  While it is also possible to submit jobs from this interface, for most cases it is easier to use the command line.

Interactive Desktop

It is possible to launch an interactive desktop from within Open OnDemand, which provides a graphical Linux desktop environment running on a Strelka worker node.  This can be useful for running a graphical program such as MATLAB or COMSOL. Other programs, such as Jupyter notebooks can be configured to run on Strelka. There are time and resource limits, so the interactive use is not designed for long running or large compute jobs. To launch an interactive desktop session after logging in:

• Click Interactive Apps at the top of the window

• Click Strelka Desktop

• Adjust values in the form (e.g., cores, memory, and whether you require a GPU) and click Launch

• You may have to wait a minute for the session to start; when it does, click Launch Strelka Desktop

  • note that if insufficient resources are available to create the desktop, you may have to wait for resources to become available