The Hyperion Cluster - Materials Studio 8.0 - Info for Users

NOTE: The old Hyperion Cluster, which this page refers to, no longer exists in here described form, it has been assimilated into the newer Quantum Hyperion cluster as its sub-cluster and also its modules and packages are different!

This is but a remnant of its old documentation.

General Information about the Materials Studio on the Hyperion Cluster

The Hyperion cluster contains an installation of the server part of DASSAULT SYSTEMS BIOVIA Materials Studio 8.0 (for the sake of this text we would sometimes abbreviate Materials Studio as MSI) licensed at the Dept. of Solid State Engineering. This installation of the software is available for use to students and employees of the department who get permission of the head of the department and to special guests with the same permission. This is only the server part of the MSI software, which allows running Materials Studio calculations in the form of remote jobs sent to this cluster. To generate a job and interpret its results you need the Materials Studio 8.0 Visualizer, which is available for usage in our laboratory of material modeling (room 316T) and for selected people also on their computers (for more information, please ask at the department).

What do I needed in order to be able to use the Materials Studio?

To be able to use Materials Studio in our laboratory of material modeling (room 316T) you just need to be there and log into the Windows with your standard FJFI Active Directory (AD) account. Everyone is allowed to use Materials Studio from the computers in room 316T for studying purposes, it eases up the lectures taking place there and students can do their self-study of the MSI there as well. Users who want to use the Materials Studio outside of the room 316T computers need to:

have an active FJFI AD account,
be registered at the Materials Studio licensing server of the Dept. of Solid State Engineering,
run within the IP addresses of the faculty,
have Materials Studio Visualizer installed under Windows OS,
run Materials Studio Visualizer under user with the same username as their official FJFI AD username. (Even when on a computer that is not joined within the FJFI domain! And no, just changing a name of your favourite Windows account on your computer does not accomplish that, Windows do not support changing username of a user, only its display name - name that is displayed when you log in.).

If you feel, you should have access to DSSE's MSI licenses, you should get a permission from the head of the department and then ask an administrator to execute that permission.

Does the Materials Studio Visualizer also run under Linux, since the server side does?

No. Sorry. Windows only. 😞

What do I needed in order to be able to send Materials Studio jobs to the Hyperion cluster?

Users who want to run their MSI jobs on the Hyperion cluster need to (in addition to conditions for just running the MSI, stated above):

be registered at the Materials Studio licensing server of the Dept. of Solid State Engineering (even when launching from the room 316T computers),
have acces to the Hyperion cluster with their FJFI AD account (meaning being a part of one of the hyperion_* FJFI AD groups),
be a member of the msi group on the cluster,
run the Materials Studio Visualizer 8.0 (older versions are not supported on the Hyperion cluster at the moment ... and perhaps never will be).

Materials Studio requires some credentials (username and password) for access from me. What credentials should I enter?

Use the credentials from your FJFI AD account. Administration of that account is being done here. If you have any trouble with your account or need one, please turn to the appropriate IT administrator Pavel Kerouš (for more details see here). You'd need a permission from the head of the department (if you are not a root employee or a student of the faculty).

From where can I access the Hyperion cluster Materials Studio?

Materials Studio runing on the Hyperion cluster can be accessed from within the IP(v4) addresses of the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering (FNSPE), including both wired and wireless connections within the faculty premises. Providing you want to access the Hyperion cluster Materials Studio from a computer outside of the faculty premises (outside of the faculty IP address range), you need to establish a VPN connection to the faculty (see below) and then you can use it from anywhere you like, providing you otherwise have all you need to run the MSI Visualizer 8.0.

Installation of the Materials Studio and Its Connection to the Hyperion Cluster

How do I install a VPN on my Windows computer?

Download the OpenVPN Installer for your windows from the following official site (depending on whether you use 32-bit or 64-bit Windows and whether you use Windows XP or Windows Vista and newer).
You need to run the downloaded installator "Run as administrator...".
Confirm that you really want to run the installator.
Now just click through, agree with the license, no need to change any settings.
At the end, you can disable showing the Readme.
If you use 32-bit Windows, download this configuration file and copy it into the C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config\ directory. If you use 64-bit Windows, download this configuration file, rename it to fjfi.ovpn and copy it into the C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config\ directory.
Download this certificate file by right-clicking on it and selecting "Save link as..." (just do not left-click on it directly, as otherwise your browser would probably try to install it into itself) and also copy it to the C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config\ directory.

How do I connect to the faculty via VPN from my Windows computer?

Locate the following OpenVPN icon on your desktop:
Right-click on the icon and select "Run as administrator":
Locate the OpenVPN icon on the bottom-right panel of resident applications, right-click on it and select "Connect":
Type in your FJFI AD user name and password (you need to have an active FJFI AD account, otherwise, you can not connect to the FJFI VPN):
If the connection is successfull, you'll get something like this:

How do I check if I am really connected to the faculty via the VPN?

Run your web-browser, look at the following address http://remote.12dt.com/ and if in the "Enter IP Address" field you see 147.32.9.2, then you are running over the VPN. If you see anything else, you are not running over the FJFI VPN. (Even perhaps though the VPN can be successfully enabled, just the main internet traffic is not using it. That may most probably be due to not installing or running the OpenVPN by right-clicking and launching it by "Run as administrator".)

How do I include the Hyperion cluster into my Materials Studio Visualizer, so that I can send MSI jobs there?

Find the Materials Studio 8.0 icon on your desktop (alternatively, you may find the file C:\Program Files\Accelrys\Materials Studio 8.0\bin\MatStudio.exe) and start the application.
Select from the top menu: "Tools" -> "Server Console"
Select in the left menu: "Console Root" -> "Server Management" -> "Server Gateways":
Right-click on "Server Gateways" and select "New" -> "Server Gateway":
Fill in the URL http:// hyperion.fjfi.cvut.cz, keep the Port number 18888, click on "Connection", which expands the menu downwards and check/select "Use https" there and push "OK":
In the end, you should get the following entry in the table:

If you are asked for credentials (user name and password) use your FJFI AD credentials.

How can I get information about the Hyperion cluster Materials Studio and do basic MSI jobs management without the MSI Visualizer?

You may access it from within the IP addresses of the faculty (or via the FJFI VPN, if you are outside of the faculty premises) by accessing the following web site https://hyperion.fjfi.cvut.cz:18888. Some pages on that site may ask you for credentials (user name and password), please use your FJFI AD credentials.

Usage of the Materials Studio Itself

Introduction in how to properly use the Materials Studio to create simulations and process experimental data is tought within the lecture 11SIKL and is out of the scope of this text. Alternatively you may turn to the extensive tutorials within the Materials Studio Visualizer itself or try asking at our department.