.. _windows_client: ################################## :fab:`windows` Access from Windows ################################## Getting ready to login ====================== Before you can log in with SSH to a VSC cluster, you need to generate a pair of SSH keys and upload them to your VSC account. There multiple ways to create yours keys in Windows, please check our documentation on :ref:`generating keys windows`. Connecting to the cluster ========================= Text-mode session using PuTTY ------------------------------ PuTTY is a simple-to-use and freely available GUI SSH client for Windows that is :ref:`easy to set up `. .. toctree:: :maxdepth: 2 text_mode_access_using_putty Text-mode and graphical browser using MobaXterm ----------------------------------------------- MobaXterm is a free and easy to use SSH client for Windows that has text-mode, a graphical file browser, an X server, an SSH agent, and more, all in one. No installation is required when using the *Portable edition*. See :ref:`detailed instructions on how to setup MobaXterm `. .. toctree:: :maxdepth: 2 access_using_mobaxterm Alternatives ------------ Recent versions of Windows come with an OpenSSH installed, and you can use it from PowerShell or the Command Prompt as you would in the termial on Linux systems and all pages about SSH and data transfer from :ref:`the Linux client pages ` apply. The Windows Subsystem for Linux can be an alternative if you are using Windows 10 build 1607 or later. The available Linux distributions have SSH clients, so you can refer to all pages about SSH and data transfer from :ref:`the Linux client pages ` as well. .. _windows_gui: Display graphical programs ========================== X server -------- X11 is the protocol that is used by most Linux applications to display graphics on a local or remote screen. It is necessary to run an X server on your Windows system to display graphical applications running on the Linux system of the cluster. |Recommended| Use the X server included in :ref:`MobaXterm `. Alternatively, you can install an X server such as `Xming `_ on Windows as well. .. toctree:: using_the_xming_x_server_to_display_graphical_programs NX client --------- |KUL| On the KU Leuven/UHasselt clusters it is also possible to use the :ref:`NX Client` to log on to the machine and run graphical programs. Instead of an X server, another piece of client software is required. VNC --- .. include:: vnc_support.rst Programming tools ================= .. warning:: Although it is convenient to develop software on your local machine, you should bear in mind that the hardware architecture is likely to differ substantially from the VSC HPC hardware. Therefore it is recommended that performance optimizations are done on the target system. Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL/WSL2) -------------------------------------- If you're running Windows 10 build 1607 (Anniversary Edition) or later, you may consider running the ":ref:`Windows Subsystem for Linux `" that will give you a Ubuntu-like environment on Windows and allow you to install some Ubuntu packages. *In build 1607 this is still considered experimental technology and we offer no support.* .. toctree:: :hidden: wsl Microsoft Visual Studio ----------------------- :ref:`Microsoft Visual Studio ` can also be used to develop OpenMP or MPI programs. If you do not use any Microsoft-specific libraries but stick to plain C or C++, the programs can be recompiled on the VSC clusters. Microsoft is slow in implementing new standards though. In Visual Studio 2015, OpenMP support is still stuck at version 2.0 of the standard. An alternative is to get a license for the Intel compilers which plug into Visual Studio and give you the best of both worlds, the power of a full-blown IDE and compilers that support the latest technologies in the HPC world on Windows. Eclipse ------- .. include:: eclipse_intro.rst .. note:: On Windows Eclipse relies by default on the `Cygwin`_ toolchain for its compilers and other utilities, so you need to install that too. Version control --------------- Information on tools for version control (git and subversion) is available on the :ref:`version control systems` introduction page.