February workshops offer introduction to computing with UNIX
ITaP Research Computing will host a series of hands-on introductory workshops in February for students, staff and faculty looking to enhance their skills in using UNIX-based high-performance computing systems like Purdue’s Community Cluster Program supercomputers.
Part one of the UNIX 101 workshop will cover topics ranging from logging in, files and directories (including compressing, transferring and backing up files), to permissions, pipelines and basic scripting. The workshop, which will include a number of hands-on exercises, will take place from 9 a.m. to noon on each of Monday, Feb. 6, Wednesday, Feb. 8, and Friday, Feb. 10, in Stanley Coulter Hall, Room 183. No previous UNIX experience is required.
Because of the amount of interest in this workshop, a second session has been opened. This will take place Monday, Feb. 13, Wednesday, Feb. 15, and Friday, Feb. 17, in Stanley Coulter Hall, Room 183 from 12:30 pm to 3:30pm.
There is no fee to attend, but participants should register for part one of the workshop. The Feb 6-10 session is full, but there are still openings available for the second session. If you were placed on the waiting list for the Feb 6-10 session you are encouraged to register for the second session. Participants should register by completing the Qualtrics survey at https://purdue.qualtrics.com/jfe/preview/SV_0vp28sRiTCWg9Ol.
Part two of the UNIX 101 workshop will cover topics ranging from regular expressions and UNIX programs grep, AWK and sed to introductory Bash scripting including variables, branches and loops, input and output. This part of the workshop will take place from 9 a.m. to noon on each of Monday, Feb. 20, Wednesday, Feb. 22, and Friday, Feb. 24, in Stanley Coulter Hall, Room 183 and will also include hands-on exercises. Participants should register for part two by completing the Qualtrics survey at https://purdue.qualtrics.com/jfe6/preview/SV_cHNAQuwkXnI6pUh.
Participants are welcome to attend either or both workshops, although it is suggested that those taking part two also attend part one. Lab Macs will be available for every attendee, but you are welcome to bring your own computer. If you will be using your own Windows machine, you will need to download a terminal emulator like PuTTY, a free, full-featured SSH client that is a small download. If you have problems installing this, arrive 15 minutes before the workshop to get assistance.
Megan Dale, who coordinates training for ITaP Research Computing, says that the skills covered in these workshops will be essential for anyone who plans to utilize Purdue’s high-performance computing resources, such as the community clusters, in their research.
ITaP Research Computing will also present a hands-on Clusters 101 workshop that is designed to give current and potential community cluster users an overview of the high-performance computing resources available at Purdue and explain how to use those resources efficiently. Those sessions will take place from 9 a.m. to noon on each of Monday, March 6, Wednesday, March 8, and Friday, March 10, in Stanley Coulter Hall, Room 183. Knowledge of basic UNIX commands is necessary, and those who have little previous UNIX experience should take the UNIX 101 workshops first. To register for the clusters workshop, complete the Qualtrics survey at https://purdue.qualtrics.com/jfe6/preview/SV_9XoBBCXC2fJWZVj.
For more information about any of these workshops, email rcac-help@purdue.edu.