Remote host

Connecting to the SFSU virtual machine

MESA for this course runs on an SFSU virtual machine, jmbrewer.rcc.at.sfsu.edu, not on your laptop. Do this once from your own computer, then once while logged in. You do not need Docker. Replace userid with your SFSU id.

Compile and run (./mk, ./rn) are in the MESA running guide. After the account steps below, ~/star_tmpl is the directory you copy for each new model.

1. VPN

Skip this if you are already on campus.

Download GlobalProtect from gp-students.sfsu.edu. Sign in with your SF State ID and password, then run the installer for your system from your downloads folder.

Launch GlobalProtect. Set the portal address to gp-students.sfsu.edu and connect. Sign in again with your SF State ID and password. The globe icon shows a checkmark when the tunnel is up.

2. SSH client

Linux and macOS already have an SSH client in the terminal.

On Windows, two common installs are Cygwin and the Windows Subsystem for Linux. WSL is the one that also includes X11, which the next card needs.

3. X11

X11 is what lets a plot window on the VM open on your computer.

Linux already has it. WSL includes it. On macOS, install the latest XQuartz.

4. Connect

Be on campus, or on the VPN. Log in with X11 forwarding:

ssh -X userid@jmbrewer.rcc.at.sfsu.edu

Reuse the Ed25519 key from Git. Install that public key on the VM once. This login still asks for your account password:

ssh-copy-id userid@jmbrewer.rcc.at.sfsu.edu

Do not generate another key at ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 on your computer, and do not leave the passphrase empty to avoid a prompt. That file is already your GitHub key.

After ssh-copy-id, you can shorten later logins. On your computer, add this to ~/.ssh/config, with your id in place of userid:

Host jmbrewer
    HostName jmbrewer.rcc.at.sfsu.edu
    User userid
    Port 22
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
    ForwardX11 yes
    ForwardX11Trusted yes

Then:

ssh jmbrewer

5. Shared MESA install

The account does not know where MESA is until you source it from the Bash startup file. On the virtual machine:

pico ~/.bashrc

Add this line:

source /opt/mesa/setup/mesa.sh

Load it in the current session, or log out and back in:

source ~/.bashrc

MESA downloads data into a cache. The default cache sits inside the shared MESA directory, so each account needs its own. On the virtual machine:

mkdir -p ~/mesa_caches/eosDT_cache \
  ~/mesa_caches/kap_cache \
  ~/mesa_caches/rates_cache

Copy the MESA star template into your home directory and point it at those caches:

cp -R $MESA_DIR/star/work ~/star_tmpl
pico ~/star_tmpl/inlist_project

Under the &star_job heading, add these lines. Use your id in place of userid:

    eosDT_cache_dir = '/home/userid/mesa_caches/eosDT_cache'
    kap_cache_dir = '/home/userid/mesa_caches/kap_cache'
    rates_cache_dir = '/home/userid/mesa_caches/rates_cache'

Copy ~/star_tmpl when you start a model. Editing that inlist further, and ./mk / ./rn, are in the MESA running guide.