1. Holland Computing Center STAT802 Create and access Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
01/23/2017

2. What is Anvil ?
Anvil is the Holland Computing Center's cloud computing resource, based on the OpenStack software
Anvil was created to address the needs of NU's research community that are not well served by a traditional batch-scheduled Linux cluster environment
Examples of use cases that are well suited to Anvil include:
A highly interactive environment, especially GUI applications
Research requiring root-level access, such as kernel modification or virtualization work
Alternate operating systems, such as Windows or other distributions of Linux
Test cluster environments for various software frameworks, such as Hadoop or Spark
Cluster applications that require a persistent resource, such as a web or database server

3. Steps for Anvil access Connect to the Anvil VPN Create SSH keys
On Windows
On Mac
Add the SSH key pair to your account
Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance

4. Initial setup
If you don’t have an HCC account, please fill the form,
Install the free Duo Mobile application on your phone or tablet from the Google Play Store, Apple App Store or Microsoft Store
If you need help with the setup, please put a red sticky note at the top of your laptop.
When you are done with the setup, please put a green sticky note at the top of your laptop.

5. 1. Connect to the Anvil VPN
For security reasons, both the Anvil web portal and the instances themselves are not generally accessible from the Internet
The Anvil web portal is accessible while on campus, but the instances are not
In order to access the Anvil web portal and the instance from on and off- campus, you will need to first connect to the Anvil VPN
If you've already connected to the campus VPN service before, you'll already have the Cisco AnyConnect client installed and can use it to connect to Anvil VPN
Otherwise, please click the following link,  

6. 1. Connect to the Anvil VPN
Cisco AnyConnect client:
Click on
Group = Full
Enter your Blackboard/Canvas username and password
Click on the Login button

7. 1. Connect to the Anvil VPN
Cisco AnyConnect client:

8. 1. Connect to the Anvil VPN
Cisco AnyConnect client:
Save the file in a convenient location
Open the file and follow the installation steps

9. 1. Connect to the Anvil VPN
Open the "Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client" and connect to anvil-vpn.unl.edu

10. 1. Connect to the Anvil VPN
Login with your HCC username and password

11. 1. Connect to the Anvil VPN
Login with Duo

12. 2. Create SSH keys
OpenStack uses SSH key pairs to identify users and control access to the VMs themselves, as opposed to the traditional username/password combination
SSH key pairs consist of two files, a public key and a private key
The public file can be shared freely; this file will be uploaded to OpenStack and associated with your account
The private key file should be treated the same as a password.  Do not share your private key and always keep it in a secure location
The process for creating key pairs is different between Windows and Mac:
Creating SSH key pairs on Mac
Creating SSH key pairs on Windows

13. 2. Create SSH keys WINDOWS MAC
To create SSH keys on Windows, PuTTYgen is used
This program is installed together with the PuTTY package
Download and install the PuTTY package by opening this link,
To create SSH key pairs on Mac, the built-in Terminal application is used, which is located in the Utilities folder under Applications
Ask how many have Windows and how many Mac machines ? While downloading PuTTY, we will show the MAC example

14. 2.1. Creating SSH key pairs on Mac
Start Terminal
Type: ssh-keygen -f ~/Desktop/anvil_key
This will create two key files on your Desktop, one public and one private, which can later be moved to whatever location you prefer.

15. 2.1. Creating SSH key pairs on Mac
A prompt will appear to enter a passphrase
Don’t type anything – just press Enter twice to continue and create the key without a passphrase

16. 2.1. Creating SSH key pairs on Mac
This will create two keys: anvil_key (private key) and anvil_key.pub (public key)
This will create two key files on your Desktop, one public and one private, which can later be moved to whatever location you prefer.

17. 2.2. Creating SSH key pairs on Windows
Start PuTTYgen
Click on Generate to create the key pair
Move the mouse randomly within the window for few seconds to create the key

18. 2.2. Creating SSH key pairs on Windows
Save the public key:
Right-click again and choose  Copy or use Ctrl-C to copy the key text
Paste the key into a text editor of your choice
Save the file somewhere convenient as anvil_key.pub

19. 2.2. Creating SSH key pairs on Windows
The private key needs to be saved twice
This is because PuTTY uses its own PPK format for private keys, and the command-line ssh program uses the OpenSSH format
To save the private key for use with the ssh command, choose Export OpenSSH key under the Conversions menu

20. 2.2. Creating SSH key pairs on Windows
The private key needs to be saved twice
This is because PuTTY uses its own PPK format for private keys, and the command-line ssh program uses the OpenSSH format
To save the private key for use with the ssh command, choose Export OpenSSH key under the Conversions menu
Save the file somewhere convenient as anvil_key

21. 2.2. Creating SSH key pairs on Windows
The private key needs to be saved twice
To save the private key in PuTTY format file, click the Save private key  button

22. 2.2. Creating SSH key pairs on Windows
The private key needs to be saved twice
To save the private key in PuTTY format file, click the Save private key  button
Save the file somewhere convenient as anvil_key.ppk

23. 2. Create SSH keys
Treat the private key file the same as you would a password
Keep your private key in a secure location and do not share it with anyone

24. 3. Add the SSH key pair to your account
Connect to the Anvil VPN -
Log into the Anvil web dashboard at anvil-beta.unl.edu using your HCC credentials -
On the left-hand side navigation menu, click Access & Security

25. 3. Add the SSH key pair to your account
Choose the Key Pairs tab in the main window section:
On the right-hand side, click the Import Key Pair button:

26. 3. Add the SSH key pair to your account
In the pop-up window, fill in the Key Pair Name field with a convenient name (e.g. sas_key_pair)
Open your public key file (anvil_key.pub), select the entire text, copy it and paste it in the Public Key box
Click the Import Key Pair  button to close the pop-up and save the key

27. 3. Add the SSH key pair to your account
You should then see an entry with the saved key (the fingerprint value will be different than the example below)
The key pair can now be associated with any newly created instances

28. 4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
Once the setup steps above are completed, you can create an instance within the web dashboard

29. 4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
Connect to the Anvil VPN -
Log into the Anvil web dashboard at anvil-beta.unl.edu using your HCC credentials -
On the left-hand side navigation menu, click Images

30. 4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
Click the Public button to see the list of publicly available images:

31. 4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
Choose Windows 10 SAS
Click on Launch Instance

32. 4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
A pop-up box will appear with additional details about the instance
There are 5 tabs: Details, Access & Security, Networking, Post-Creation, Advanced Options
In the Details tab, enter a name for the instance and select general.large from the drop-down menu under Flavor
Enter an instance name

33. 4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
Click the Access & Security tab
Under Key Pair, select your SSH key pair from the drop-down menu
Under Security Groups, check the default box

34. 4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
Click the Networking tab
Under Available networks, click the small blue '+' icon in the Cluster Interface box
This will add Cluster Interface to the  Selected networks

35. 4. Create an Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
Click the Launch button to start the instance
It may take several minutes for the instance to complete

36. 5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
After an instance has been created, you can connect (login) and begin using it
Connecting is done via SSH or X2Go for Linux instances and via Remote Desktop (RDP) for Windows instances
When the Windows instance is created, the password is set randomly using your SSH Key Pair
This password can be retrieved via the Dashboard web interface, and then is used to login via Remote Desktop

37. 5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
Connect to the Anvil VPN -
Log into the Anvil web dashboard at anvil-beta.unl.edu using your HCC credentials -
On the left-hand side navigation menu, click Instances
It may take several minutes for a Windows instance to complete setup and be accessible.
It is recommended to wait 10 minutes after the Status field shows Active before trying to connect
My SSH Key Pair
Due to the size of the image and other factors, it may take several minutes for a Windows instance to complete setup and be accessible
It is recommended to wait 10 minutes after the Status field shows Active before trying to connect

38. 5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
Retrieve the password
My SSH Key Pair
Due to the size of the image and other factors, it may take several minutes for a Windows instance to complete setup and be accessible
It is recommended to wait 10 minutes after the Status field shows Active before trying to connect

39. 5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
Retrieve the password
My SSH Key Pair
Due to the size of the image and other factors, it may take several minutes for a Windows instance to complete setup and be accessible
It is recommended to wait 10 minutes after the Status field shows Active before trying to connect

40. 5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
In the new pop-up window you will need to select your private SSH key file (anvil_key)
Click the Choose File button to open a File Explorer window
Navigate to your private key file and choose to open the file
Due to the size of the image and other factors, it may take several minutes for a Windows instance to complete setup and be accessible
It is recommended to wait 10 minutes after the Status field shows Active before trying to connect

41. 5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
The large text box should now have the contents of your private key
Click the Decrypt Password button
anvil_key
Due to the size of the image and other factors, it may take several minutes for a Windows instance to complete setup and be accessible
It is recommended to wait 10 minutes after the Status field shows Active before trying to connect

42. 5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
The randomly generated password should appear in the Password field
Copy and paste this password into a convenient text editor
anvil_key
Due to the size of the image and other factors, it may take several minutes for a Windows instance to complete setup and be accessible
It is recommended to wait 10 minutes after the Status field shows Active before trying to connect

43. 5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
Access to Windows instances is provided via Remote Desktop (RDP)
Windows:
The Remote Desktop Connection Client is already installed on Windows
Start the client
Mac:
Install the free Microsoft Remote Desktop from the app store,
Be sure to use an up-to-date client program when connecting to Windows 10 instances (older RDP clients may have problems connecting to Windows 10 instances due to changes in security protocols)
Due to the size of the image and other factors, it may take several minutes for a Windows instance to complete setup and be accessible
It is recommended to wait 10 minutes after the Status field shows Active before trying to connect

44. 5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
Determine the IP address of your instance
The username used to connect is always cloud-user
The password was retrieved earlier
My SSH Key Pair
Due to the size of the image and other factors, it may take several minutes for a Windows instance to complete setup and be accessible
It is recommended to wait 10 minutes after the Status field shows Active before trying to connect

45. 5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
Start your Remote Desktop client
Enter the IP address in the Computer field
Click Connect
Due to the size of the image and other factors, it may take several minutes for a Windows instance to complete setup and be accessible
It is recommended to wait 10 minutes after the Status field shows Active before trying to connect

46. 5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
Enter the username (cloud-user)
Enter the password you retrieved
Due to the size of the image and other factors, it may take several minutes for a Windows instance to complete setup and be accessible
It is recommended to wait 10 minutes after the Status field shows Active before trying to connect

47. 5. Connect to the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance
You may see a warning box about the certificate of the remote computer
To avoid this warning in the future, check the box that says "Don't ask me again for connections to this computer“
Click Yes
The Remote Desktop session should then start and you will be connected to your instance

48. Review Connect to the Anvil VPN -
Start your Remote Desktop Connection Client -
Enter the IP address in the Computer field -
Enter the username (cloud-user) -
Enter the password (if you forget the password, you can always retrieve it using the steps shown earlier) -
Use SAS 9.4 -
Install any other free software (e.g. R, RStudio, etc.) -

49. Summary Anvil is currently in the beta testing phase
If you have any questions or issues, please us at
Your instances will be active until the end of the semester
If you want to use the Anvil Windows 10 SAS instance afterwards, please talk to Dr. Reka Howard for extension
Find us at:
Holland Computing Center, 118 Schorr Center, Lincon, NE 68588
Peter Kiewit Institute, 1110 S. 67th Street, Omaha, NE 68182
@NebraskaHCC