For New HPSS Users

If you are a new user to of NERSC's HPSS system for storing your data, there are a few things you need to know. The questions and answers below will guide you through the process of starting to use HPSS.

How do I get an HPSS account?

Your HPSS user name will be your NIM user name, but not all users have home directories. If you desire access to either HPSS system, call the NERSC Account Support staff at 1-800-66-NERSC, menu option 2, to create your home directory.

How do I change set my HPSS password?

Login to NIM and select "Actions" and "Generate HPSS Token". This will generate a new encrypted password for access to HPSS, but will not actually change the stored key in NIM/LDAP. If you have security reasons for needing to change this, contact NERSC Account Support to security disable your account and we will manually reset your stored key which will invalidate all previously generated passwords.

How do I access HPSS?

You can access NERSC's HPSS systems from NERSC production platforms and from any machine that supports HSI/pftp/ftp. and the HPSS User system (archive.nersc.gov) can be accessed by gridFTP clients as well.

Why doesn't my username and password work with ftp or pftp?

For security reasons, NERSC no longer supports using clear text names and passwords for pftp or ftp. You can find out how to generate a HPSS authentication token by seeing details at HPSS passwords.