New Users Guide

If you are a new user to of NERSC's HPSS system 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.

What are HPSS, archive.nersc.gov, hpss.nersc.gov and regent.nersc.gov?

HPSS stands for High Performance Storage System and is, in general tems, software that can be used to store data on robotic tape libraries.  For more information see the website for the HPSS Collaboration.  At NERSC there are two separate HPSS systems.  The first is called archive.nersc.gov and is where NERSC users can archive their data.  The second is called hpss.nersc.gov and is used primarily by NERSC staff.

How do I access HPSS?

You can access NERSC's HPSS systems from NERSC's production platforms or any machine that supports HSI, HTAR or ftp/pftp.  You can also access the user system, archive.nersc.gov through gridFTP clients.  See Accessing HPSS.  All users who have accounts on the computational machines at NERSC also have an account on HPSS.

How do I change 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. 

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

For security reasons NERSC does not support using clear text names and passwords for pftp or ftp.  You can find out how to generate an HPSS authentication by see details at HPSS Passwords.