Login into Viking

Owned by Emma Barnes
Last updated: 25 Oct, 2021
4 min read

The process of logging into Viking is similar to the research servers as described in An Introduction to Research Computing at York.  Viking has a Linux Operating system therefore how you access Viking will depend on what your operating system is on your local machine.

Before You Login

If you have not changed your IT Services password since August 2013 then you must do so before you will be able to login. All user password changes are manage via the My IT Account  web page. Click on the Password Management (IDM) link in the Manage Your Password field to change your password. You may be given the option to 'synchronise' your password; please use this option if you do not want to change your password. The password change (or synchronisation) may take a few minutes before it is visible to the servers.

Accessing Viking off campus

To access the Viking off campus you can either use the Virtual Private Network - VPN or the SSH gateway service (registration required). The instructions below should work if you log on through the VPN; the SSH service works slightly differently.

 Windows

Access from a Windows desktop

Command-line access using PuTTY

PuTTY is available on all IT Services Managed Windows systems. It is pre-installed on Classroom PCs; on Office PCs you can install it from Run Advertised Programs / Software Center. It appears under "Internet Tools" on the start menu.

On unmanaged PCs you can download the installer from the PuTTY Website.

Configuring PuTTY to connect to Viking

Open PuTTY and configure it to connect to Viking:

  1. Add the name "viking.york.ac.uk" to the 'Host Name' field
  2. Check the 'Connection Type' to SSH
  3. Type the name "Viking"  in 'Saved Sessions'
  4. Click 'Save'

  1. Expand the 'SSH' tab from the 'Category' list
  2. Choose 'X11' from 'SSH' list
  3. Check 'Enable X11 Forwarding'

Connecting to Viking

  1. Start PuTTY
  2. Select 'Viking' from the 'Saved Sessions'
  3. Click 'Open'

A terminal window should appear. Log in with your university username and password.  The first time you connect you will get a security alert showing the fingerprint of the server, labeled as 'ssh-rsa' or 'ssh-ed25519'.

If you are successful this is what you will see:

Whilst it is possible to configure X11 forwarding through PuTTY, X11 forwarding will only work on the Viking login nodes, which means that you won't be able to run graphical applications e.g. MATLAB on the Viking compute nodes using X11 forwarding. Details about virtual desktop sessions on Viking are provided in the Virtual Desktop section of this document.

 MacOSX

Access from a Mac

Go to the Finder on your Mac, find Applications, open the Utilities folder in Applications and then start the Terminal app from the Utilities folder. (You may wish to add Terminal to your Dock.) Then type the following, using your university username (abc123). You do not need to type the $; this is an example of a prompt, which tells us the terminal is ready for us to type something. You should see something similar when you open Terminal, though it may be a bit longer (it may show your username for example). Just type anything from after the $.

[bash-4.1]$ ssh -X abc123@viking.york.ac.uk
 Linux

Access from a UNIX server or desktop

To log in from a terminal emulator, use the following command: 

[bash-4.1]$ ssh abc123@viking.york.ac.uk

where abc123 is your IT Services username. You will be prompted for your IT Services password. Please note, X11 forwarding will only work on the Viking login nodes, which means that you won't be able to run graphical applications e.g. MATLAB on the Viking compute nodes using X11 forwarding. Details about virtual desktop sessions on Viking are provided in the Virtual Desktop section of this document.

 If you require X forwarding, type:

[bash-4.1]$ ssh -X abc123@viking.york.ac.uk

See /wiki/spaces/RCS/pages/39158979 for more information