Simplifying Access to HiPerGator

UF is simplifying research collaboration across the state and around the world. Research and teaching faculty from InCommon federated institutions can now utilize HiPerGator, the University of Florida supercomputer, without having to apply for GatorLink account credentials. UF is an InCommon Federation member, one of more than 500 universities and research institutions worldwide. InCommon is a multi-institutional exchange enabling members of higher education affiliates to use their digital credential for access to systems and services at member institutions.

Expanding access via the InCommon Federation saves time by reducing administrative overhead for non-UF faculty, students, and staff who would like to leverage HiPerGator. Federated access removes the manual steps since the validation has already occurred at the participant’s institution.

External researchers must still be sponsored by a UF principal investigator or UFIT staff member before HiPerGator can be accessed. Instructors with State University System of Florida or Southeastern Conference institutions who would like to incorporate HiPerGator into their teaching also still need their requests approved by Research Computing, so the proper training and consultation can be scheduled and compute resources can be allocated. Anyone with questions about requesting a federated HiPerGator account can learn more on https://www.rc.ufl.edu/get-started/hipergator/request-federated-hipergator-account/.

Expanding External Usage of HiPerGator

Federated identity access allows only authorized users secure access to multiple services and domains via a single set of verified credentials. To support federated access to HiPerGator, on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022, the following websites will be updated to use the InCommon Discovery Service:

jupyterhub.rc.ufl.edu and jhub.rc.ufl.edu
support.rc.ufl.edu
galaxy.rc.ufl.edu
ondemand.rc.ufl.edu and ood.rc.ufl.edu

InCommon is an integrated service enabling single sign-on, access to cloud and local services, and global collaboration. UF faculty with collaborators at other InCommon federated institutions will benefit by not having to arrange GatorLink IDs for them. State university system and SEC institution faculty will also benefit, because they will now be able to use their institutional account credentials; a boon for those institutions’ instructors teaching large classes using HiPerGator AI.

Users will be directed to the InCommon Federation Discovery website after the update is complete. Be sure the ‘Remember selection for this web browser session’ checkbox is selected to skip this step in the future on the same computer. Then, select ‘University of Florida’ from the dropdown. After selecting University of Florida, users will be directed to the GatorLink login page (https://login.ufl.edu/).

UFIT wants all HiPerGator ecosystem users to be aware of this impending change. Anyone with questions about these InCommon federated access additions may contact Training and Biocomputing Specialist Dr. Matt Gitzendanner.