Using Gaussian-98 from an SGI workstation

These instructions may help you gain access to the Gaussian 98 software package. The Gaussian 98 software package is currently installed only on pom-iron, which is an SGI Origin 2000 server. This server has four R10K CPUs and more than 1 GB of RAM, which makes it able to run Gaussian calculations many times faster than our workstation machines.

However, since it is not possible to sit and work at the keyboard of pom-iron, you will need to use another computer to access the program remotely. This is most easily done with an SGI workstation, as follows:

  1. Log in to the local workstation using your DCI username and password. (If you do not have a DCI account, you will have to get one-email mikey@cs.pomona.edu)
  2. Get a terminal window by clicking Desktop : Open Unix Shell on the Toolchest.
  3. At the command prompt, type: ssh -X pom-iron
  4. The first time you connect to pom-iron, you will get a message saying that the authenticity of pom-iron cannot be verified. Type yes to continue.1
  5. Enter your DCI password again when prompted. You should then be logged in to pom-iron.
  6. The login message will tell you some things about pom-iron, and at the end it should say “X forwarding is enabled.” This tells you that ssh is configured to send graphical applications to the display on your workstation. If X is disabled, log out of pom-iron and try again. This time, make sure you typed a capital X in ssh -X pom-iron.
  7. If everything is set up properly, you can now type: gv2 to start GaussView, which is a graphical interface to Gaussian.

When you are finished, you must quit GaussView and any other graphical programs before you can log out of pom-iron. After quitting any graphical programs, type exit, or push Ctrl-D at the command prompt. You will then be returned to the local machine. Don’t forget to log out of the local workstation as well, by right clicking on the desktop and choosing “Log Out.”

1This is normal. It means that since your ssh hasn’t met pom-iron before, it can’t tell whether it has contacted the real pom-iron or an impostor.

2gv automatically dissociates itself from the terminal, so it is not necessary to put a & character here.