ATTENTION: Protected Environment Users

There are two upcoming changes with the protected environment (PE).  The first affects all users of the protected environment and the second affects users of the apexarch cluster only. 

#1:  As of Tuesday, September 1, multi-factor authentication will be required to access the protected environment.

This change will both improve the security of the protected environment as well as making remote access simpler, as you will no longer be required to use the HIPAA VPN from campus networks (access to the PE from off-campus will still require the use of a either the @chpc.utah.edu or the @utah.edu VPN both of which all CHPC users should have access).

The product we are using is called Duo, by Duo Security. It can work in three methods:

1. An app on your smartphone or tablet
2. Send you a text message
3. Call your telephone (cell or land-line)

 If you have not already provisioned a Duo account, we need the following  information from you:

1. Your name
2. Your unid
3. What kind of device you are using (smart phone, tablet, cell phone, and-line)
4. Your phone number (unless you're using a tablet)
5. If you're using a smart phone or tablet, what OS it uses (Apple iOS, Android, etc)

 Please send us this information by Tuesday, August 25^th as a request made to issues@chpc.utah.edu.

 If you do not have a device that you can use with Duo, please communicate with us, and we will arrange a work-around.

 Note that we will phase out the use of the HIPAA VPN to access the PE on Sept 7^th to allow for a transition period.

#2: Upgrade of the OS running on apexarch from RHEL5 to RHEL6.

This change brings the OS on apexarch in line with that on the other CHPC clusters and also allows for the use of modules on apexarch.  This change will also be made on September 1, starting at 8am.  There is currently a reservation in place on apexarch to drain the batch queue by this time. Expect an outage of about 2 days to allow the transition to be completed.

The OS change has already been made on several nodes, and we strongly suggest that users test their applications on these nodes.  In order to reach these nodes, users must be have a Duo account (see above).  At the current time, users have to ssh to farnsworth.chpc.utah.edu (from a UofU IP, must still use the VPN if off campus) then ssh to apex2.chpc.utah.edu.   Direct ssh to apexarch interactive nodes using Duo will be enabled in the near future.

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns by sending email to issues@chpc.utah.edu.