New users - start here!

[Michael Cianfrocco]

Frequently asked questions

    

How do I get started? 

Check out the document that we compiled that describes how to create an account and launch EM-Packages-in-the-Cloud.

What software packages are installed?

The latest packages on EM-Packages-in-the-Cloud can be found here.

How do I launch an instance with EM-Packages-in-the-Cloud?

We describe the overall process of launching an instance from the AWS EC2 management console here. 

Where do I put my data? 

The safest place to put your data is on Amazon's elastic block storage volumes. By uploading it to an EBS volume, your data are backed up and available for processing.

How do I get access to more instances?

In order to get more than the default limits, you need to request limit increases. To do this, on the EC2 Management console, click 'Limits' and then next to the instance that you would like increased, click 'Request limit increase.' We have found Amazon to be very helpful and have increased our r3.8xlarge from 5 to 30 instances for spot instances.

Who has root privileges? 

Amazon doesn't allow users to have root access, but it did put its users on the sudoer list. This means that you can install and do any other task requiring administrative privileges.

How can I save a new AMI?

If you've made custom changes to an AMI (e.g. you installed different software packages to EM-Packages-in-the-Cloud), you can save the environment by creating an AMI of your current instance. First, select the instance in the EC2 management console under the 'Instances' tab. Then, go to Actions -> Create Image. Provide a name, and that's it! 

[h.mu...@gmail.com]

Congratulations! Good job, very clear and well organized!

[duanj...@gmail.com]

Hi Michael, 

I set up a t2.micro cluster on EM-packages-in-the-Cloud-Node-v3.1with user name as "cluster_user". Is "cluster_user" in the sudoer list? Why I was asked for a password when I want to do "sudo chmod 777 /data" to make my EBS writable. And which password should I feed in? 

Thanks, 

Jingqi 

[duanj...@gmail.com]

I figured it out. Just login in as "ubuntu". Thanks.

Jingqi 

[Michael Cianfrocco]

👍🏻

[duanj...@gmail.com]

I noticed that we already have this discussion before. I solved the "file access" error by doing "$ sudo chmod -R 777 /data/my_data". It will apply highest permission to "my_data" and any directories in it. 

Another thing I want to mention: I made a EBS volume through AWS console in the same zone as my instance, and it still can not be mounted to the instance from starcluster. But no problem for the EBS created from starcluster. I hope other could be aware of this and will be more than welcome if they have better solution. 

Jingqi