Connecting to BioShell

Once your environment is provisioned you will receive connection details by email. BioShell uses SSH key authentication — you will need the key pair you generated and submitted during your access request.

Important: Your connection details are provided as part of your provisioning notification. Keep them secure and do not share them publicly.

If you have not yet generated and submitted your SSH key, see the SSH key generation guide first.

Connect via SSH

Add an entry to ~/.ssh/config so SSH automatically uses your BioShell key without needing to specify it each time:

Host bioshell
    HostName <your-bioshell-ip>
    User <username>
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/bioshell_key

Then connect with:

ssh bioshell

Or connect directly without the config entry:

ssh -i ~/.ssh/bioshell_key <username>@<your-bioshell-ip>

[AUTHOR TO SUPPLY — confirm username format]

Tip: If you are connecting from outside your institution’s network you may need a VPN or SSH tunnel. Contact your local IT support if you are unsure.

Interactive environments

Once connected, you can also open browser-based environments directly:

See the Interactive environments page for full setup instructions.

First login

[AUTHOR TO SUPPLY — describe what users see on first login: the welcome banner, any environment setup steps, and how to verify the environment is working correctly.]

CVMFS access

[AUTHOR TO SUPPLY — explain how CVMFS appears on first login. Cover: running cvmfs_config probe to verify mounts are active, which repositories are mounted, and any first-access latency users should expect. Link to the Tools and reference data page for full software installation instructions.]

Storage volumes

[AUTHOR TO SUPPLY — describe the storage volumes available to users: home directory, scratch space, shared project space. Include: default quota sizes, where to store long-term vs. temporary files, and any policies on data retention or deletion.]