# Getting Started: Cloud Clusters

> Source: https://parallelworks.com/docs/getting-started

# Getting Started: Cloud Clusters

Because there are many uses for ACTIVATE, this tutorial's aim is to familiarize users with the platform and typical steps a user might follow. You will learn how to provision elastic HPC clusters, manage buckets, transfer data, and run computations.

## Provision a Bucket

You can use several different types of storage on ACTIVATE. For this guide, we'll be using bucket storage. Buckets are efficient, inexpensive, and and easy to use. 

Navigate to **Buckets**. 

![Screenshot of the user clicking Buckets in the ACTIVATE sidebar.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-buckets.png)

Click **+Add Storage**.

![Screenshot of the user clicking the +Add Storage button.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-add-storage.png)

Choose which type of bucket you'll create.

Give your bucket a **Resource Name**. Optionally, add a **Description** and **Tags**. 

Click **Add Storage**. 

![Screenshot of the user clicking the Add Storage button.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/bucket-click-add-storage.png)

On the next page, the bucket will be pre-configured with your organization's default **Cloud Infrastructure** and **Group**. If you need to change these parameters, click **Save Changes** after doing so. 

![Screenshot of the user clicking Save Changes for a bucket.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/bucket-click-save-changes.png)

Click the bucket's power  button. The bucket will take a few minutes to start. You can proceed to the next step while you wait.

## Provision a Cluster

Navigate to the **Marketplace**.

![Screenshot of the user clicking Marketplace.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-marketplace.png)

Select **Compute** to see pre-configured clusters.

![Screenshot of the user clicking Compute in the Marketplace.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-compute.png)

Select the cluster that best suits your needs. 

![Screenshot of the user clicking a cluster in the Marketplace.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-compute-resource.png)

Click **Fork latest**.

![Screenshot of the user clicking the Fork button.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-compute-fork-version.png)

Enter a name for your cluster under the **New Compute Name** option and click **Fork**.

![Screenshot of the user clicking the Fork button.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-compute-fork-button.png)

Use the **Group** dropdown menu to select the group that your organization uses to allocate costs. The remaining cluster settings have already been configured. Click **Save Changes**.

![Screenshot of the user clicking the Save Changes button.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-group-save-changes.png)

## Attach a Bucket

Click **Edit** on your cluster's page.

![Screenshot of the user clicking Edit on a cluster.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-cluster-edit.png)

At the bottom of the page, click **+Add Attached Filesystems**.

![Screenshot of the user clicking Add Attached Filesystems.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-add-attached-filesystems.png)

Select the bucket you want to use from the **Storage** dropdown menu. Enter `/bucket` in the **Mount Point** option. Click **Save Changes**.

![Screenshot of the user clicking Save Changes on a cluster.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-save-changes-attached-filesystems.png)

## Start the Cluster

Start the cluster by clicking **Start/Resume**. 

![Screenshot of the user clicking a cluster's Start/Resume button.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-start.png)

You'll see the message _Starting [Cluster Name]_. While the cluster starts, the **Status** will show **provisioning** with a yellow bubble. 

When your cluster is online, both the **Status** will show **active** with a green bubble.

![Screenshot of an active cluster.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/cluster-active.png)

## Log In to the Cluster

Clusters use one node, called a controller, to delegate tasks to compute nodes. You'll need to log in to the controller to interact with the cluster. 

While on your cluster's page, click its **IP Address**.

![Screenshot of a user clicking a cluster's IP address.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-cluster-IP-address.png)

A terminal will pop up on the bottom of the screen, showing the following message: 

```
Warning: Permanently added '34.60.48.100' (ED25519) to the list of known hosts.
[username@cluster-name-01 ~]$ 
```

## Create a File 

Next, you'll create a file inside your user container, then transfer it to your bucket. The instructions in the following sections follow [this MPI tutorial](https://mpitutorial.com/tutorials/mpi-hello-world/).

In the terminal, click the plus icon  to open another tab. 
      
![Screenshot of a user clicking the plus button in a terminal on ACTIVATE.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-plus.png)

In the new terminal tab, create a file with this code:

```
cat << EOF >> hello-world.c
#include <mpi.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char** argv) {
    // Initialize the MPI environment
    MPI_Init(NULL, NULL);

    // Get the number of processes
    int world_size;
    MPI_Comm_size(MPI_COMM_WORLD, &world_size);

    // Get the rank of the process
    int world_rank;
    MPI_Comm_rank(MPI_COMM_WORLD, &world_rank);

    // Get the name of the processor
    char processor_name[MPI_MAX_PROCESSOR_NAME];
    int name_len;
    MPI_Get_processor_name(processor_name, &name_len);

    // Print off a hello world message
    printf("Hello world from processor %s, rank %d out of %d processors\n",
           processor_name, world_rank, world_size);

    // Finalize the MPI environment.
    MPI_Finalize();
}
EOF
```
Press **Enter**.

## Retrieve Bucket Credentials

All buckets use short-term credentials, making it easy to transfer data between a bucket and other resources. You'll need those credentials to manage access to the bucket.

Navigate to your bucket's page. Click **Credentials**.

![Screenshot of a user clicking the Credentials button on an active bucket.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-bucket-credentials.png)

A dialog box will appear with CSP-specific commands for your bucket. 

  

**AWS**

 
    <img src="/content-images/docs/getting-started/aws-bucket-credentials.png" alt="Screenshot of AWS bucket credentials."/>
  
   

**Azure**

    <img src="/content-images/docs/getting-started/azure-bucket-credentials.png" alt="Screenshot of Azure bucket credentials."/>
  
  

**Google**

    <img src="/content-images/docs/getting-started/google-bucket-credentials.png" alt="Screenshot of Google bucket credentials."/>
  

Copy and paste the first command into the same terminal tab where you created the file above. Press **Enter**.

## Upload File to Bucket

Next, you'll use the PW CLI to transfer the file you created above. 

In the same terminal tab, enter this commmand to copy `hello-world.c` to your bucket: 

```
pw buckets cp hello-world.c $BUCKET_URI/hello-world.c

```

Use the list command `pw buckets ls` to check that your file transferred: 

```
username@pw-user-username:~/pw$ pw buckets ls pw://username/bucketname
pw://username/bucketname/hello-world.c
username@pw-user-username:~/pw$
```

## Authenticate the PW CLI

Before you transfer the file from the bucket to your cluster, you'll need to authenticate the PW CLI on the cluster. 

First, create a short-term token on ACTIVATE. You can follow our instructions [here](/docs/account-settings/authentication#managing-tokens). Copy the token.

Log in to the cluster again ([this step](/docs/getting-started#log-in-to-the-cluster) above). 

Enter `pw auth token` and paste your token. Press Enter. You'll see the following message:

```
2025-03-31T16:23:19Z [INFO] Authenticated as username
[username@usernamecluster-3 ~]$ 
```

## Download File to Cluster

Copy and paste your bucket's credentials again ([this step](/docs/getting-started#retrieve-bucket-credentials) above). 

Copy and paste the exact command below. The value for `BUCKET_URI` will be auto-populated with your bucket's URI. 

```
pw buckets cp $BUCKET_URI/hello-world.c hello-world.c
```

## Compile and Run MPI Test

Enter this command: 

```

```

Enter this command: 

```
mpicc -o hello hello-world.c
```

Next, you'll create a test job using a script. Enter the following: 

```
cat << EOF >> hello-world.sbatch
#!/bin/bash

#SBATCH -N 2
#SBATCH --ntasks-per-node=2

mpirun -np 2 -N 1 $HOME/hello
EOF
```

Press Enter. 

Run the job with this command: 

```
sbatch hello-world.sbatch
```

## Monitor Job

Go to your cluster's page. In the **Observability** module, you'll see your cluster's CPU activity change as it runs the job you just submitted. 

![Screenshot of a cluster's Observability module.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/cluster-CPU-changes.png)

Click **Jobs**.

![Screenshot of the user clicking the Jobs tab on a cluster's page.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-jobs-cluster.png)

You'll see the state of your partition. 

![Screenshot of a cluster's running job.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/jobs-running-partition.png)

## Shut Down Resources

Navigate to the configuration page for your bucket. Click the power  button. A module will appear. Click **Deprovision**.

Next, navigate to the configuration page for your cluster. Click **Destroy**. 

![Screenshot of a user clicking the Destroy button a cluster.](/content-images/docs/getting-started/click-destroy.png)

A module will appear. Click **Destroy**.