Disclaimer

If you haven’t already read it, please go read the original instructions on how to connect to the cluster, which is available here. This new method is not entirely foolproof, so the old method should be used as a fallback. Also, the old blog post has important details on the cluster topology.

New connection method

I spent some time writing a new tool, cherf, to make connecting to the server easier. The readme over on github has more details on how it works, but the basic steps to use it are as follows:

  1. Build cherf from scratch, or download a pre-built binary (on the releases page.
  2. Add cherf binary to PATH (and set as executable if you downloaded it).
  3. Create an X509 certificate signing request: 
    mkdir ~/.cherf
openssl req -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout ~/.cherf/key -out csr
  4. Send csr to a system administrator (see AI Safety Discord), and you will receive a certificate, which you should save as ~/.cherf/cert.
  5. Download sullivan’s SHA1 signature, and save it as ~/.cherf/sullivan.sha1. This is available here.
  6. Edit your ssh config: 
    Host sullivan
  ProxyCommand cherf client ssh cherf.ais-ucla.org 1234 sullivan
  ProxyUseFdpass yes
  ...
  7. You can now connect (ie. ssh sullivan).

Not working?

Experiencing issues? First visit this website, and ensure your NAT type is not “Symmetric NAT”. If it is not, please open an issue here.