Internet Access Disabled on Compute Nodes
Overview
From November 19, 2025, direct Internet access will been disabled on Oscar compute nodes to enhance system security.
Changes
Compute nodes are now divided to two categories:
Regular nodes, which do not have Internet access
VNC nodes, which continue to have Internet access
Gateway nodes will continue to have Internet access. These include:
Login nodes
Transfer nodes
Impacts
Any task that accesses the internet will fail on regular nodes. Some examples:
apptainer pull
conda install
git
commands like clone, fetch, and push, that access remote repositorieshuggingface
commands/programs requiring online access for data or repos
Open OnDemand (OOD) apps run on compute nodes. Thus, they will not be able to access the Internet if they are running on regular nodes.
Jobs or workflows requiring Internet access must be split so that the Internet-dependent steps are executed on the Internet-facing nodes.
Alternatives if Internet Access is Required
All file transfer methods remain unaffected and continue to support Internet access.
Users can still install packages via mirror servers hosted at Brown. These mirror servers can be accessed from any Oscar node.
Python
pip install
(Instructions)R from CRAN
install.packages()
(Instructions)R from Bioconductor
BiocManager::install()
(Instructions)
Testing your workflow before the change
If you would like to test your Oscar workflow to prepare for the upcoming change, you can access our test cluster.
To access this cluster, run
ssh login92
on any of the Oscar login nodes.You can start jobs on the
batch
orgpu
partition on this cluster usingsbatch
orinteract
commands.You cannot test Open OnDemand jobs on this test cluster.
Need Help
The CCV team is here to support you in adapting your workflow so that the new Internet access policy has minimal impact.
You are welcome to attend CCV office hours every Friday from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
Alternatively, you may schedule an appointment by contacting us at [email protected].
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