How do I connect to Alpha/Beta?

When prompted:

1. Enter your password when prompted.
2. Enter the 6-digit Authenticator code from your authenticator app.

A welcome message will appear if the connection is successful.

SSH Key Setup

An alternative authentication method that does not require 2-factor authentication involves creating an SSH key that holds your credentials for Empire AI systems. This requires that you have already set up your FIDO account, password, and 2-factor authentication as described above.

You can create a key on your local device with:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "{your_email}"

You will be given the option to name the generated files. If you have existing SSH keys it may be helpful to name them e.g. id_empireai. You should also create a passphrase that you will use whenever authenticating with the key. Make sure that the files end up in the .ssh folder inside your home directory.

Now copy the public key (.pub), which is one of the two generated files, to the system:

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_empireai.pub <YourUserName>@alpha1.empireai.edu

You will be asked for your password and 2-factor authentication code. To test that setup was successful, try to connect to Alpha or Beta by typing:

ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_empireai.pub <YourUserName>@<alpha1|beta>.empireai.edu

You should now be asked for your SSH passphrase. After entering that, you will be logged in.

SSH Config

Adding the following with personal edits to your local ~/.ssh/config file will make logging in faster and easier.

Host alpha
    HostName alpha1.empire-ai.org
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_empireai
    User <your_username>

Host beta
    HostName beta.empireai.edu
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_empireai
    User <your_username>

Replace the IdentityFile argument with the path to your SSH private key (the one without the .pub) and replace the User argument with your own username.

With this setup you can login to Alpha with the command:

ssh alpha

You should be logged in and see the welcome message as normal.

If you need help just send us an email via https://empireai.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new or talk to your institutional representative for assistance.