Since the upgrade to CentOS 7, the Virtual Network Computing (VNC) software requires newer versions of these VNC clients:

What are the changes with qvgl?

Two major changes affecting qvgl include: (1) different options for using MATLAB and (2) you no longer need to use VPN to run qvgl session remotely.

MATLAB

MATLAB automatically searches for software accelerated 3D OpenGL libraries which will not work on the qvgl nodes. Disabling this feature will allow you to use the hardware accelerated 3D OpenGL libraries which is the reason for having qvgl nodes. To do this, run MATLAB with the option ‘'-nosoftwareopengl‘. Note: This option is only available for MATLAB modules 2016a and newer. Do NOT use any MATLAB modules earlier than 2016a on qvgl nodes.

scc-v01%  module load matlab/2016a
scc-v01%  matlab -nosoftwareopengl

Working Remotely

When working remotely (not on the BU network) and want to use qvgl, you need to set up an ssh tunnel to the login node while port forwarding to the compute node.

scc1% qvgl -P project

Waiting for immediate job to be scheduled.

on your local workstation run:
   ssh username@scc-v01.bu.edu -L XXXX:localhost:5901

then execute vncviewer to connect to localhost port XXXX
   vncviewer localhost:7000
to run an OpenGL application on a hardware GPU use vglrun command
for example:
   vglrun glxinfo
to quit the job please run:
        qdel 3746064

In the above example, the qvgl job has been scheduled to scc-v01 on port 5901. These values will be used to create the ssh tunnel new terminal connected to your local machine:

my_computer% ssh user@scc1.bu.edu -L 7000:scc-v01:5901

More information about qvgl can be found on our Running Interactive Jobs webpage.