Remote Access to Jefferson Lab Computing Resources

NEW: Jefferson Lab Speed Test

Test the speed and quality of your internet connection to the lab with this tool: https://speedtest.jlab.org/

If you have any questions or concerns about any of these services or utilities, please contact the IT Division Help Desk.

NOTICE: This documentation will continue to be refined over the coming weeks.  Thank you, JLab IT/CNI, 3/16/2020.

The Jefferson Lab network is segmented into enclaves to limit access to and from the computing systems and services they contain.  Remote access to each enclave is limited and controlled through centrally managed remote access services and gateways in accordance with the site Cyber Security Program Plan (CSPP). Several services are provided to enable remote access to systems on-site.  The links to these services can be found at the end of this webpage.  We also offer several web utilities, such as e-mail and password change, that can be found under WEB UTILITIES on the right hand side of the webpage.  Please read the section below for details on remote access to the Jefferson Lab Common User Environment (JLab-CUE).

Remote Access for Users

The JLab CUE Environment can be accessed remotely from off-site, and for guests on-site, using the ssh protocol.  For many users, ssh (shell) access is all that is needed to various Linux or Mac OS X systems. In other cases, a greater degree of connectivity may be needed, or you may need access to a full desktop session.

All off-site or on-site guest connections should start with a connection to login.jlab.org.  The use of multi-factor authentication (MFA) is required for remote access to certain enclaves or services.  This includes, but is not limited to, networks associated with the accelerator, LERF, experimental halls or business systems.

Windows Users

Please visit the Windows Remote Desktop Using PuTTY webpage for details on connecting.  As a Windows user, you must use Windows 10's built-in OpenSSH client or PuTTY to establish an ssh connection to login.jlab.org.  Once you've established your ssh connection, please see the table below for system names of the operating system (OS) you wish to access.

Macintosh Users

For details on connecting to JLab from your personal Mac, please visit the Mac Remote Desktop webpage.  These instructions explain how establish a remote X session to the Windows terminal server cluster or a Windows desktop.

Linux Users

While we do manage a Windows terminal server cluster, our public Linux systems do not provide a Remote Desktop interface.  You may establish a command-line interface to our public systems using ssh.  Please see the table below for system names.

 Platform   Public System Name (with .jlab.org appended) 
 Linux  RHEL6 - jlabl1, 2  RHEL6 (64 bit)- jlabl3, 4
 Windows  jlabts (Windows terminal server cluster)

Remote Access Services

  • Secure Shell (SSH) Gateways
    • SSH command line access to Unix based operating systems
    • Need a URL
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
    • Provide access to internal computing services via a virtualized desktop, which is hosted at Jefferson Lab
    • https://cc.jlab.org/vdi
  • Virtual Private Network (VPN)
    • Provide access to internal networks and computing services by creating a secure connection between the remote computer and Jefferson Lab.
    • https://cc.jlab.org/vpn
»