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    Euler Troubleshooting By Symptom

    Goal: identify the failing layer, run only safe diagnostics, and return to the canonical procedure without overwriting working configuration or data.

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    Goal: identify the failing layer, run only safe diagnostics, and return to the canonical procedure without overwriting working configuration or data.

    Prerequisites: record the exact symptom and whether it occurred on the local computer, Euler login node, or allocated compute node.

    Execution context: use the context stated in the linked canonical guide. Command blocks containing angle-bracket values are templates, not literal copy-paste commands; replace each value with the relevant sanitized path or job ID first.

    Never paste passwords, tokens, private keys, or confidential data into an issue or agent chat. Record job IDs and sanitized errors.

    SSH Times Out#

    Likely cause: the computer is outside the ETH network.

    1. Connect to ETH VPN.
    2. Retry ssh <eth-username>@euler.ethz.ch.
    3. Check the Euler system status.

    Password Login Works But key-ok Fails#

    Do not generate another key immediately.

    1. Confirm IdentityFile points to the private file without .pub.
    2. Confirm the username is the short ETH username.
    3. Run the explicit public-key-only test from Euler access.
    4. Use ssh -v only for sanitized diagnostics.

    Bad configuration option Or Extra arguments#

    The SSH config has malformed syntax, commonly two host blocks joined on one line or a misspelled keyword.

    1. Stop adding configuration.
    2. Read the exact filename and line number in the error.
    3. Open the backup made by the canonical procedure.
    4. Ensure every Host, HostName, User, and option starts on a separate line.
    5. Validate with ssh -G euler before retrying a connection.

    Do not replace the whole .ssh directory.

    UNPROTECTED PRIVATE KEY FILE#

    If the warning names a .pub file, the configuration incorrectly treats the public key as the private key. Correct IdentityFile; do not make the public key secret.

    If it names the actual private key, apply the operating-system permission step from Euler access.

    Tunnel Requests An ETH Password#

    euler-tunnel requires passwordless public-key authentication for the proxy connection. Stop and make the explicit key-ok test pass first. The SSH key passphrase is expected; the ETH account password is not.

    VS Code Appears To Install Software On Euler#

    Remote - SSH installs VS Code Server under ~/.vscode-server in your Euler home. Output containing Downloading, Starting VS Code CLI, and listeningOn==127.0.0.1:... is normal. Wait for startup. This is not a GPU job or a system-wide installation.

    Terminal Tunnel Works But VS Code Fails#

    Do not regenerate keys or replace SSH configuration that already passes the local hostname test. Follow the VS Code config-file check, then retry the same euler-tunnel host. Do not enable password authentication as a workaround.

    Job Remains Pending#

    Replace the placeholders before running these command templates:

    myjobs -j <job-id>
squeue -j <job-id> -o '%.18i %.2t %.30R'

    Read the pending reason. Do not submit duplicates. Large/specific requests may wait longer. A QOS/account limit clears only when relevant capacity is free or an administrator changes policy.

    An array cap applies only to that one array. Five active arrays capped at %1 can still make five tasks eligible at once. Inspect your complete queue before submitting another array.

    Job Fails Immediately#

    Replace both placeholders before running these command templates:

    sacct -j <job-id> --format=JobID,State,ExitCode,Elapsed,ReqMem,MaxRSS
cat logs/<job-log>

    Check paths, environment activation, executable names, input files, and the first real error. Do not hide the failure by requesting more resources.

    OUT_OF_MEMORY#

    Inspect MaxRSS, application behavior, task count, and input size. Fix an unexpected memory leak or duplication before increasing memory. Then run a small representative case and add justified headroom.

    GPU Is Allocated But Mostly Idle#

    Confirm the program placed tensors/work on the GPU. Inspect nvidia-smi, CPU utilization, data-loader workers, storage throughput, and preprocessing. Do not request another GPU until the single-GPU bottleneck is understood.

    Quota Or File-Creation Failure#

    lquota
lquota /cluster/work/fuge

    Check both capacity and file-count limits. Avoid deleting unfamiliar shared data. Contact the data owner when ownership is unclear.

    Shared Folder Is Not Writable#

    Replace the placeholder with the exact approved project path:

    ls -ld <project-path>
getfacl <project-path>
id

    Ask the data owner to repair the specific project directory. Do not run recursive chmod 777 or change the group of the whole share.

    Escalation Packet#

    Provide:

    Local OS and shell:
Where command ran:
Documentation section:
Sanitized command:
Exact error:
Job ID, if relevant:
Safe checks already attempted:

    Contact ETH HPC support for account, service, or scheduler issues outside lab control.

    Verification#

    • The symptom is attached to the correct local/login/compute context.
    • No credential, private key, confidential data, or unrelated job history was exposed while diagnosing it.
    • The fix returns to the canonical access, Slurm, storage, or tunnel procedure.
    • Any job or tunnel started for diagnosis is accounted for and stopped when no longer needed.