Skip to content
System Status: All systems are operational • Services are available and operational.
Click for detailed status

ParaView

ParaView is a leading open-source post-processing and visualization tool.

ParaView supports client-server mode, allowing you to run the GUI client on your local machine while connecting to a remote server for data access and off-screen rendering. This guide explains how to set up and use ParaView in this mode on Euler.

Paraview on Euler

On Euler the following versions are available via modules:

Version Module Command
5.12.1 module load stack/2024-06 paraview/5.12.1

Setup

This setup requires to have paraview installed on a personal computer with a version matching the one available on the Euler. Currently versions 5.9.1, 5.12.1 and 6.0.0 are installed.

You can download paraview from the official website. You will need to download the Euler configuration script

(right click -> save as -> remove the extension .html) or

 curl https://docs.hpc.ethz.ch/software/paraview/euler.pvsc -o euler.pvsc  
 curl https://docs.hpc.ethz.ch/software/paraview/euler_5121.pvsc -o euler_5121.pvsc  
 curl https://docs.hpc.ethz.ch/software/paraview/euler_600.pvsc -o euler_600.pvsc

Load the Configuration in ParaView

  1. Open ParaView and click Connect. Image: Connect button location
  2. Select Load Servers.
  3. Choose euler.pvsc or euler_5121.pvsc or euler_600.pvsc.

If successful, "Euler" or "Euler for Windows" will appear in the server list.

Requirements

Linux and Mac users need the xterm package installed.

Connecting

  1. Open ParaView and click Connect. Image: Connect button location
  2. Select "Euler" or "Euler for Windows".
  3. Click Connect at the bottom.

A window for connection parameters will appear.

Figure: Connection parameters for Euler

Connection parameters

Set the following:

  • Username: Your ETH username
  • Port number: A unique port (see below)
  • Number of cores: Up to one node (currently 128 cores)
  • Time: Desired server runtime

Choosing a Port Number

To avoid conflicts, use a unique port. On Euler, run:

python3 -c 'import socket; s=socket.socket(); s.bind(("",0)); print(s.getsockname()[1]); s.close()'

Platform-specific settings

macOS

Set the xterm path (e.g., /usr/X11/bin/xterm).

Windows

Set: - SSH path: plink.exe (from PuTTY) - xterm path: cmd.exe

Windows Paths

Use absolute paths for both SSH and xterm.

Segfault due to hardware acceleration

When opengl acceleration in your X11 server is set to Hardware or software, then you might get a segmentation fault when starting up the paraview GUI. Make sure the opengl acceleration is set to none.

Job submission

After configuration:

  1. The script submits a Slurm job.
  2. Wait ~20 seconds for the server to start.
  3. Use the status window to monitor job progress.

Important

Do not close the terminal—this will terminate the SSH tunnel.

Technical details

The configuration script:

  1. Establishes an SSH tunnel.
  2. Runs a script on a login node.

This script:

  • Ensures matching ParaView versions
  • Submits a Slurm job
  • Sets up SSH tunnels between compute and login nodes

Troubleshooting

Update configuration

If you encounter issues, first ensure your configuration file is up to date:

  1. Re-download the file from the Setup section.
  2. Reload it in ParaView.

Known issues

Port Configuration

Always specify a port number above 10000 to avoid conflicts.

Path Issues

Linux/Mac:
You may need to adjust the xterm path (default /usr/bin/xterm may not work on Mac).

Windows:
Set the SSH path to your PuTTY plink.exe (e.g., C:\Apps\putty\plink.exe) and xterm path to C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe.