2026-03-11 –, Breakout Room
Open OnDemand (OOD) provides researchers with a streamlined, browser-based HPC experience. This session covers deploying and operating OOD on Azure CycleCloud Workspace for Slurm, including provisioning the OOD VM, integrating Microsoft Entra ID with OpenID Connect and federated credentials, and auto-registering Slurm clusters for dynamic partition discovery. We'll demo browser-based VS Code for interactive development, explore when to use Cendio ThinLinc for enhanced visualization, and show how AI Agents like GitHub Copilot inside VS Code can rapidly build new OOD apps and templates.
Open OnDemand (OOD) gives researchers a clean, browser-based path to HPC. In this talk I’ll show how to deploy and operate OOD on Azure CycleCloud Workspace for Slurm end-to-end: provisioning the OOD VM, wiring Microsoft Entra ID via OpenID Connect (using federated credentials—no client secrets), and auto-registering Slurm clusters so OOD “discovers” partitions dynamically by querying CycleCloud. We’ll demo VS Code in the browser for interactive development on login/compute nodes, and discuss when a Cendio ThinLinc desktop is the right complement to noVNC for visualization. Finally, I’ll demonstrate how to accelerate building new OOD apps using AI Agents like GitHub Copilot Agent inside VS Code, turning complex Slurm job forms into ready-to-use templates in minutes. You’ll leave with practical checklists, GitHub repos, and an AI-powered workflow to simplify HPC portal customization.
By the end of the session, attendees will be able to:
1. Deploy Open OnDemand alongside CycleCloud Workspace for Slurm, including network and shared-home choices (ANF, built-in NFS).
2. Configure Microsoft Entra ID + OpenID Connect for OOD with federated credentials (no client secrets) and a user-assigned managed identity.
3. Register Slurm clusters automatically with OOD and render a dynamic partition list by querying CycleCloud metadata.
4. Launch and use VS Code in OOD (official web server or code-server), including tips for extensions and remote compute flows.
5. Evaluate when to add ThinLinc desktops to complement OOD’s noVNC sessions for visualization-heavy workloads.
6. Accelerate OOD app development using AI Agents like GitHub Copilot Agent in VS Code, generating Slurm job templates and forms in minutes to streamline HPC portal customization.
Xavier Pillons — Principal Technical Program Manager, Microsoft (Azure HPC). 20+ years in HPC. Focused on Azure CycleCloud, Slurm, Open OnDemand, and developer productivity.
xpillons@microsoft.com
www.linkedin.com/in/xpillons