[Completion] ASPIRE 2A+ Shutdown Due to Cooling Issue

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Dear ASPIRE 2A+ Users,

 

We are pleased to inform you that the cooling and chilled water supply issue at the NUS i4 Data Centre has been addressed and the environment has stabilised.

Following successful system recovery and validation, ASPIRE 2A+ has been released back to users at 9:00 PM today.

Service Restoration Details
Date: Tuesday, 11 August 2026
Service Resumption: 9:00 PM (Singapore Time)
Status: Service Restored

 

Users may resume access to ASPIRE 2A+ and submit workloads immediately.

NSCC will continue to monitor the system and data centre environment closely following service restoration.
If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact the NSCC Helpdesk via the Service Desk Portal or email [email protected].

We apologise for the disruption and appreciate your patience and understanding.

Thank you.

 

 

Warm regards,
The NSCC Team

 

 

[Service Disruption] ASPIRE 2A and ASPIRE 2A+ Shutdown Due to Cooling Issue

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Dear ASPIRE 2A and ASPIRE 2A+ Users,

NSCC is currently experiencing a cooling issue at the NUS i4 Data Centre due to insufficient chilled water flow from the facility supply. Despite ongoing troubleshooting by the facility management team, the cooling condition has deteriorated.

To protect the infrastructure from potential thermal damage, NSCC is commencing a controlled shutdown of both ASPIRE 2A and ASPIRE 2A+.

Incident Details

  • Date: Tuesday, 11 August 2026
  • Issue Start Time: Approximately 10:00 PM on Monday, 10 August 2026 (Singapore Time)
  • Current Status: Controlled system shutdown in progress

Expected Impact

As a result of the shutdown:

  • ASPIRE 2A and ASPIRE 2A+ services will be unavailable.
  • Running jobs will be interrupted and may need to be resubmitted after service restoration.
  • Queued jobs will not be scheduled while the systems remain unavailable.
  • Login access and associated services will be unavailable during the shutdown and recovery period.

NSCC Operations and the facility management team are continuing to troubleshoot the cooling issue. The systems will only be brought back into service after the chilled water supply and cooling environment have stabilised, and the infrastructure has been assessed as safe for operation.

A further update will be provided once the cooling issue has been resolved and the recovery status of ASPIRE 2A and ASPIRE 2A+ is confirmed.

If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact the NSCC Helpdesk via the Service Desk Portal or email [email protected].

We apologise for the disruption and appreciate your understanding while we take the necessary measures to protect the infrastructure.

Thank you.

Warm regards,
The NSCC Team

 

Scheduled Check Point Firmware Upgrade for ASPIRE 2A and ASPIRE 2A+ System On 15 Aug 2026, 10am to 2pm​

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Dear Users,

Please be informed that a Check Point firewall firmware upgrade for the ASPIRE 2A and ASPIRE 2A+ systems has been scheduled on

15 August 2026 (Saturday), from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

This upgrade is part of our ongoing efforts to enhance system security and ensure the continued reliability, availability, and stability of the ASPIRE infrastructure.

 

Impact during the upgrade

Users may experience intermittent connectivity issues. If your session is disconnected, please attempt to log back in after approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

 

Please contact our Helpdesk via the Service Desk Portal or email us at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Thank you.

 

Warm regards,

The NSCC Team

 

 

[Cybersecurity Advisory] Temporary blocking of SSH and RDP in Exanet till 7 August 2026​

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Dear A*STAR Users,

Please be advised that A*STAR IT Shared Services (ITSS) is currently responding to a cybersecurity incident affecting Exanet, the ASTAR scientific network.

As part of their containment measures, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and Secure Shell (SSH) access over Exanet have been temporarily disabled. As a result, A*STAR users may experience difficulties accessing the NSCC HPC environment and other systems that rely on Exanet remote connectivity.

At this time, there is no indication that the NSCC HPC platform is affected by this cybersecurity incident. The disruption is due to the temporary remote access restrictions implemented on the Exanet network.

According to ITSS, restoration of RDP and SSH access is targeted by 7 August 2026, subject to the completion of their investigation, remediation, and security validation activities.

If you are unable to access the HPC environment remotely during this period, we recommend planning your work accordingly. Should you encounter issues that appear unrelated to the Exanet access restrictions, please contact the NSCC Service Desk at [email protected]

We appreciate your understanding and patience while ITSS works to restore normal services. We will provide further updates if there are any significant developments affecting access to the NSCC HPC environment.

 

Please contact our Helpdesk via the Service Desk Portal or email us at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Thank you.

Warm regards,
The NSCC Team

 

[Completed] ASPIRE 2A and ASPIRE 2A+ System Maintenance on 25 Jul 2026, 10am to 1pm​

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Dear A*STAR & NEA Users,

Please be informed that an emergency Cisco Catalyst firmware upgrade for the ASPIRE 2A and ASPIRE 2A+ systems is scheduled on 25 July 2026, from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
This urgent maintenance is necessary to ensure the long-term reliability, uptime, and stability of the systems.

 

Impact During the Upgrade

A*STAR and NEA users may not be able to access ASPIRE 2A and ASIPRE 2A+ system via ExaNet during the maintenance windows.

Please contact our Helpdesk via the Service Desk Portal or email us at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Thank you.

Warm regards,
The NSCC Team

 

[Immediate Action Required] Change to SSH Access Method for ASPIRE 2A and ASPIRE 2A+ System

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Dear Users,

Following a recent security compromise incident, we are implementing additional safeguards to protect our systems and data.

 

Effective immediately, SSH key-based login to the systems will be disabled for all users.

Moving forward, only password-based authentication will be permitted for SSH access.

Impact for this Change

  • You will no longer be able to log in using SSH keys.
  • Please ensure that your account has a strong, secure password set.
  • If you currently rely on SSH keys for automated processes or scripts, kindly update them to use password authentication or contact us for alternative secure solutions.

ACTION REQUIRED

  1. Verify your password is active and complies with security standards.
  2. Update any affected workflows or scripts as soon as possible.
  3. Please follow the instructions below based on your organization’s enrollment:

 

  • Singapore Access Federation (SGAF) Users:
    Log in to the web portal at user.nscc.sg to update your account password.
  • All Other Users:
    Log in directly to your designated login node via your terminal or SSH client to perform your password change.

 

Please contact our Helpdesk via the Service Desk Portal or email us at [email protected] if you have any questions.

 

Thank you.

Warm regards,
The NSCC Team

[Completed] Emergency Kernel Patching for ASPIRE 2A+ System from 11 Jun, 3.30PM to 12 Jun, 12PM​

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Dear ASPIRE 2A+ users,

Please be informed that the emergency kernel patching on ASPIRE 2A+ has been completed. You may access the system as per usual.

 

Important Note – OpenMPI

Users may encounter runtime errors when executing binaries, whether third-party or user-compiled, if they are launched using the system default OpenMPI.

Affected users are advised to use the OpenMPI version in the environment modules instead by running the following command:
module load ucx/1.17.0-mt-gcc11-cuda12.6 openmpi/5.0.5-gcc11-cuda12.6

 

Please contact our Helpdesk via the Service Desk Portal or email us at [email protected] if you have any questions.

 

Thank you.

Warm regards,
The NSCC Team

[Extended to 9PM] Emergency Kernel Patching for ASPIRE 2A+ System From 11 Jun, 3.30PM to 12 Jun, 12PM​

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Dear ASPIRE 2A+ users,

Please be informed that the emergency kernel patching on ASPIRE 2A+ will be extended to 12 June 2026, 9.00 PM.

Please contact our Helpdesk via the Service Desk Portal or email us at [email protected] if you have any questions.

 

Thank you.

Warm regards,
The NSCC Team

[Extended to 6PM] Emergency Kernel Patching for ASPIRE 2A+ System From 11 Jun, 3.30PM to 12 Jun, 12PM​

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Dear ASPIRE 2A+ users,

Please be informed that the emergency kernel patching on ASPIRE 2A+ will be extended to 12 June 2026, 6.00 PM.

Please contact our Helpdesk via the Service Desk Portal or email us at [email protected] if you have any questions.

 

Thank you.

Warm regards,
The NSCC Team

Emergency Kernel Patching for ASPIRE 2A+ System from 11 Jun, 3.30PM to 12 Jun, 12PM​

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Dear ASPIRE 2A+ users,

We wish to inform you that an emergency kernel patching is currently being carried out on ASPIRE 2A+.

Maintenance Details:
  • Start: 11 June 2026 (Thursday), 3.30PM
  • End: 12 June 2026 (Friday), 12.00PM
Impact During the Maintenance Period:
  • Users will not be able to access the ASPIRE 2A+ systems during the maintenance period.

Please contact our Helpdesk via the Service Desk Portal or email us at [email protected] if you have any questions.

 

Thank you.

Warm regards,
The NSCC Team