DevOps Engineering HPC & AI#

Author: Snit Sanghlao AI Assistant: Claude Opus 4.6 (Anthropic)

Claude Code on Windows + Remote SSH to HPC#

Setup Philosophy: No module system — all tools installed locally in the user’s home directory on the HPC. VS Code runs on your local Windows PC and connects to the HPC via Remote SSH, where Claude Code operates as a workspace-aware AI agent with direct access to the remote filesystem and terminal.

Part 1: Local Windows Setup#

Step 1 — Install Git and VS Code#

Open PowerShell or Command Prompt as Administrator:

# Install Git for Windows (includes Git Bash)
winget install --id Git.Git -e --source winget

# Install Visual Studio Code
winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode -e --source winget

Important: After installation, restart your terminal to ensure git is recognized in your PATH.

Step 2 — Fix “Claude Code process exited with code 1”#

If Claude Code cannot find Git Bash, you must manually point to the executable.

  1. Locate Bash: Usually at C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe

  2. Set the environment variable:

    • Open Start Menu → search “Edit the system environment variables”

    • Click Environment Variables

    • Under User variables, click New

      • Variable name: CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH

      • Variable value: C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe

  3. Restart VS Code completely.

Part 2: How the Remote SSH Connection Works#

When you use VS Code’s Remote - SSH extension, VS Code splits itself into two halves:

Component

Runs On

Role

UI Frontend

Local Windows PC

Icons, menus, editor windows

VS Code Server

Remote HPC Host

File access, terminal, extensions

Any extension you install while connected via SSH is installed on the remote host. This is exactly what we want — Claude Code needs to live where the code and compute resources are.

Part 3: Connect VS Code to Your HPC#

  1. Install the Remote - SSH extension in VS Code.

  2. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) → select Remote-SSH: Connect to Host…

  3. Enter your HPC connection string, e.g.:

username@hpc-login.university.ac.th

  1. Authenticate (password, SSH key, or jump host as required by your site).

Tip: For passwordless login, configure ~/.ssh/config on your local machine:

Host myhpc
    HostName hpc-login.university.ac.th
    User username
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
    ForwardAgent yes

Then simply connect to myhpc from the Remote-SSH menu.

Part 4: Install Node.js Locally on HPC (No Module System)#

Since we are not using a module system, install Node.js directly into your home directory using nvm (Node Version Manager).

Open the integrated terminal in VS Code (which is now a shell on the HPC):

# Install nvm
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.3/install.sh | bash

# Reload shell configuration
source ~/.bashrc

# Install the latest LTS version of Node.js
nvm install --lts

# Verify
node --version
npm --version

Why nvm? It installs everything under ~/.nvm/ — no root permissions needed, no module system dependency, and you can switch Node versions at will.

Part 5: Install Claude Code on the HPC#

With Node.js available, install the Claude Code CLI globally (within your nvm-managed prefix):

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Verify the installation:

claude --version

Part 6: Install the VS Code Extension (Remote Side)#

  1. While connected to the HPC via Remote-SSH, open the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X).

  2. Search for “Claude Code” (by Anthropic).

  3. Click Install on SSH: [your-hpc-name].

Critical: Do not install it only locally. Ensure it says “Install on SSH” so the extension logic runs on the remote host where the files and compute resources are.

Part 7: Authenticate Claude Code#

The first time you run claude in the terminal, it will provide an authentication URL:

claude

  1. Copy the URL displayed in the terminal.

  2. Open it in your local PC browser.

  3. Sign in to your Anthropic account.

  4. Copy the authentication code and paste it back into the VS Code terminal.

Your session is now authenticated and persists across reconnections.

Part 8: The “Teleport” Feature#

If you start a conversation on claude.ai/code (the web version), you can sync it directly into your HPC workspace:

claude --teleport

This pulls your web conversation history into the remote terminal session — useful for continuing research discussions seamlessly on the cluster.

Important HPC Considerations#

Login vs. Compute Nodes#

Do not run heavy Claude Code tasks (complex builds, large test suites, GPU workloads) on the login node. This can degrade the cluster for all users.

If your HPC uses Slurm, connect to a compute node via an interactive session:

# Request an interactive session with GPU
srun --partition=gpu --gres=gpu:1 --time=04:00:00 --pty bash

# Then run Claude Code inside this session
claude

Alternatively, configure VS Code Remote-SSH to connect directly to the allocated compute node.

Internet Access#

Claude Code must communicate with Anthropic’s API servers. Some HPC compute nodes are firewalled from the external internet. Solutions:

  • Run Claude Code from a login node or a node with outbound internet access (for the AI interaction part).

  • Configure an HTTP proxy if your site provides one:

export HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.university.ac.th:3128
export HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.university.ac.th:3128

File System Awareness#

Claude Code is workspace-aware. When installed on the remote host, it can directly:

  • Read and navigate your project files on the HPC filesystem

  • Access shared storage (Lustre, NFS, GPFS)

  • Run commands in the HPC terminal

  • Interact with job schedulers (Slurm, PBS)

Quick Reference: Full Setup Checklist#

LOCAL WINDOWS PC                          REMOTE HPC HOST
─────────────────                         ────────────────
[1] Install Git (winget)                  [4] Install nvm + Node.js (~/.nvm/)
[2] Install VS Code (winget)              [5] npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
[3] Install Remote-SSH extension          [6] Install Claude Code VS Code extension
    + Set CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH           (on SSH remote side)
                                          [7] Authenticate: claude → browser → paste code

Architecture Diagram#

┌─────────────────────────┐         SSH Tunnel          ┌──────────────────────────────┐
│   Local Windows PC      │◄──────────────────────────►│   HPC Host                    │
│                         │                             │                               │
│  VS Code (UI Frontend)  │                             │  VS Code Server               │
│  Remote-SSH Extension   │                             │  Claude Code CLI (~/.nvm/)    │
│  Git Bash               │                             │  Claude Code Extension        │
│                         │                             │  Project Files                │
│                         │    Anthropic API (HTTPS)    │  GPU / CPU Resources          │
│                         │         ┌───────────────────┤                               │
└─────────────────────────┘         │                   └──────────────────────────────┘
                                    ▼
                          ┌───────────────────┐
                          │  Anthropic Cloud   │
                          │  (Claude API)      │
                          └───────────────────┘

Generated for DevOps & HPC AI workflows — local home-directory installation, no module system required.