In the instructions below, substitute your UW Net ID wherever you see "uwnetid".

Last updated: 27 Sep 2023

• Overview
• Windows Users
  • Installation on Windows
  • X2Go: Usage
  • cadman: Usage from Windows
    • cadman: Using Cadence from Windows
• Mac OS Users
  • Installation on Mac OS
  • X2Go: Usage
  • cad.sh: Usage from Mac OS
    • cad.sh: Using Cadence from Mac OS
• Do your work in Cadence
• Troubleshooting Problems

CAD Tools

Most of the tools are Linux based and run on a server. Access to the server is via a remote desktop application -- in our case, this is either:

• X2Go (new way, as of August 2023)

  X2Go has proven to be a more efficient remote desktop application than VNC.

  The x2goclient program (see below) needs to be installed on your client computer and configured to access our CAD servers, which runs an x2goserver component. Once the connection to the remote CAD server is made, it will open the remote desktop as another window on your local computer's desktop, and you can use the server's desktop to access and interact with the CAD tools.

• VNC (old way, prior to August 2023)

  Using cadman is still allowed, but may result in poor performance for everyone else on the CAD server. It will likely be deprecated and removed in 2024.

  Once you install the environment, you set up an encrypted tunnel from your computer to the server, use a VNC client to connect to the CAD server and open up a remote desktop as another window on your local computer's desktop.

Inside the remote desktop, you open up a terminal window and run the appropriate commands or script to, say, change the display resolution or run the desired CAD tool.

Installation on Windows

Installing the local application or client involves downloading a client application.

1. X2Go Client (recommended method)
   1. Download X2Go Client for MS Windows
   2. If installing as Adminstrator, run the downloaded executable file to install.
   3. If not installing as Adminstrator, please follow the MS Windows "Detailed" instructions in the To install X2Go Client without admin rights section.
   4. Continue with x2go: Usage


2. cadman (legacy method)
   1. Download cadman.zip
   2. Unzip cadman.zip into the C:\ folder. If you are logged into a SET Lab computer or a UWT classroom computer, you can unzip it to your H: drive.
   3. Look at the contents of the C:\cadman (or at UWT, your H:\cadman) folder.

      You should see one cadman.ini file and several .exe and .cmd files.

      The cadman.ini file is where you can override some defaults; for example, if the server IP address or hostkey changes. You don't normally need to modify this file, although sometime it is useful if the username you logged in as in not the same as your UW NetID. You want to put your UW NetID and/or your password in that file — be very careful about saving your password, as it is saved in plain text.

   4. Continue with cadman: Usage from Windows

x2go: Usage

Before you can use Cadence tools, you must first connect to the server on which the Cadence design and simulation tools are installed. This is what the x2go client does, after it is configured to connect to the Cadence server.

x2go: Using Cadence

• To configure X2Go after installation

  Generally, this is only done once to set up for repeated use of the defined session.

  1. Start the X2Go Client application.

     X2Go works by "sessions". Each session is configured through its "preferences". Preferences define key information, such as which Host to connect, the Login user (use your UW Net ID) on the host, and the session type (the window manager to use on the host). Other information such as window size (via Input/Output Display settings) and disabling sounds (uncheck Media/Enable Sound Support may also be desirable to set.

  2. From the menu, choose Session/New session ...

     An empty or default/unconfigured session should look like this:

     
     
     

     Define your new session preferences:

     1. Session tab
        1. Session name

           We suggest that you use:

           Cadence
                     

           as your session name, in case there are multiple sessions you want to manage.

        2. Host

           The host name is:

           cadence.insttech.washington.edu
                     

           
           
        3. Login

           Provide your UW Net ID. For example, mine is:

           srondeau
                     

           and is not my email address. The UW Net ID is usually the first part your UW email address (for example, srondeau part of email address srondeau@uw.edu).

        4. Session type

           From the dropdown box, choose XFCE for the best desktop experience.

           Alternatively, you can choose ICEWM, but that usually means working from the terminal window ("xterm").

           Other session types are not supported or do not work well.

        A configured "Session" tab using the UW Net ID srondeau (as an example -- use your own UW Net ID) should look like this:

        
        
        
     
     
     2. Input/Output tab

        You may want to set a custom size for your window to the server, or use fullscreen. This is the tab that allows that, and is self-explanatory.

        A configured "Input/Output" tab using a custom 1280x1024 display (as an example -- use your desired settings) would look like this:

        
        
        
     
     
     3. Media tab

        Since sound is not useful from the server to the client, you should disable it by unchecking the box before Enable sound support (no picture available).

• Connect to the Cadence session
  1. Double click on the Cadence session.
  2. Enter your MyUW/Canvas password when prompted.
  3. If you get a message starting with this message:

     The server is unknown. Do you trust the host key?
         

     Click on Okay or Yes to accept the host's cryptographic key, and you will no longer see that message unless the host's key changes.

  4. Wait for the session window to open onto the Cadence server.
  
  
• Do your work in Cadence.

cadman: Usage from Windows

Before you can use Cadence tools, you must first connect to the server on which the Cadence design and simulation tools are installed.

Background

PuTTY's plink command is a remote shell command -- basically, it is the command-line version of the putty.exe GUI. plink uses your login account on the remote server to start the remote display mechanism -- the VNC remote display service. Your login account is the same as your UW NetID, and your MyUW password is required. plink is also used to provide an encrypted connection to the server, to protect passwords and your work.

When the VNC server is started, it sets a unique port per user. That port is used by plink to provide the encrypted tunnel, and the VNC viewer command (vncviewer.exe) to connect to the remote display service via the tunnel.

cadman.exe automates all of that for you. It makes sure it can find plink.exe and vncviewer.exe, uses plink to start the VNC remote display service, gets the returned port number, opens up a tunnel using plink (which must remain open), and then starts vncviewer to use the tunnel and connect to the remote display service.

cadman: Using Cadence from Windows

To use Cadence tools after installation:

1. Browse to the C:\cadman (or H:\cadman) folder.
2. Run cadman.exe

   By default, cadman.exe uses the value of the USERNAME environment variable to login to the remote server. On a personal computer, this may not be the same as your UW NetID. In that case, you should do one of the following:

   • override the name shown in the window

     If needed, change xxxxxxxx to your UW NetID
          

     Change the textbox value "xxxxxxxx" to your UW NetID.

   • or, modify cadman.ini
     1. close cadman
     2. edit the cadman.ini file, adding your UW NetID after uwnetid=
     3. start cadman.exe
     
     
   • or, run cadman.exe from the command line
     1. open a command shell or prompt

        For Windows 7, go to the Start Menu and enter cmd.

        For Windows 8.1 or 10, right-click on the Start Menu and select Command Prompt.

     2. Change folder to C:\cadman (or H:\cadman)

        cd /d c:\cadman
               

     3. Run the script with your UW NetID as an argument.

        cadman uwnetid cadence connect
               

        where "uwnetid" is your UW NetID.

3. Click on the Cadence tab.
4. Click on the Connect to Cadence Desktop via VNC Service button

   You may be prompted for your MyUW password -- enter it when requested. It will be remembered until you close cadman.

   A command shell will open, with some information that looks like:

   Connecting to remote system for port...
   
   New 'cn10-vcl8:4 (srondeau)' desktop is cn10-vcl8:4
   
   Starting applications specified in /home/srondeau/.vnc/xstartup
   Log file is /home/srondeau/.vnc/cn10-vcl8:4.log
   
   Port 5904 acquired.
   Starting the ssh tunnel...
   
   Connecting to Cadence server
     

   If you see an error stating "unable to connect", close that window and click on the Connect to ... button until connected.

5. Change the size of the remote display.

   You can use the entire full screen of your local display by pressing the F8 key (possible Fn-F8 keys on some laptops) and checking the box for "Full-screen". This is a feature of the TigerVNC remote viewing program (a.k.a., "vncviewer").

   Another way to change the remote display size is to select one of the following screen resolutions: 1920x1080, 1440x900, 1600x1024, or 1280x1024 -- whatever is supported by your monitor and Windows. Use it in a command issued in a terminal window inside the remote display; for example, to set the remote display to 1440x900:

   xrandr -s 1440x900
     

6. Do your work in Cadence.

Installation on Mac OS

Installing the local application or client involves downloading a client application.

1. X2Go Client (recommended method)
   1. Download both Xquartz and X2Go Client for OS X
   2. Install the pre-requisite Xquartz and then the X2Go client as instructed.
   3. Continue with x2go: Usage


2. cad.sh (legacy method)

   See cad.sh: Using Cadence from Mac OS

cad.sh: Using Cadence from Mac OS

Unfortunately, there is no Mac equivalent for the Windows app cadman. However, there is a script to simplify the common connection process.

1. Using the cad.sh script to connect:
   1. Right-click on this link to download the script to your Downloads folder.

      Once downloaded, you should be able to run the script to run the script from that folder, duplicating the commands listed in the command line instructions.

   2. Open a terminal window on your Mac.
   
   
   3. Change to the Downloads directory:

      cd ~/Downloads
      

   
   
   4. Change its permissions to allow executing by name:

      chmod +x cad.sh
      

   
   
   5. Enter this command in that terminal window:

      ./cad.sh
      

      You will be prompted for your UW Net ID. Enter that or q to quit. If you enter the wrong UW Net ID, press and hold the control key, then press the c key and release both to terminate the script, and start over again.

      The default VNC password for the Cadence server will be shown. This is not necessarily your password, if you changed it at some point with the setvncpw command — we won't be able to display the one you changed it to, but you can override it by setting it again.

      Use the VNC password for the last prompt, to connect to the VNC server via 127.0.0.1.

   6. Note that there are other arguments to pass to cad.sh to perform various actions besides the default connect. They are displayed via:

      ./cad.sh -h
      

      and provide a slightly easier interface to issuing manual commands. Your UW Net ID is remembered for such future actions. For example, to stop the VNC service:

      ./cad.sh vncstop
      

      You can combine actions. For example, to stop the VNC service and end the tunnel:

      ./cad.sh vncstop et
      

   7. Continue with these instructions.
   
   
2. To connect to the Cadence server manually via the command-line:

   You will enter commands in a terminal window to set up and control the remote display session, including establishing an encrypted tunnel between your computer and the server. You may like portions of these instructions better if you prefer the graphical user interface (GUI) approach, but you will still need to know the specific information here and adapt it to filling in the information in the GUI.

   To Connect to Cadence Desktop via VNC Service:

   1. Open a terminal window on your Mac
   
   
   2. Start the VNC service to get the remote port number.

      ssh uwnetid@cadence.insttech.washington.edu vncstart
      

      For uwnetid, provide your UW Net ID. When prompted for a password, use your MyUW password.

      For example, my UW Net ID is srondeau, so I would run:

      ssh srondeau@cadence.insttech.washington.edu vncstart
      

      and enter my MyUW password when prompted.

      You should eventually see something similar to the output below:

      New 'cn10-vcl8:9 (srondeau)' desktop is cn10-vcl8:9
        
      Starting applications specified in /home/srondeau/.vnc/xstartup
      Log file is /home/srondeau/.vnc/cn10-vcl8:9.log
        
      default vncpw: xxxxxxx
      vncport 5909
      

      The default password is replaced by 'xxxxxxx' above for this documentation -- you will see the real default password. My remote port number is 5909, as can be seen from this line above:

      vncport 5909
      

      Remember this number to replace remport in the next step, which sets up an encrypted tunnel between your computer and the server.

      If the vncport line is the only line shown, you may need to run the vncstop command before running the vncstart command again, as the port may no longer be active.

   3. Establish an ssh (encrypted) tunnel to protect your VNC session:

      ssh -f uwnetid@cadence.insttech.washington.edu -L 15901:127.0.0.1:remport sleep 300
      

      Again, substitute your UW Net Id for uwnetid. Substitute the VNC port number (from the vncstart command) for remport. For example:

      ssh -f srondeau@cadence.insttech.washington.edu -L 15901:127.0.0.1:5909 sleep 300
      

      What is that command doing? It is setting up the ssh tunnel from a local port (15901 — this is an example of a random number between 1025 and 65535, used as a concrete example) on my local computer (127.0.0.1, also known as "localhost") to the remote port (5909, in the example) on the remote computer or server (cadence.insttech.washington.edu). This tunnel is only established between the local computer and the server for this user (srondeau in the example). The sleep 300 command passed to the server tells it to keep the tunnel open for encrpyted communication (mainly, the VNC password) for 300 seconds.

      If you are returning to an already-established VNC session — that is, one you previously started via vncstart — you can ask what your VNC port is and use that directly in the ssh tunnel command:

      ssh uwnetid@cadence.insttech.washington.edu vncport
      

      For example:

      ssh srondeau@cadence.insttech.washington.edu vncport
      

      should show:

      vncport 5909
      

   4. Display the default VNC password (which will work unless you changed it).

      ssh uwnetid@cadence.insttech.washington.edu vncpw
      

   5. Open a VNC session to the remote computer:

      open vnc://127.0.0.1:15901
      

      Note that the IP address 127.0.0.1 is the "localhost" address always, and 15901 is the same as the local port number on the ssh tunnel command.

   6. Enter the VNC password when prompted.

      The default VNC password is listed in the command shell window. You should change that password (eventually) by following the Set VNC Service Password instructions — note that setting the password will shut down the existing VNC remote display service to change the password.

3. Change the size of the remote server's display.

   A possible way to do so is to select one of the following Retina screen resolutions: 1680x1050, 1440x900, or 1280x800. Use it in a command issued in a terminal window inside the remote server's displays.

   For example, to set the remote server's display to 1440x900:

   xrandr -s 1440x900
   

4. Do your work in Cadence.


5. When finished and you no longer want the VNC remote display service active, stop or kill the service.

   The remote display service stays up until you explictly stop or kill it. That is done by following the Kill Cadence Desktop VNC Service instructions.

6. Set VNC Service Password

   This is a means of forcing a new password to be what you set it.

   1. Open a terminal window on your Mac
   2. Change the password

      ssh uwnetid@cadence.insttech.washington.edu setvncpw "newpw"
          

      where newpw is the new password you want.

      You will not be able to see what this password is via vncpw, as it is not the default password. You can, however, set it to something else if you can't remember it.

7. Kill Cadence Desktop VNC Service
   1. Open a terminal window on your Mac
   2. Stop the VNC service

      ssh uwnetid@cadence.insttech.washington.edu vncstop
          

Do your work in Cadence

1. Note that Cadence does not like spaces in directory or folder names.

   If asked to create a directory or folder name, do not use spaces in the name. For example, instead of TCES 421 Autumn 2022 use TCES_421_Autumn_2022. This will avoid later errors creating libraries and other names (either also without spaces) in that directory.

2. Follow the instructions provided by your instructor.

On the remote server, open a terminal window or right-click on the directory name in the File Manager tool, and click on "Open in Terminal", then run one of these commands per your instructor's instructions:

1. cad-ncsu

   This starts Cadence's Virtuoso and related tools with the NCSU Cadence Design Kit (CDK) or library.

2. cad-fp45

   This starts Cadence's Virtuoso and related tools with the NCSU Free Process Design Kit (PDK) for 45nm Node or library.

3. virtuoso

   This starts Cadence's Virtuoso and related tools with the default library.

   Please close all Virtuoso windows when you are finished for the day. This will free up valuable computer resources for other students to use for their work. Note that closing the VNC window WILL NOT close Virtuoso windows.

   You can also cleanly exit everything to conserve server resources and avoid problems connecting later.

4. spectre

   The spectre script requires at least an input file name as an argument. The input file is a netlist file; e.g.

   spectre sample.netlist
       

   To look at options for the command:

   spectre -help
       

3. When finished with your use of Cadence at the end of the day

   You should cleanly exit to conserve server resources and avoid problems connecting later.

Troubleshooting Problems

1. Mac Screen Sharing: Connection failed to "127.0.0.1:15901". The software on the remote computer appears to be incompatible with this version of Screen Sharing

   This problem is likely the result of entering the wrong password. The desired password is the VNC password, which has a default. If you change it via "setvncpw", there is no way to retrieve and show what it is. However, you can reset the password to a different password. For example:

   ssh uwnetid@cadence.insttech.washington.edu setvncpw "newpw"
     

   using your UW Net ID for uwnetid and your new password for newpw, then trying the open command again and using that new password when prompted.

2. FATAL ERROR: Host key did not appear in manually configured list

   You ran cadman before and saved the host key, but the host key has changed because the cadence server changed. You probably have an older version of cadman and need to download, unzip and use the latest version.

3. Access Denied

   There are a few possibilities:

   1. The MyUW password you supplied was not accepted by the remote server.

      You probably entered the wrong password. You may have to close cadman and then start it again to "forget" the wrong password.

      Also, see this troubleshooting topic.

   2. USERNAME is not the same as UW NetID

      The default user name is the value of the Windows USERNAME environment variable. The most likely cause of this error is that the USERNAME value is not the same as your UW NetID, and that UW NetID should be all in lower case. Refer to this explanation to determine how to resolve that.

   3. Unknown login account for valid UW NetID

      Another possibility is that a valid UW NetID (must be typed in lower case!) is used, but there is no login account that matches it on the remote server. In that case, please contact your instructor or lab staff.

   4. Your computer login account has spaces in its name.

      Spaces in file names can cause problems because they need to be specially handled, such as putting quotes around a path to a file. Older versions (prior to 2.84) of cadman.zip did not handle this well, resulting in the Access is denied error. Please download the latest cadman version.

4. FATAL ERROR: Network error: Software caused connection abort

   This indicates that your IP address is being blocked by the remote server, probably due to too many failed login attempts. Please contact lab staff via email and provide your IP address. Your IP address can be seen by visiting this web page.

5. Connection Abandoned

   This usually occurs when plink required an answer to a question, but the script failed to answer it. If you try to connect manually:

   plink uwnetid@140.142.71.52
     

   using your UW NetID instead of "uwnetid", you should answer "y" to the question about caching information, then provide your MyUW password when prompted. If you login successfully, simply enter exit to log out. After that, you can use cadman.exe to connect to the server using the remote desktop service.

6. FATAL ERROR: Host key did not appear in manually configured list

   The hardcoded host key provided in cadman.exe and cadman.ini no longer match the host's key. Try downloading and unzipping cadman.zip in case there is an updated version (the version number appears in the window title). If cadman.exe still fails with this message, please contact lab staff.

7. plink: the -pw option can only be used with the SSH protocol

   The wrong protocol is selected in the "default settings" for the PuTTY configuration.

   To fix it:

   1. Start putty.exe

      The window title should be the "PuTTY Configuration".

   2. Under the "Saved Sessions" label, select Default Settings and click on the "Load" button.
   3. Under the "Connection type:" label, check the radio button for SSH
   4. Click on the Save button.
   5. Close putty, and try cadman again.


8. Opening a VNC session on a Mac fails

   This could be due to too many ssh tunnel connections from your computer to the server. To resolve the problem, find all of your tunneled ssh sessions:

   ps auxxwww | grep ssh | grep L
     

   Then using the process ID (or pid) of each process (the second column after the user name), kill all of those processes. For example, if the above command displayed lines containing these pids: 31383 45141 45214:

   kill -KILL 31383 45141 45214
     

   After all of the old tunnels are destroyed by killing the process, re-establish the tunnel and and open a VNC session.

9. Cadence: virtuoso error "bad atom" or "request xx error y serial zzz"

   where "xx", "y" and "zzz" are numbers which may vary.

   You may not see the virtuoso log window appear after you see one of those error messages, and think that virtuoso did not start. It may have, but your remote display size is too small to see the window virtuoso opened. See the instructions on how to "Change the size of the remote display".

10. TigerVNC Viewer: Unable connect to socket: Connection refused (10061)

    The student who reported this error also solved it -- his personal computer's default language was NOT "English", and when he changed it to "English", this problem was resolved.

    In an attempt to fix this viewer error without changing the default language (this is untested), the version of TigerVNC Viewer was upgraded from 1.8.0 to 1.10.0, which is reflected in cadman version 2.85. Later cadman versions may have TigerVNC Viewer versions that are higher.

11. FATAL ERROR: Network error: connection timed out

    It may be that you don't have a login account on the Cadence server. Only students currently (i.e., in the current quarter) enrolled in a course requiring Cadence have login accounts. If you had access in a past quarter, it is normally revoked at the end of that quarter. If you need access, have your instructor send an email to SET Labs Computing Staff requesting access to Cadence for you (provide your name and UW Net ID).

12. The MyUW password was not accepted.

    Two possibilities:

    1. If you enter your password when prompted, then you must have entered your password incorrectly.

       Check for the CAPS Lock key being on.

       Sometimes it helps to type your password in a temporary file (using notepad or some other editor), copy the password to the clipboard, then paste it when prompted.

       Alternatively and MUCH LESS SECURELY, put the password in your cadman.ini file, but make sure you change that file if you change your MyUW password.

    2. If you were NOT prompted for a password, you have an old or incorrect password in the cadman.ini file.

       Change the password to the correct one, or remove it so cadman will prompt you for a password.

13. Can't start terminal.

    The cause is likely that you didn't exit cleanly from a previous login session. At the end of every use and to rectify this problem, you should:

    1. Close all windows of the application (e.g., virtuoso) you are running.
    
    
    2. Log out of your desktop session.
       • In upper right corner of screen, click on power button icon.
       • Click on your UW NetID.
       • Click on "Log out" menu item.
       • Click on "Log out" button to log out immediately.
       
       
    3. Kill the desktop VNC service:
       • Windows users: in cadman, click on the Kill Cadence Desktop VNC Service button.
       • Mac/Linux users: run the vncstop command. For example, UW NetID srondeau would run:

         ssh srondeau@cadence.insttech.washington.edu vncstop
         

14. Can't create library.

    Most likely, this is the result of the directory name where you started the application (e.g., virtuoso) — it probably contains spaces in that name .

    Exit the application, go up one level in the directory tree, then rename the directory with spaces, open a terminal, start your application, and try creating the library again.

15. vncstop: Operation timed out

    Starting a VNC session is done via clicking on cadman's "Connect to Cadence Desktop via VNC Service" button or sending the vncstart command via ssh. That session persists until either you stop it (cadman's "Kill Cadence Desktop VNC Service" or sending vncstop via ssh), or the cadence server is restarted.

    If you get "Operation timed out", that means the server could not run the vncstop command, probably because there are too many processes running for your user account. In that case, please contact SET Lab Staff.

    Most of the time, a started VNC session remains started. Trying to start it multiple times eventually causes a failure to login or run a command, and SET Lab Staff need to intervene to kill all processes for a user account.

    The ability to persist a VNC session can be very handy if you have a long-running simulation or other work and you want it to continue running even if you lose your Cadence desktop window (by closing it or losing the network connection).

    But how do you know if a VNC session is already started?

    On cadman, there is no way to check (if unsure, press the kill button prior to connecting via the connect button). It may not always work, and you could end up with "Operation timed out" -- contact SET Lab Staff. Using ssh, you can send the vncport command, which will return:

    No port. Use: vncstart
    
    if it is not running.
      
      

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