Typically, the login to your environment will be done through a SSH (Secure Shell), which is a protocol for access to shell accounts for remote command-line login and remote command execution through an SSH server. UNIX-like operating systems such as Linux will have ssh, installed by default. Apple's OSX is derived from BSD, so it has functioning UNIX tools. Microsoft operating systems do not have native support for the SSH terminal. To run graphical interfaces remotely, an X11 server/client libraries need to be installed as well.
Command Line Interface Only
Open a terminal window
From the terminal window
$ ssh username@hostname.com
If you are working
Assuming that you have workstation setup of the Linux environment, the following commands are appropriate. If you're running these commands from a console, you're clearly don't have to read this tutorial.
Open a terminal window
For support with X11 applications,
$ ssh -X <username>@<hostname>
Command Line Interface Only
Run Applications > Terminal
From the terminal window,
$ ssh username@hostname.com
X11 Support
Download/Install XQuartz. OSX no longer has native support for X11 client/server libraries. However, the previous X11 client/server software has been released, and the code is actively maintained.
Run Applications > Utilities > XQuartz.app
Run Applications > Terminal
From the terminal window
$ ssh -X username@hostname.com
Test to see if X11 GUI's will run
$ xclock
Since SSH isn't natively available for Windows operating systems, a variety of different applications exist for windows. Rather than cover a comprehensive list, I'm just going to provide two typical approaches. Personally, I prefer using MobaXTerm, but the PuTTY approach is more common. In addition, it is also possible to use an Ubuntu Linux Subsystem in order to connect to your HPC.
Download and install PuTTY
Run PuTTY,
Enter the servename in Host Name
Set Connection type to SSH
Login using username and password
Download and install PuTTY
Download and install Xming
Run Xming on your PC to start the X server
Run PuTTY,
Enter the servename in Host Name
Set Connection type to SSH
Enable X11 Forwarding (Connection > SSH > X11)
Login using username and password
Test to see if X11 GUI's will run
$ xclock