A method to onboard a subordinate node to a high performance computing system that includes a fabric switch network that includes a fabric switch principal and a group of subordinate nodes, wherein the fabric switch principal is configured to route messages between subordinate nodes of the group comprising: receiving a fabric switch principal address message, at an onboarding subordinate node, over an external network; providing an identification message, by the onboarding subordinate node, over the fabric switch network; receiving the identification message, at the fabric switch principal, over the fabric switch network; providing the permission message, by the fabric switch principal, over the fabric switch network; and receiving, a permission message, at the onboarding subordinate node, over the fabric switch network.