Getting a Computing Account
Getting a CERN Account
CMS collaborators are eligible for a CERN Unix account (often called _lxplus_ or _afs_ account) and a CERN email account (often called _nice_ account), and are entitled to use CERN computing resources.
Before Applying
Before applying for an account, make sure that your registrations as
a CERN user and as a CMS member are correctly done.
CERN registration
* If you have a CERN_ID number, you can proceed to CMS registration
* If you have never been registered at the CERN Users Office (UO, Users.Office@cern.ch):
* if you are present at CERN (or will be in the near future) go personally to the CERN Users Office. You should first have a look at the UO page and follow the link to
"Registrations". Note that you will have to provide a form signed by your CMS team leader at your home institute.
* if you are not present at CERN the CMS secretariat will provisionally register you without a CERN_ID. You must send a paper copy or a fax of your passport or official
identification document. Whenever you will come at CERN, you must register at the UO to get a CERN_ID.
* the UO creates for every newcomer a generic CERN computer account at the time of the CERN registration. * the username and temporary password must then be asked from the Cern-IT servicedesk (tel. +41227678888 = Cern-78888) * the generic account will be attached to CMS after the CMS registration. Details will be sent you by the CMS secretariat after the CMS registration.
CMS registration
* Use the CMS pre-registration form (http://cms.cern.ch/iCMS/jsp/secr/reg/regCMS.jsp). The CMS secretariat will check your profile and then send, to your email, more information on how to register. * If you are present at CERN, you can also register at the CMS Secretariat * In case of problems, please contact the CMS secretariat (cms.people@cern.ch).
Make sure your CMS registration is valid in the CMS secretariat (40-5-b01, tel. CERN-71712), otherwise you risk to lose your account in the next CMS/CERN account cleanup. It is not enough to be registered in the Users' Office (or in the Cern phone book).
Accessing CERN accounts
You can check and must manage your account via http://www.cern.ch/account. Entry with your password (NICE and AFS passwords are the same). Please remember to change the password every six months, or more often.
If you already have an account but it has not been used for a long time and the password is expired, you must contact the CERN-IT servicedesk and ask for a reset of your password:
- Cern-IT Servicedesk: tel. +41227678888 = Cern-78888, e-mail it.servicedesk@cern.ch*
afs, lxplus
To access Linux interactive farm use <verbatim> ssh yourloginname@lxplus.cern.ch
NICE
To access the NICE/windows services you can go to https://winservices.cern.ch.
Mailserver
You can set up the mailserver from https://mmm.cern.ch.
Your e-mail address will be of the general form (GEM) "firstname.lastname@cern.ch" which is an alias normally pointing to your e-mail box (PEM) "loginname@mail.cern.ch". The following conventions apply: * If a second initial (or name) is included in the e-mail address, it is separated by dots. * If the name consists of separate parts, a dot is used between the parts, instead of a blank.
Administrative Information Services (ais, edh)
You can access the [Information Services] (ais) and the applications therein (such as edh: Electronic Document Handling System) with your common password. To login to edh go to https://edh.cern.ch. A separate edh signature password is needed to accept or reject edh documents. You can ask this password from ais.support@cern.ch and you can change it on the edh page link "settings" and "authorisation password". The edh signature password is needed also for asking access rights to radiation or underground areas.For them you also need the extra safety courses (https://sir.cern.ch) and the signature password as well.
Further information
We point you to standard instructions for learning about and getting these items:
* [UNIX computing at CERN] * [- A Quick Guide to Computing at CERN] * [of CERN Computing Facilities] * [Computer Security Information] * [as a new member of the CMS !CMS.HyperNews] * How to get access to LCG * [You Need Help (IT service)]
To qualify, you must be listed in the CERN Human Resources database as a member or associate of the collaboration. To do this, contact the [[1][CMS secretariat]], fill in the forms they will provide, and return them to the secretariat, then wait until you are listed in the [[2][CERN people search]].
After you have been registered, to get a CERN general computer account read the IT Department's [[3][Account Registration page]], and print the appropriate registration form. You'll need to fill it out and get your supervisor's (or your CERN contact's) signature.
Getting a Local Account at your Institution
You may also have access to computing resources at your local institution. You should ask your local computing experts and colleagues about the use of these resources for
CMS-related work. See WorkBookRemoteSiteSpecifics, to see if your institution has provided information.
Access to AFS and CMS Software
The !WorkBook instructions generally assume you're running CMS software on the CERN Public Login Linux system LXPLUS.
This environment ensures that you will have direct access to the AFS file system, which holds the CMS software Releases. Additionally, all the tools you'll need to develop your software are installed and set up on LXPLUS , so you can start work almost immediately. Local systems may have different unix shells and different setups, and it is impossible to provide fool-proof instructions for all environments. Again, see WorkBookRemoteSiteSpecifics, to see if your institution has provided information. If you are not familiar with using Linux, see this list of basic [[WorkBookBasicLinux][Linux Commands]].
Certificates for the Grid
See [[WorkBookStartingGrid#BasicGrid][Starting on the GRID, Grid Basics]].
Review status
| *Reviewer/Editor and Date (copy from screen)* |*Comments*| | Main.KatiLassilaPerini - 10 Jul 2008 | brought the account information from (pwd protected) cmsdoc | | Main.AnneHeavey - 05 Jul 2006 | removed FNAL-specific info; put it in WorkBookRemoteSiteSpecifics | | Main.AnneHeavey - 24 Mar 2006 | add info about FNAL and point to new grid page | | S.Argiro 09 Mar 2006| reviewed, made comments |