Grid-info

Getting a grid certificate

There are two main options for getting a grid certificate either the ca portal or the JAVA CERT wizard. Both are described at the below link, then click Apply.
(For an individual user the ca portal is the simpest option.)


https://ca.grid-support.ac.uk/

You will get am email asking you to visit your local RA (who in our case is either Pete Gronbech or IT services in Banbury Road) to show your University swipe card. After you have done this you will get an email from the Certificate Authority (CA) informing you that you can pick up your certificate. This can then be exported and converted in to the type of certificates required for grid work.
The following web page describes the commands to run on your .p12 cert once you have copied it to Linux machine you will be using to submit your grid jobs. In our case a pplxint machine.


https://ca.grid-support.ac.uk/certificatemanagement/#

These certificates are normally stored in your .globus directory in your login directory.

Register with an LCG VO

Check the
EGI Operations Portal
for how to join a Virtual Organisation (VO) such as LHCb or Atlas (details below!). You will need to have your certificate loaded into your web browser for this. As part of the registration process you will have to agree to an Acceptable Use Policy; you will also be bound by the rules which apply normally at your institute.

Registration can be hard to find, so here's how. Select Other VOs and then search for your VO in the search box. Once you have the details select the details link. Now select the enrolement link.
Click it to take you through to the VOMRS registration. Once again, you will need your certificate in the browser to be able to register.

 Currently Alice, Atlas, CMS, LHCB, plus many other HEP VOs are supported here. If you think your experiment does not have its own VO then you could join the SouthGrid VO. 

Authorizing yourself with your grid certificate

Login to pplxintn which is setup as a UI.

voms-proxy-init --voms YourVOnamehere

Further low level commands are available but the use of WMS is being depricated, it's more likely you will use a job submission framwork setup by your VO. Contact IT support if your collegues can not help.

Categories: ppunix