Introduction

First of all, WELCOME to the RHIC/STAR collaboration and experiment. STAR is located at Brookhaven National Laboratory and is one of the premier particle detectors in the world.

As a (new) STAR user, you will need to be granted access to our BNL Tier0 computing facility in order to have access to the offline and online infrastructure and resources. This includes accessing BNL from remote or directly while visiting us on site. Access includes access to data, experiment, mailing lists, desktop computer for visitors to name only those. As a National Facility under the Department of Energy (DOE) regulations, a few steps are required for this to happen. Please, follow them precisely and make sure you understand their relevance.

Note:

The DOE requires proper credentials for anyone accessing a computing "resource" and expect such individual to keep credentials up-to-date i.e. in good standing. It is YOUR responsibility to keep valid credentials with Brookhaven National Laboratory's offices. Credentials include: being a valid and active STAR member, having a valid and active guest/user ID and appointment, having and keeping proper trainings. Any missing component would cause an immediate closure of access to computing resources.

In many cases, we rely on account name matching the one created at the RCF (for example, Hypernews or Drupal accounts need exact match to be approved) - this is enforced so we can accurately rely on the work already done by the RCF personnel and only base our automation on "RCF account exist and is active". The RCF personnel work with the user's office and other agencies to verify your credentials.

Getting an account and performing work at BNL

Note that along the process of requesting either an appointment or a computing account implies a check from the facility and user office personnel of your good standing with RHIC/STAR as the affiliated experiment. Therefore, we urge you to follow the steps as described below:

1. Ensure/Verify you are affiliated to STAR
   Whenever you join a group affiliated with STAR, please
   • Ask your council representative that he/she sends your information to Liz Mogavero .
     Note: Your council representative is responsible for keeping the list of authors and active members at all times. We will not consider requests coming from other STAR members.
   • Pro-actively check the presence of your name and record in our Phone Book.
     Note: If you are not in our Phone Book, you are simply NOT a STAR user as far as we are concerned.

      

2. Verify/renew/extend you Guest appointment
   You must be sure you have a valid guest appointment with the BNL User Office
   Note: If you have done this already and are a valid Guest, please go to section 4.
   New users
   
   • Detailed instructions on how to fill the form for a Guest appointment exists from the RCF pages to assist you in getting a BNL guest number. Pictures of the form you will showed and displayed with a step by step explanation of the required and expected fields.
   • Alternatively, you can go straight to the Guest Registration Form and complete the registration as instructed.
   • Note: Requesting a Guest ID requires a procedure called “Foreign Visit and Assignment”. This procedure involves steps such as background checks with Counter Intelligence and approval from the Department of State. The procedure could take up to 60 days from the time it is started (sensitive countries may take 90 days).
   Extension requests
   
   • ATTENTION: Users already having a Guest number and STILL in good standing (i.e. your appointment has not yet expired and you followed the instructions sent via Email by the user office) will need to renew their appointment instead of requesting a new one. The starting point will be the Guest Extension Form . See also Account re-activation
   Status request
   
   • The Guest check In/out form will help indentifying your status and appointment expiration. This form could be used by users already having a BNL Guest ID.

    

3. Be patient and wait for further instructions and the approval.
   • ONLY AFTER THE FIRST STEPS will you be able to proceed with the rest of the instructions below.
   • We will assume that you, from now on, have a valid Guest appointment and hold a Guest/BNL ID.
      
4. Ensure you have the base training
   You MUST take the Cyber Security training and course GE-CYBERSEC. This training is mandatory and access to the facility computing resources will NOT be granted without it.
   You are also invited to read the Personal User Agreement which describes your responsibilities, the reasonable use and scope of personal use of computing equipments.
    
5. Request an RCF account
   Now you can ask for an RCF account or in case you were a user before, an account reactivation.
   • To request a new RCF account, start here. The fields are explained on this instruction page.
   • To request a re-activation of an RCF account, start here. Please, provide in the ticket information as per your previous BNL/RCF Unix user name.
      
6. Generate and upload your SSH keys to ensure secure logins
   You may now read SSH Keys and login to the RCF and following information in this section.
   Please, remember to sign up for STAR's tools and accounts (Drupal, Hypernews, ...).
   Consult Software & Computing main page for further information.
   Enjoy our computing facility and resources. We wish you a productive time with us.