The gLite Support System Giuseppe LA ROCCA INFN Catania

Introduction User guide usually tell you much and the FAQ or troubleshooting – –Section contains very useful information Unfortunately, sometimes problems go beyond the ability of end users. For these cases, Organized support units are in place to help Users in their grid activities.

Do you need any help ? There are several support units and mailing lists you can ask help to, each with its own features and specific competences: The Global Grid User Support (GGUS) portal Savannah web portal Specific mailing list Regional Operation Centers (ROCs)

The Global Grid User Support (GGUS) The GGUS system is the primary means by which users request support when they are using the grid. The GGUS system creates a trouble ticket to record the request and tracks the ticket from creation through to solve. There are two ways in which a user can submit at request for help: –Send an to –Use the GGUS web interface to create the ticket. Once the ticket has entered GGUS, it is processed by assigning it to the appropriate group to deal with the problem. –The groups are generally addressed via mailing lists –Sometimes, a ticket is simple and it is assigned to the correct group immediately and dealt with immediately.

Some words about GGUS… The GGUS system is running on a server located at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany. –Besides the GGUS production system a backup system is in place. They can be contacted by to Usual office hours for GGUS staffs are from 07:00 to 15:00 oclock

Submitting a ticket using mail This is quite the simplest way to request help. The user simply sends an to The is converted into a ticket and processed. The information provided in the should be as detailed as possible. Helpful information could be : –The name of the site concerned, –The VO concerned and whether it is a VO specific problem, –The error message received, –The command used, –Software versions (OS, Middleware etc.). The user will receive s which either request further information from the user, or which notify the user of a change in status of the ticket.

How to set the priority of a ticket It is possible to define a priority by adding a number in square brackets to the subject line of the mail. Priority numbers can be 1, 2, 3 and 4. –1 stands for priority less urgent (default priority of tickets. –2 stands for priority urgent, –3 stands for priority very urgent, –4 stands for priority top priority. E.g.: The subject should look like [2] gcc: Command not found for defining a ticket priority.

Submitting a ticket via web portal Before to start, it is essential to have a digital certificate installed in the browser.

GGUS registration Users who do not have a valid digital certificate can access GGUS with login and password. The usage of login and password is not guaranteed to be supported in future, so it is recommend accessing GGUS with a valid digital certificate. The usage of a valid digital certificate is guaranteed in future.

Accessing GGUS with certificate When the user access to the GGUS web portal with a certificate, then an alert is displayed by the browser requesting that the user indicate which certificate to use The reason for this alert is that GGUS has to validate the user to provide the appropriate access. –Once this is done, the user is not required to provide further identification.

The ticket submit form /1

The ticket submit form /2 USER INFORMATION Most fields in the user information section are pre-filled by GGUS system. Name/Login is taken from the GGUS user database. is also taken from the GGUS user database. Notification mode defaults to on solution. The Notification mode manages the update notifications the user receives. On solution means that the user only gets notified when the ticket status is set to solved. CC to could be filled with any mail address of people who should be informed about this ticket. Notifications are sent on every ticket update. The field content could only be changed by people who have support access. Additional information is available by clicking on the question mark.

The ticket submit form /3 PROBLEM INFORMATION Date/Time of problem defaults to the submitting time. This field should be set if the ticket is submitted much later than the problem occurred. Notify site provides a drop-down list with all EGEE sites registered in GOC DB and OSG sites registered in OIM DB. If selecting a site from the list this site will be notified about this ticket by mail. Additionally the ticket is assigned to the appropriate ROC directly, bypassing the TPM. Assigned to ROC provides a drop-down list of all ROCs integrated in GGUS. Choosing a value in this field gives a hint to which ROC the ticket should be assigned. Concerned VO provides a drop-down list of all VOs supported by GGUS. VO specific is a flag indicating whether a problem is VO specific or not. It defaults to no. This flag could only be set to yes in combination with a VO selected in field Concerned VO. Does it affect the whole allows specifying whether a problem is affecting a VO or site or ROC as a whole. Short description is a mandatory field. It should give a short description of the problem. This field is limited to 250 characters.

The ticket submit form /4 Describe your problem … is limited to 4000 characters. It should be used for a detailed description of the problem. If the user does not know which information to add here he could click on the question mark for getting additional information. Command used is for providing the command used when facing the problem. Error message you obtain is for adding the error message, if got one. OS, Middleware, Application version is for providing information on software versions used. Type of problem provides a drop-down list with possible values. This field is for categorizing the problem. It defaults to Other. Priority provides a drop-down list with possible priority values. They are less urgent which is the default, urgent, very urgent and top priority. Upload attachment offers the possibility to upload an attachment (e.g. log files etc.). Attachments are limited to 2 MB. Please avoid uploading file formats.exe,.php,.htm(l).

The ticket submit form /5 After clicking the Submit button the user gets a confirmation page showing the information submitted and the ticket ID

Browsing all tickets At the bottom of the page there are two additional links for browsing: Show my complete ticket list My Team Tickets. The system only shows the user tickets which have been created with the same authentication information the user is currently logged in. This means if a user submits tickets with different certificates he does not see all of his tickets. The reason for this is that the DN string of the certificate is stored in each ticket. Showing all tickets of a user can be done by using the GGUS search engine.

Search tickets

Showing all opening tickets

Modifying tickets /1 For modifying a ticket the user can just click on the ticket ID. He is guided to another page. On this page are three main sections: –the Ticket information section, –the Ticket history, –the Ticket modify section. The Ticket information section gives an overview of the personal data the user provided, the problem description and the ticket status

Modifying tickets /2 The ticket history shows all actions that have been taken to solve the ticket, the date and time these actions have been taken and the name of the supporter who did them.

Modifying tickets /3 In the modify section the user can add some additional information or comment on a question of a supporter to him. The user can add attachments, change the notification behavior of the system and change some other attributes of his ticket.

Some words about TPM… Ticket Processing Managers (TPM) are the most important part of the support system for the grid. The purpose of TPM is: –to close simple trouble tickets, –to ensure that other tickets are sent to the correct place for processing, –to react to alarms that tickets have not been processed, –to ensure that the knowledge base and Wiki pages are enhanced by the responses associated with tickets. TPM teams work on a weekly rotating basis. There is always one team on duty and one backup team. The teams consist of people with a broad knowledge of the Grid.

The GGUS Supporters Tickets Processing Managers (TPM) –Generic grid experts VO TPMs –First line supporters for VOs Specialized Support –Middleware, Deployment, specialized VO support ROCs –Local support an services ENOC –Network support Do you want to be a GGUS supported ? –

The Regional Operations Centers (ROCs) EGEE is divided into regions. Each of them has an operations center responsible for the coordination of its Sites and able to grant for help and support both for users and for site managers. You can ask for help to your ROC as also submit a ticket to another ROC if your problem is specific of some site in another region. …..

INFN Production Grid

Asia Pacific Regional Operation Center

APROC services Site Deployment Support –Registration –Installation –Certification Operations Support –Monitoring, troubleshooting –Problem tracking –Software updates and security coordination –Regional VO services - VOMS and LFC ASGCCA CA Service –provide certificates for AP EGEE/LCG sites without domestic CA. EGEE Operations –CIC-on-duty(COD): EGEE global operations –Monitoring tool development: GStat and GGUS Search –TPM:Front line user support (Q4 2006) –OSCT:Incident Response duty (Dec 2006)

Any questions ? Open a ticket! Thank you for your attention!