Starting Your ALCC Award

Help Desk

Email: support@alcf.anl.gov

Account and Project Management
Updated: 06/02/2022

The following guide is for PIs and Proxies to prepare for the start of their ALCC project.

Onboarding Overview

Please see this onboarding guide to get a broad overview of the steps you'll take to get your account and project set up:
https://www.alcf.anl.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/ALCF-Onboarding.pdf

Get Started with ALCF’s systems

To get your project up and running, please view our documentation on Theta and ThetaGPU at: https://www.alcf.anl.gov/support-center/theta-and-thetagpu

We also encourage you to take full advantage of ALCF's training programs and user services. Some useful introductory materials and videos are listed below:


Theta and Cooley Overview : http://bit.ly/Getting_Started_On_Theta
Running on Theta: https://www.alcf.anl.gov/events/best-practices-queueing-and-running-job…
ThetaGPU Overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0Xip1mUZY8
Lustre File Striping Basics: https://www.alcf.anl.gov/support-center/training-assets/file-systems-an…

User Support

Email the ALCF User Experience Team at support@alcf.anl.gov.

Project Details

Before your project begins, you will receive an email with the following project information:

  • Project Short Name: The assigned, shortened name for your project. This will be the name that you’ll use to access your project on the systems.
  • Allocation System(s) and Amount: The approved system(s) and amount of your allocation in node hours.
  • Approved Quota: The approved amount of your project directory’s quota.
  • Allocation Start Date: The start date of your allocation.
  • Allocation End Date: The end date of your allocation.

Once your project has been created, you can view and manage your project details at: https://www.alcf.anl.gov/support-center/account-and-project-management/….

Project Status Reports

After your allocation begins, ALCF staff will provide you with a weekly project status report via support@alcf.anl.gov.

Example subject for email: ALCF ALCC-2021 Project Status Report for [Project Short Name]

Reporting Requirements

Quarterly reporting is required to keep DOE informed of all progress related to your allocation. The ALCF will send you a report template at the end of each quarter. Please complete the report promptly and submit it via email to support@alcf.anl.gov.

https://www.alcf.anl.gov/support-center/account-and-project-management/alcc-quarterly-report-policy

Account Setup

If you do not have an ALCF account, you will need to request one at https://accounts.alcf.anl.gov/#!/accountRequest. When prompted for project name, please select <Project_Shortname>.

If you have an active ALCF account, submit a request to join the <Project_Shortname> project at https://accounts.alcf.anl.gov/#!/joinProject

User Agreement

If you are not an employee of Argonne National Laboratory, a user agreement must be signed by your home institution to perform research at Argonne’s user facilities. This policy applies to every member of the project team who will be conducting research on ALCF resources.

A list of home institutions that have master agreements in place is located on this webpage:  https://www.aps.anl.gov/Users-Information/Legal-Financial/Argonne-User-…

ALCF Acknowledgement Form

Every project team member who requests an ALCF account must sign and return an acknowledgement form, stating that they agree to the terms in the user agreement. The form is located at: https://www.alcf.anl.gov/files/Acknowledgement_Form.pdf. Please print, sign, scan and email it to accounts@alcf.anl.gov.

Foreign National Access Request Form

The U.S. Department of Energy has guidelines and requirements for foreign visitors who access its facilities and sites. This guidance is issued in DOE Order 142.3, which is part of Argonne's contract; therefore, all foreign visitors (non-U.S. Citizens) must obtain authorization prior to using ALCF resources.

If you are a foreign national and do not have current authorization credentials, you will require an ANL-593 (Foreign National Access Request) form. It is critical that documentation requests sent by ALCF staff are completed as early as possible to facilitate timely processing for your account approval.

Proxies and Members

As a PI, you have the ability to add members to your project. You can also add up to two Proxies, individuals who are authorized to add or renew project members on your behalf.

A project proxy has the authority to:

  • Approve and renew accounts.
  • Add and delete users to/from the project.
  • Approve Foreign Assignment/Visit Request form renewals for project members who are foreign nationals.

During your project setup, the ALCF User Experience Team will request the following information to establish your project members:

  • The names, email addresses, and/or ALCF usernames (if already existing) of up to two proxies and all project members.

Adding Project Members

The PI or a proxy must approve each member of their team in order to gain access to ALCF resources and run jobs on their project. Users can respond to requests from ALCF for account access approval with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. If you have an active ALCF account, you can manage your project membership by logging into the following page on the ALCF account and project management website: https://accounts.alcf.anl.gov/#!/manageProjects

Accounts for your New Project Members

New project members will need a user account to access project data and to run jobs on ALCF systems. Please instruct any members who do not have an ALCF account to request one at: https://accounts.alcf.anl.gov/#!/accountRequest. When prompted for project name, they should select your project short name.

Move Your Data

We encourage you to start moving your project data to the project directory at the ALCF before your allocation begins using Globus ( https://www.alcf.anl.gov/support-center/theta/using-globus-theta).

Policies

Pullback Policy

Please be aware that we will periodically monitor, and could potentially adjust, your project allocation if a large portion of it goes unused. You may view our pullback policy at the following link: https://www.alcf.anl.gov/user-guides/pullback-policy

Acknowledgment In Publications

Please follow the guidelines provided at https://www.alcf.anl.gov/user-guides/alcf-acknowledgement-policy to properly acknowledge the use of ALCF resources in all of your publications, both online and print.

Facility Policies

Facility policies have been established to provide consistent and reliable services. Please read at: https://www.alcf.anl.gov/user-guides/policies

How Can We Help?

If your project allocation usage is being held back for reasons due to one of our systems, please contact us immediately for assistance.
 
We can also help resolve any issues or needs that may be delaying the start of your scientific campaign. Are you in need of high-throughput software? Are you having difficulty compiling your application? Does your code have limited restart capabilities? Let us know.
 
You can use the following command to check your project balance on Theta:

sbank-list-allocations -p <Project Shortname> -r <system name>

More information on using sbank (Allocation Accounting System) can be found at: https://www.alcf.anl.gov/user-guides/sbank

Other helpful project management commands

  • myprojectquotas: log into Theta and type this command to view the project directory quotas for ALL your projects
  • myquota: log into Theta and type this command to view your home directory quota
Systems
Topics

Training Assets: general