Setup¶

Please refer to the following YouTube video for first time login and setup through the portal. Accompanying written instructions are also provided in the steps below. Note that the video shows the pathway for the University Login (MyAccessID) identity provider, please refer to step 1 below for information on other identity providers.

Requirements to access portal

Access to the portal is via an approval system requiring an initial invitation before access is granted.

Step 1: Log into the portal¶

The first step is to connect to the BriCS portal. This is at the address https://portal.isambard.ac.uk.

On the portal, click the button marked "Click here to login".

This will take you to a page where you can choose which identity provider you want to use to log in.

There are five choices of identity provider:

University Login (MyAccessID)
AISI (Okta login)
NCC Login
Other Login (IdP of last resort)
BriCS (Administrators Only)

You need to choose an option that matches the email address at which you received your invitation:

Choose the "University Login" option if your invitation was received by your University account. This will let you use your own University account to log in.

Choose the "AISI" login option if you work at the AI Security Institute and your invitation was sent to that email address.

Choose the "NCC Login" option if you work at NCC and your invitation was sent to your @nccuk.com address.

Choose the "Other Login" option if you don't have a University account, or if you received your invitation at a different email address.

The "BriCS" option is only for administrators, and should not be used.

If you choose the "University Login" option, then you will be taken to a MyAccessID login page. Start typing in the name of your University. You will hopefully see your University appear in the list of options.

Click on your University - this will take you to your normal University login page. Log in as you would normally. This will bring you back to the BriCS portal.

Email us if your University isn't listed. We will then set up an account for you using the "Other Login" option.

Checking MyAccessID support at your institution

Check here for the level of MyAccessID support at your University.

You can only use this option if we have set up an account for your on the Identity Provider of Last Resort (IdP of last resort). This is a special identity provider that we use for people who don't have a University account, or whose University does not yet support the REFEDS Research and Scholarship category.

This is provided by AWS Identity Center. If you need this, we will create an account for you in our AWS Identity Center, and will send you login instructions. Once set up, you will be able to log in by clicking on the "Other Login" button, and then entering your email and login details at the prompt.

Things that can go wrong at Step 1¶

If everything worked, you move onto Step 2 (Accepting Policies). However, there are a number of things that can go wrong.

Wrong email address¶

You must log in using the email address at which you received your invitation. If you don't then you will seen an error message like the following:

You are not authorised to connect.

You can only connect if you are an authorised member of an active project.
Please get in touch with the person who invited you onto the project and make sure
that the project is still active, and that they invited you using your correct email address
[YOUR-EMAIL-ADDRESS].

This shows that there is no record of an account of invitation for you at the email address you used to log in. Your email address will be shown in this error message. Please get in touch with the person who invited you and let them know that they used the wrong email address in their invitation. They have to use the email address as it is shown in this error message.

Pending invitation¶

Most invitations will be approved automatically. However, in a small number of cases the invitation will need to be reviewed before it can be approved. If this is the case, you will see an error message like the following:

Your invitation from [SENDER] is under review. We expect to review
you invitation quickly (within 72 hours) and will notify you by email when
your account is ready.

The expectation is that your invitation will be processed quickly, if it takes longer, then either email us or contact the person who invited you and ask them to raise a support ticket.

Tip

The displayed message shows who invited you and which email address you used to log in. This is useful information to include in any support request.

Browser issues¶

In some cases, users have experienced issues logging into the portal due to browser cookies. An attempt to login via a browser private window is usually a good test before contacting support. If it works in a private window this indicates a need to reset your cookies for the website in your browser profile. See the following guides for information on how to clear cookies in popular web browsers:

Step 2: Accepting Policies¶

The Bristol Centre for Supercomputing (BriCS) has access terms and policies that must be accepted before you can use any of its services. As soon as you log in, you will be presented with a series of access terms and policies that you need to accept to continue.

Please click the link to open the Access Terms in a new tab. Take time to read the access terms and policies. It is very important for compliance reasons that you read and understand, and that we have a clear record of your acceptance.

Once you have read the access terms, type "accept" into the text box, and click the "Submit" button.

You will have to read and accept at least two policies, i.e. after accepting the access terms you will also have to read and accept the Acceptable Use Policy and the Data Privacy Policy.

The date and time that you accepted the policies will be recorded with your account, so you shouldn't need to accept them when you log in again. However, if there are any new policies or anything changes then you will be shown the policies and will need to accept again.

Step 3: Accepting the Invitation¶

Now you have logged in you should see the portal. However, your account isn't yet associated with any projects. This is because you haven't accepted the invitation.

Find the email from "[email protected]" that contained your invitation. Note that it may have gone into your spam folder.

Click on the "Accept Invitation" link in the email (or copy the link and paste it into the address bar in your browser). Make sure that you use the same browser that you used to log in above (or else you will need to log in again).

You will now see a box asking if you want to accept the invitation.

Click "Accept invitation" if you want to accept and join the project.

Click "Cancel invitation" if, for any reason, and after all of the above, you decide that you don't want to use any of the centre's services, and do not want to join the project. Note, cancelling the invitation will block your account. Your data will be retained as described in the Data Privacy Policy for a period of time to satisfy cybersecurity and compliance requirements, after which it will be deleted.

Accidentally cancelled invitation

Get in touch with the person who invited you and ask them to send the invitation again if you accidentally clicked "Cancel invitation".

Step 4: Choosing a UNIX username¶

Now that your account is ready, and you are a member of a project, you next need to choose a UNIX username. You will need to do this before you can log into any of BriCS's systems.

Your UNIX username is an important requirement to let you access BriCS's systems. It is used to create the name of the low-level accounts that you will use on the supercomputers.

Your UNIX short name should be a short, unique name for you. It should only contain lower-case letters and digits, and must start with a letter. It can be between 5-20 characters long.

Once set, your UNIX username cannot be changed. Make sure to choose a UNIX username that you are happy for other members of your project and for other people you work with to see.

How to set your UNIX username¶

Log into the portal.
In the top-right of the screen you will see your user button. This is a button with your name on. Clicking on this will open the user actions menu.
Click on "User dashboard" to go to your User dashboard.
Once there, make sure "Edit" tab at the top of the page is selected.
Scroll down this page until you see the "UNIX User name" row.
Click on the pen icon on the right. This will open a box in which you can enter your UNIX username.

Please enter a short, unique name for you. It should only contain lower-case letters and digits, and must start with a letter. It can be between 5-20 characters long.

UNIX usernames are permanent

You cannot change your UNIX username after it has been set. Please take time to choose a name that you are happy with.

Once you have chosen, click the "Submit" button to save your choice.

You should now be able to log into the services that require a UNIX username.

Tip

If you still see errors saying that your user short name is empty, or your UNIX username is not set, then you may need to log out and then log back in again. Open the user actions menu in the portal (as above) and click on "Log out" to log out. Then, you will also need to do a federated logout. Go to the federated account page and click on your user button at the top right of the screen. Click on "Sign out" in the menu to log out. If you still see errors after completing these steps, then raise a ticket on the support desk.

What's next?¶

Now that you have logged in and accepted the policies, you can start using the services provided by the Bristol Centre for Supercomputing.

What to do next depends on what services you have access to and plan to use. If you are a PI (Principal Investigator) have a look at the Manage project page to add users to your project. If you would like to use the supercomputers have a look a the Logging into BriCS supercomputers below.

Login

Logging into BriCS Supercomputers with SSH and clifton.
Manage project

Manage your project on the portal (PIs only).