Setup

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.

You will see a login page that will look something like this.

Click the button marked "Sign in with federation. 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 three choices of identity provider:

• University Login (MyAccessID)
• 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 "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.

Step 1.1: University Login (MyAccessID)

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.

Step 1.2: Other Login (IdP of last resort)

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 screen that will be something like this.

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 at the bottom of 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 a screen like this.

The expectation is that your invitation will be processed quickly. As the message says, 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.

Step 2: Accepting Policies

The Bristol Centre for Supercomputing (BriCS) has a number of 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 list of policies that you need to accept to continue. You will see them in screens that look something like this.

Please click the link to open the policy in a new tab. Take time to read the policy. 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 policy, 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 the Data Privacy Policy you will also have to read and accept the Acceptable Use 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: Choosing a UNIX username

You will next be brought to a page where you initialise your user account.

Here you can choose a UNIX user name. This will be used to create the name of your account on the supercomputers. Please choose 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 user names are permanent

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

Once you have chosen, scroll down to (optionally) upload an avatar.

Once you are happy, click "Agree and proceed" to show you are happy with your choice of UNIX user name, and that you (again) accept the usage policies.

Step 4: Accepting the Invitation

Now you have logged in and completed your account, you should (finally!) see the portal. However, you will see a message, like this, saying your account isn't associated with any projects.

This is because you haven't (yet) accepted the invitation.

Find the email that contained your invitation. Note that it may have gone into your spam folder. It should look something like this.

Click on the 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".

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

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  Logging into BriCS Supercomputers with SSH and clifton.

• Manage project

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  Manage your project on the portal (PIs only).