Getting started in ALICE
Are you a registered ALICE member?
Use this link to check if your CERN account is connected to ALICE. In case you see a message saying that you are not an ALICE member, you need to fix the problem: many services are not accessible if you are not considered an ALICE member.
Drop an email to the ALICE Secretariat, they will help you: alice.secretariat@cern.ch
Do you have access to lxplus?
When you have a CERN account you can typically login to lxplus via SSH:
ssh USERNAME@lxplus.cern.ch
If, in spite of providing the correct password, you are not allowed to connect, go on your CERN account management page. You need to Sign in and to select Resources and Services like in the picture below:
Then click the big List Services button and check if the following services are enabled for you:
You need:
- LXPLUS and Linux
- AFS Workspaces
- EOS/CERNBox
In case some of them are missing, just click on the service to subscribe. For Linux, you may be requested to provide a "group" and a "reason" for requesting the subscription.
- Group:
z2(it corresponds to ALICE) - Reason: just type something like "new ALICE member", it's enough
It will take at least two full working hours before you will be able to use the services
Using the Grid: get a certificate
The procedure for getting or renewing a certificate is illustrated here.
Requesting support
There are different ways to request support in ALICE. For simple requests concerning Run 2 software there are two mailing lists:
- General questions on analysis, build problems, etc.: alice-project-analysis-task-force@cern.ch
- Problems with jobs submission, certificates, trains: alice-analysis-operations@cern.ch
You can self-subscribe to them if you are an ALICE member. Go to the CERN egroups page, search for the group name, click on it and then you will be presented with an option to subscribe. You can unsubscribe using the same procedure.
Support for Run 3 does not rely on mailing lists. We are using Discourse:
We also use Mattermost for direct messages or public groups (seek support in the Town Square)
For reporting actual bugs and track progress of important development, we use Jira: