Access & conditions

Depending on the resources you want to access, you will need various accounts. The CISM manages account creation for two types of accounts: a CISM account, mainly used for mass storage and interactive computing , and a CÉCI account, mainly used for cluster computing. Some other resources may require other accounts such as your UCLouvain portal account, or a cluster-specific account.

Note

Be wary of which account is needed for which service! Eventhough it is not enforced, it is a good idea to request the same login for both CISM and CÉCI accounts.

Accounts you will need to access the CISM services.
Service Needed account Support channel
> Manneback CÉCI account egs-cism@listes.uclouvain.be
lemaitre-cluster CÉCI account egs-cism@listes.uclouvain.be
Other tier-2 CÉCI clusters CÉCI account CÉCI Support wizard
gwcism.cism.ucl.ac.be CISM account egs-cism@listes.uclouvain.be
gwceci.cism.ucl.ac.be CÉCI account egs-cism@listes.uclouvain.be
Tier-1 cluster Lucia CÉCI account Tier-1 ticketing system
Tier-0 cluster Lumi Lumi-specific account Tier-0 support portal
> Jupyterhub, Rstudio CISM Account egs-cism@listes.uclouvain.be
Interactive machines CISM Account egs-cism@listes.uclouvain.be
storage.cism.ucl.ac.be CISM Account egs-cism@listes.uclouvain.be
nextcloud-section. CISM Account egs-cism@listes.uclouvain.be
> Dataverse UCLouvain portal egs-cism@listes.uclouvain.be

The basic rule for obtaining an account is to be holder of a UCLouvain email address. Besides that, access is granted once the account is created, provided the user agrees to the following rules:

  • do not share access credentials with ANYONE ;
  • take responsibility for backups of your files ;
  • agree to be registered to mailing lists for announcements related to the infrastructure or events we organise ;
  • acknowledge the CISM and other providers in your publications that use their infrastructure (see below) ;
  • accept to bear the costs related to your usage when applicable ;
  • and follow the rules
    • of the CISM, related to the type of equipement you are using (see the various sections of this documentation) ;
    • of this University (see this document) ;
    • of the entity hosting the equipment you get access to thanks to your CÉCI account.

Note

Among the rules common to many institutions hosting HPC equipment, the one related to proper acknowledgement of the use of the resources in the publications is important as explained next page.

How to create a CISM account

Access to the CISM infrastructure is granted to all UCLouvain researchers and their collaborators. Requesting a CISM account is quite simple. Nevertheless, some rules apply, which are described below. Access to the SMCS (interactive servers for statistical software) infrastructure is subject to approval from the SMCS managers.

Note

The CISM account can be requested by following the procedure described in the document Login creation howto. If you know how to proceed, go directly to the CISM login creation page.

Note that access to that web page is restricted based on your location. If you see a message stating “Sorry, creating a CISM account is not possible from your current location ...” please either use the UCLouvain VPN, or contact the CISM team to find a solution. The error page mentions your IP address ; make sure to include that information in your email. In case you already have a CISM account, you can also connect through gwcism.cism.ucl.ac.be via an SSH tunnel or a SOCK proxy.

Accounts expire every year ; the procedure to renew them is identical to the one followed to create them in the first place. Make sure to use the same email address. If your email address changed, please choose the corresponding option when renewing your account.

Note that we do not store your passwords in plain text, rather in hashed form. That means we are able to check that the password you provide when you connect is correct, but we are not able to give it back to you. In case you forget your password, you simply need to go back to http://login.cism.ucl.ac.be/ and follow the same instructions as when you created your account. Just make sure to give the exact same email address each time and your existing account will be updated with the new information and choose option “reset my password”.

How to create a CÉCI account

Access to the CÉCI clusters (shared among participating universities) is granted automatically to holders of a university email address. The same rules apply for all CÉCI cluster irrespective of which university hosts them.

Note

The CÉCI account can be requested by following the procedure described here. If you know how to proceed, go directly to the CÉCI login creation page.

Note that here again, you need to be connected to the network in Belgium to access those pages. Creating an account or renewing an account from abroad can be done using the UCLouvain VPN or by contacting us with your IP address.

Accounts also expire every year ; the procedure to renew them is identical to the one followed to create them in the first place. Just make sure to use the “Renew account” option and the exact same email address as the one used to create the account in the first place.

For any additional information about the CÉCI accounts please refer to https://www.ceci-hpc.be.