FAQ: Coming to SLAC
Question:
Do I need a computer account?
Answer:
Yes. We really think you do. Unix and Windows. Getting an exchange account (i.e. slac email address) is optional and if you do, please remember to check it or set up an auto-forward to an account you do check.
Question:
When should I get a computer account?
Answer:
We would like to urge people to get computer accounts BEFORE arriving at SLAC. They are necessary for accessing data and the FACET e-log. It can take some time so please don't leave it until you actually need to use it!
Question:
How do I get a SLAC Computer Account?
Answer:
Please follow the Computing Account step (5) as described here:
https://facet-ii.slac.stanford.edu/user-resources/new-user-registration
Please note that once you have your computer account, you have to complete a Cyber Security Basics Training course within 5 days: Course CS100 - Cyber Security Training for Lab Users or Course CS200 - Cyber Security Training for Employees (if you are a SLAC employee) . Failure to do so will result in the account being disabled.
This cyber security course must be taken every year to keep the account active. Failure to keep this training up-to-date will lead to computer account deletion (all data in the account will be lost). You will also need to regularly use the account and change passwords every 6 months to keep it from being disabled. To re-enable computer accounts, contact SLAC IT directly.
Question:
How do I get a VPN account?
Answer:
Windows accounts should be automatically enabled for VPN.
If you don't have a Windows account, please follow the instructions here (step 5):
https://facet-ii.slac.stanford.edu/user-resources/new-user-registration
If you already have a Windows account but you're having problems using VPN, you should be able to find troubleshooting advice here.
Question:
How do I get an account under fphysics?
Answer:
If you would like to get access to FACET control system, for example to pull up the facethome control panel, you need to do the following...
1) Get a SLAC unix account.
2) Generate a public rsa key on your SLAC unix account.
$ ssh-keygen -t rsa
(Then hit return three times)
3) Send email to: controls-system-admins@slac.stanford.edu confirming you've generated your SSH key and copy Spencer Gessner.
Give your SLAC unix account name in this email.
Spencer will confirm to the controls-system-admin that you need access to FACET servers to do your work.
Once you've done this, the control-system-admin will grab your RSA key from your unix account and grant you access permission to ssh into the FACET server.
Question:
How do I access facethome?
Answer:
You need an account under fphysics to do this. See the other FAQ entry.
Once you have an account under fphysics...
Log into mcclogin.slac.stanford.edu with your usual unix account. (Mcclogin is inside the SLAC firewall. If you are outside of SLAC, you either need to ssh to a gateway machine such as rhel6-64.slac.stanford.edu or you need to have VPN running. And then you can ssh to mcclogin! See some other FAQ entries for how to connect to linux remotely if you need further guidence.)
user@mcclogin $ ssh fphysics@facet-srv01
Choose 0 for no profile if your name does not appear on the list. Otherwise, choose the number by your name.
[fphysics@facet-srv01 ~ ]$ facethome &
Question:
How do I connect from off-site with limited bandwidth?
Answer:
We recommend Fastx.
Information about FastX can be found at the following URL:
https://fastx.slac.stanford.edu:3443
SLAC FastX documentation is here: https://confluence.slac.stanford.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=205985167
Please seek help from IT if you encounter an issue. https://it.slac.stanford.edu/ is their webpage. Scroll down to the "support" section for multiple ways to get in touch with IT.
Question:
How can I use a proxy server?
Answer:
This is from SLAC colleague Greg White who wrote this based on using a Mac:
There are 2 keys steps:
1. Tell your computer’s network setup that it is permitted to use an Automatic Proxy Configuration. And further tell it where to find the proxy configuration file. You can use my proxy configuration file; it’s publicly available here:
[1] https://www.slac.stanford.edu/~greg/proxy.pac
FYI on a Mac you would do the above with the following steps:
System Preferences -> Network -> [Advanced] -> Proxies -> (check Automatic Proxy Configuration) and in the dialog box for "Proxy Connection File” URL enter "https://www.slac.stanford.edu/~greg/proxy.pac”
Click Ok and Apply to activate the new network configuration.
This system is sometimes called SOCKS proxy, so maybe on Windows look for that.
Now, whenever you browse to a URL whose pattern matches one in [1], your browser will try to tunnel port 80 (HTTP) through port 1080. But that alone won’t work until you’ve set up the second step, tunnel port 1080 to SLAC.
2. In a terminal window (or for instance in Putty) execute an ssh command to make the tunnel to SLAC.
ssh -N -D 1080 <your-slac-username>@rhel6-64.slac.stanford.edu
You will be asked for your password at SLAC, then ssh will go into the background.
If you have set up Kerberos authentication, you don't even need to enter your password.
That’s it. A browser will now connect to the physics logbook though the ssh tunnel of step 2 because your SOCKS proxy configuration in step 1 listed http*://physics-elog.slac.stanford.edu* as one pattern that would cause the network to re-route HTTP traffic through the tunnel.
Question:
What do I do if I forget my computing account details or get locked out of my account?
Answer:
For windows and unix account details (VPN is the same as windows), please contact IT for help (go to their webpage https://it.slac.stanford.edu/ to see ways to contact IT support).
If your account is disabled because you missed the deadline for the Cyber Security training (see the separate FAQ item on this training), complete the training before contacting IT.
They will not restore your computing account until the training has been completed.
After you have completed the Cyber Security training. your SLAC Windows account will be automatically re-activated within 24 hours.
IT will also help with forgotten passwords.
Question:
What is Cyber Security training and how often is the refresher?
Answer:
If you are not a lab employee, complete the following training within 5 days of being given your computing account:
Course CS100 - Cyber Security for Laboratory Users Training
This course must be taken every year to keep the account active.
SLAC employees should take Course CS200.
SLAC Cyber Security Training is required to maintain a SLAC computer account. If you do not complete the training within 31 days of its due date, access to your SLAC computer account will be blocked. You will not be able to log in again until after you complete the required training.
How to Complete SLAC Cyber Security Awareness Training:
If you are using a computer issued by SLAC Computing or are using VPN, you can click the blue Launch Web Course button on this page:
https://www-internal.slac.stanford.edu/esh-db/training/slaconly/bin/catalog_item.asp?course=CS100
Otherwise:
Go here to complete the web based training: http://training.slac.stanford.edu/web-training.asp
You can use your Windows computer account. If you cannot use your Windows account, you can use your SLAC ID# and the password for the training is slac2005
When the course is completed, credit for completing the course will be downloaded into the SLAC training database. There is a test at the end of this course, and typically a passing grade of 80% or better is required to receive credit.
NOTE: We are seeing unpredictable behavior with various browsers on different platforms. We recommend you use Internet Explorer on a Windows computer and to save a copy of your certificate of successful completion at the end of all online trainings modules
Need assistance with finding your ID# or getting the password or running java? Go to the help page!
Question:
What are the contact details for the IT help desk?
Answer:
https://it.slac.stanford.edu/
Scroll down to their support section for the various ways to contact IT.
Question:
What linux machines can I ssh to off-site?
Answer:
http://www.slac.stanford.edu/comp/unix/public-machines.html
Question:
How can I connect remotely?
Answer:
The IT department have put together this "Remote Worker's Toolkit" which looks like it addresses every issue - DUO, VPN and SSH. Note that Citrix might not automatically be enabled for your computing account.
https://sites.slac.stanford.edu/remote-tool-kit/
Also, FastX is a modern solution for displaying remote Linux applications (X Clients) on your desktop or laptop. FastX gives you the option of using any standard web browser to connect to your remote Linux sessions. There is also a desktop application.
Information about FastX can be found at the following URL:
https://fastx.slac.stanford.edu:3443
SLAC FastX documentation is here: https://confluence.slac.stanford.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=205985167
Use
xterm -e ssh rhel6-64.slac.stanford.edu
Question:
What firewall controls are there between SLAC and the outside world?
Answer:
The network firewall controls certain types of connections between SLAC buildings and the Internet.
Details are here:
https://confluence.slac.stanford.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=213884374
For the majority of people, these controls are totally fine! You can ssh and ping from the outside to machines in SLAC buildings and essentially all the usual outgoing traffic is permitted.
However, some developers who write programs which access resources on the Internet via non-standard protocols, or those who access SLAC resources using non-standard applications from external locations, may need to get additional applications or ports onto the approved list.
If you are concerned, please discuss this with your facility point of contact and allow for some addtional time in setting up computers on the building networks.
Question:
How do I keep my computing accounts active?
Answer:
A SLAC windows computing account will automatically deactivate if it is not used. A user needs to login at least once every two months. We recommend that you login once a month so there is little risk of the account getting deactivated.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
"Log in" means to a SLAC managed machine. If you are offsite, this will be a remote desktop. There is a remote workers toolkit here and Linux server information here. Also, you could just login to your Office365 webmail if you have a windows email account. You can login to the web browser. (Note though that if you have a unix mailbox or just have a forwarding SLAC email in place, then you will not have access to Office365).
It will also automatically deactivate if the cyber security training is out of date. The cybersecurity training needs to be taken every year. If you don't have a SLAC email address you may not get notification of this. You should be able to check the training status in the user portal though.
Finally, you also need to change your passwords every 6 months.
If your account has been disabled, you need to contact IT to get it re-enabled. https://it.slac.stanford.edu/
Question:
Who has to sign the User Agreement?
Answer:
Frequently, the appropriate person to sign on behalf of the institution is the head of the university, dean of research, head of the international affairs office, legal counsel, etc.
Question:
What do I do if I have a question that isn't answered here?
Answer:
Work with the VUE center User Check-in Support Office on this. In general it should be noted that there is very little we can do to change the user Agreements which are from DOE. https://vue.slac.stanford.edu/vue-center
Question:
Is the Publications section putting a ban or limit on my publications?
Answer:
This is a DOE requirement. It does not prohibit or limit publication, it just means that we need prior notification.
Question:
Under the Non-proprietary agreement, am I losing my patent and data rights?
Answer:
Patent and Data Rights in the Non-Proprietary Agreement.
Under US law, all intellectual property (IP), including data, generated at a DOE-owned facility belong to the US government. However, DOE is authorized to “waive” some of its IP rights under certain conditions. It cannot waive the requirement to retain a non-exclusive royalty free license. The license DOE retains is not for commercial use, and does not include the right to sublicense for commercial purposes. These rights are available for use by SLAC or other DOE labs (or other US Government labs) for research purposes only.
This agreement would only apply to those activities (data, inventions, etc) arising out of the work performed under the terms of the Non-Proprietary User Agreement. Please keep in mind that the User will be under obligation to publish the results of its work performed at FACET, SSRL or LCLS in accordance with the Agreement.
Question:
Can I change parts of the User Agreement?
Answer:
Except for provisions marked with ***, minor modifications may be made. Discuss these with the VUE center User Check-in Support: https://vue.slac.stanford.edu/vue-center
Note that Indemnity in particular is not possible to alter- Any significant change to this clause will require review and approval from DOE counsel and contracting officer. I would not anticipate their approval of this change. The obligations are made subject to the extent permitted by State Law.
Question:
How does the User Agreement get applied to the Users?
Answer:
SLAC is a DOE-owned lab and has substantial security and safety requirements. Users are not admitted without agreeing to comply with our requirements. The institution must agree to comply with these, and the individual users who come to SLAC will be required to sign the single-page acknowledge at the end of the User Agreement (one acknowledgement per User).
Question:
Does the Costs, Billing and Payments section mean I need an account at SLAC?
Answer:
Costs, Billing and Payments.
Under the terms of the Non-Proprietary Agreement, Users may use the facility at no charge. However, in carrying out an experiment, there is sometimes the need for supplies that are not provided for free. This provision merely covers such circumstances.
Prior to your experiment coming to SLAC, there needs to be an understanding between the facility and you about what specialist supplies and additional support is required. The facility will estimate the costs associated with this. If the estimate is greater than zero, you will need to set up an account at SLAC to handle paying for the support or supplies. Note this is rare and does not often apply.
Question:
What are User Agreements?
Answer:
Information can be found on the user portal website
Question:
I am an experimenter on an approved experiment and I am coming to SLAC. What do I do?
Answer:
New Users can register via the steps outlined here.
Existing users should follow arrival procedures here.
Question:
What steps do I go through to become a FACET user?
Answer:
Follow the steps outlined here.
Question:
What do I need to do when leaving SLAC?
Answer:
Exit procedures are here.
Question:
I am the PI and my experiment has been approved. Now what?
Answer:
You should provide the facility staff with a list of the people that will work on your experiment. This should have been in the proposal but often, the cast of characters changes! You need to keep the facility up-to-date with who is on the experiment so they know to approve the application from the individuals to become SLAC Users.
The details for this (including a template for the list in an excel spreadsheet format) should be in your invitation letter. The invitation letter should also tell you an email address to send it to.
Question:
What can I do before coming to SLAC to do an experiment?
Answer:
In order to make your entry to SLAC easier and to waste the least amount of time before being able to work on your experiment, you need to complete the steps outlined on our User Registration page here.
Question:
I've been asked to report to International Serives Office- where do I go?
Answer:
International Services is located in Building 53 the Science User Support Building, Ground Floor (see Visitor Map). It is best to check in between the hours of 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM and to avoid lunch when staffing may be low.
The website for ISO is here: https://internal.slac.stanford.edu/human-resources/hr-services/internati...
Question:
How do I get my badge when I arrive at SLAC?
Answer:
See Arrival Procedures
Question:
Where do I go when I arrive at SLAC?
Answer:
You can find desk space in B52. Please ask Nadya Smith.
FACET Users can also use the space in B244 (the FACET User Trailer) also but are not advised to stay here 24/7 due to its proximity to klystrons (sources of non-ionizing radiation).
Question:
I am a Foreign National- what do I need to bring?
Answer:
Refer to the VUE center pages on this and check with the VUE center admin if you have any questions:
https://vue.slac.stanford.edu/foreign-nationals
Question:
I tested positive for Covid and/or have Covid symptoms- what do I do?
Answer:
Report the test and/or symptoms to your supervisor (Carsten Hast) and also in Health Check. Follow instrutions. Guidance can be found here:
https://healthalerts.stanford.edu/covid-19/prevention-care/testing-posit...
Note that processes for users are essentially identical to those for staff. To get clearance to come back on site, follow the same guidance as given to staff. Test kits are available.
If you are having problems with accommodation for quarantine, the Stanford Guest House at SLAC is used to hosting people for quarantine. Plus the SLAC housing office can assist to find appropriate airbnbs.
