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About Argonne BGL Accounts
All computing carried out on BGL is associated with a BGL "account".
This account is used to log onto the login servers and run jobs on the
BG/L system. If someone has a BGL account, then they have a login
name that is recorded in the BGL user database.
This web page describes accounts in detail, including policies,
concepts and so on. There are several other useful web pages related
to accounts:
Who Can Get an Account
Any ANL MCS employee with an MCS computer account can get an account on BGL
simply by checking the BGL resource from the
MCS
Resource Request page. You will need to log onto that page
with your standard MCS username and password.
MCS employees who do not already have an MCS account should apply for
one through the MCS
Account Request page and select the BGL resource.
Anyone else wishing to have an account on BGL must fill out a BGL
account request form with a description of the work they wish to do on
BGL. These accounts must be sponsored by a MCS Staff member. Sponsors
are asked annually to confirm that the accounts that they have
sponsored should continue to be kept active on BGL.
Account Abilities
Someone with an active account can login to the BGL login servers,
accessible as bgl.mcs.anl.gov. That account will
have some home directory space, can transfer files to and from that
space via the login nodes, and can carry out development activities
such as editing, compiling, and so on.
Account Policies
All holders of BGL accounts must abide by all appropriate MCS and
ANL computing usage policies. These are described at the time of the
account request and include requirements such as using a sufficiently
strong password, appropriate use of the system, and so on. Any user
not following these requirements will have their account disabled.
Furthermore, BGL is intended to be used as a computing resource for
specific BlueGene/L work, not as a general-purpose
login/email/file-server system. If someone is using the system
extensively but not carrying out any computational activities, their
account may be disabled.
Account States
An account can be in any one of several states:
- Pending: A pending account is one that has been requested
but has not yet been created.
- Active: An active account is one that can be used to
interact with the BGL Login Servers. This is the normal state
for BGL accounts that are being used.
- Disabled: A disabled account still exists on the system,
meaning that the account is in the database and the user's files exist
on disk, but that cannot be used to interact with the BGL Login Servers.
An account might be disabled due to misuse of the account,
security concerns, or because the account is no longer being used.
- Expired: An expired account is one that has at some point
in the past existed on the system and is thus in the records and
backups, but that no longer has access to the systems or files on
disk. For most practial purposes, an expired account no longer
exists.
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