Automatic user configuration

Automatic user configuration

When an experiment is approved and scheduled by instrument scientist, User office assigns a user with his/her federal ID, which allows user to access ISIS network including isiscompute servers and provides appropriate information to [Catalog service], giving the user rights to access the data through the Catalog.

At some stage, special information file, which defines the participants of the experiments and the scientists who have access to the data of this experiment is placed on the internal server where it is accessed and automatically processed by issicompute configuration script. The format of the file is .json and the sample contents is provided below.

The automatic isiscompute configuration script runs twice a day on isiscompue server processing the information file, creating user accounts and appropriate RB folders and giving users permissions to access their RB folders on the basis of the information file. Alex Buts and FBU IT support FBU IT support (Jeffs Warren) have access and can modify this script. At the final stage this script runs the Mantid configuration script for inelastic instruments, which configures user's Mantid to user's Experimental Data, Instrument parameters and Instrument definitions necessary to process these data and to provides users with sample version of Reduction scripts, which users should modify to their requests according to description, using help of their instrument scientist if necessary. Alex Buts is responsible for maintaining this script.

When sample user's Reduction scripts are copied to user's RB folder from the Mantid Script Repository sample folder, their date is set up to the experiment start date and the time -- exact midnight of the start date. Configuration script running twice a day checks this date and if it does not changed, replaces the existing script with the script, found in the Mantid Script Repository sample folder. If somebody touched the copied script, its date and time changes and autoconfiguration script stops replacing the file.

The workflow can be formally described as below:

Stage Num	Input	Frequency, Actor & Event	Result	Person responsible
1	--	Two weeks before Cycle, Crhis closes archive on the previous cycle. Sets up new cycle	Cycle Folders appear in the archive. Something else?	Chris Moreton-Smith
2	Cycle Folder from 1	On Input from 1, Somebody from the team, sets up new cycle for cataloguing data.	?	Tom Griffin
3	--	On request, Instrument Scientists, schedules experiment in Scheduler application	Input for scheduler script	Instrument Scientist
4	e-mail from 5.1, on experiment accepted	Experimental team is added to visits system	Input for scheduler scripts	PI on accepted proposal
5	Results from 3 & 4	Twice a day: Scheduler? scripts runs processing inputs.	1) Emails user office to create&renew FedID-s 2) Generates information file containing RB number, Instrument, Cycle, visitors names & FedIDs	Hannah Griffin
6	Output 5.1 from Scheduler script	Create FedID & renew the old one	1. User team as input for 5 2. E-mails to users	User's office
7	Output 5.2 from Scheduler script	Twice a day: issicompute configuration script	1. Creates RB folders, User folders, access rights, autoreduction configuration. 2. Users got rights to log into isiscompute and access their experiment folders. 3. Starts Mantid Configuration script (8) and provides it with information about FedID&instrument&RB number	Jeff Warren & Alex Buts
8	7.3 and contents of MantidConfig folders	Started by 7 Mantid configuration script	1. Mantid configured for first usage, Experimental Data and Instrument parameters and Instrument definitions data search path is set up and path to common inelastic script is configured. 2. User scripts copied to users according their instruments and the contents of Mantid Users Script repository	Alex Buts
9.	Contents of Mantid Users Script repository on the web. Contents of SVN servers on the web.	Once an Hour: Inelastic data update script pulls contents of the web repositories into files on isiscompute.	Instrument parameters and Instrument definitions files in correspondent isiscompute folders are up-to date	Alex Buts

Extract from .json file defined users who has access to the data

{
"Last Updated": 20150413,
"experiments":
[
  {
   "RbNumber": "1234567",
   "Instrument": "MERLIN",
   "Cycle": "2013/4",
   "StartDate": "20131203",
   "Permissions": [
     {
       "email": "YYYY@stfc.ac.uk",
       "fedid": "XXXXX"
     },
     {
       "email": "warren.jeffs@stfc.ac.uk",
       "fedid": "gpq43739"
     },
     {
       "email": "alex.buts@stfc.ac.uk",
       "fedid": "wkc26243"
     }
   ]
 },
 { "NEXT RB NUMBER""
 }