Off-Site Procedures¶

Before familiarizing yourself with the procedures please read the Off-Site Shifting Requirements.

• Table of contents
• Off-Site Procedures
  • Off-Site Shifting Procedure
    • Starting your Off-Site Shift
    • During your Off-Site Shift
  • Start-up Guide
    • Establish Connection to FNAL
    • Start-up of the Run Control VNC
    • Start-up the Slow Monitoring/Control VNC
    • Start-up PUBS Monitoring GUI
    • Open a Remote Desktop Session for iFix
    • Open SSH Tunnel for Web Interfaces
    • Open Web Pages
    • Communication with ROC West
    • Get ready for Shift
  • Quick Start-up Guide

This page describes how to start up and perform your off-site shift.
For how to set up your off-site remote operations center, see Off-Site System Setup.

Off-Site Shifting Procedure¶

In general an off-site shifter is obliged to follow the procedures described on the Wiki main page. There are also some special procedures an off-site shifters will need to follow.

Starting your Off-Site Shift¶

First,arrange enough time to start up your off-site shift system. Under normal conditions it takes about 15 minutes to set everything up and you also want to have an overlap with previous shifter. (You are required to contact the previous shifter 10 minutes prior to the start of your shift block, remember). You will also need time to follow the shift turnover procedures, including verifying that the call forwarding to your shift station is working.

• Follow the start-up or quick start-up guide below.

• Get in touch with the previous shifter, usually via Slack, and exchange information on the detector status. Follow the Shift_turnover procedures.

• Exchange information with previous shifters.

• Call MCR (use your landline). Inform them that you are off-site, and tell them what station you are at.

If you encounter problems setting up your system, inform the Run Coordinator. In case of severe connection difficulties such that you cannot fulfill the requirements of shifting, you may also have to inform the backup shifter.

During your Off-Site Shift¶

Although you may be thousands of miles away from the detector, it is very important that the communication between the shifters and experts works out well. Therefore please try to stick to these rules

• Off-Site shifters must monitor the Slack chat carefully and should use it any time they have questions.

• If you need to step out, you can take quick breaks (few minutes) but if you'll be gone for longer arrange for shift coverage by someone who is also shift-trained. Ensure that anyone covering for you knows who to call in case of an emergency (experts and the run coordinator).

Start-up Guide¶

This guide lists all steps necessary for starting up your off-site remote shift system. All steps in this guide might change, so if steps in this guide do not work, please look up the information on the Wiki main page.

Establish Connection to FNAL¶

Get a Kerberos Ticket by using your FNAL computing account (e.g. kinit <username>@FNAL.GOV)

Please remember to kinit as yourself at the start of each remote shift. Coasting on old credentials can cause you to lose connection when they unexpectedly expire.

It is very important to regularly check that your VNC connections are up to date.

Start-up of the Run Control VNC¶

Before you start up the run control VNC for the first time please check out RC - Guide.

Open a terminal/shell with key forwarding enabled (option -K)

ssh -K -L 5903:localhost:5903 uboonedaq@ubdaq-prod-ws01.fnal.gov

and on ws01, do

ssh -L 5903:localhost:5903 uboonedaq@ubdaq-prod-evb.fnal.gov

Do not kinit as yourself on ws01 (or ws02, or evb). These machines have special principals; if you overwrite them you will lock the DAQ experts out of the system.

Now, connect your VNC client to localhost:5903. If you are using RealVNC, open a new terminal and start the VNC session locally on your machine with the command

vncviewer localhost:5903

Use a separate terminal for this command, not in the ws01 or evb window!

Enter the standard DAQ password and wait for the VNC to appear.

If you are facing any problems read RC - Guide and RC - Troubleshooting before calling the expert.

Start-up the Slow Monitoring/Control VNC¶

If you are operating Slow Monitoring/Control for the first time make sure you read SLC - Guide.

Open a terminal/shell

ssh -K -L 5902:localhost:5902 ubooneshift@ubdaq-prod-ws01.fnal.gov

now, connect your VNC client to localhost:5902. If you are using RealVNC, open a new terminal and start the VNC session locally on your machine with the command

vncviewer localhost:5902

Password can be found in the Projects tab on ECL under SMC common password (VNC viewer)

If you face any issues while starting up or during operations check SLC - Guide and SLC - Troubleshooting before calling the expert.

Start-up PUBS Monitoring GUI¶

For more information about PUBS read DM - Overview and DM - Shifters

Open a terminal/shell

ssh -KX uboonedaq@ubdaq-prod-ws01.fnal.gov

while on ws01 do

ssh -X uboonedaq@ubdaq-prod-evb.fnal.gov

on this machine execute the following lines

cd pubs
source config/setup.sh
setup pyqtgraph
python $PUB_TOP_DIR/pub_mongui/mongui.py

When problems occur follow DM - Troubleshooting before calling an expert.

Open a Remote Desktop Session for iFix¶

To access iFix, you need to have previously activated your Fermi Domain account and arranged for it to be granted access to the ifix machine by contacting the Run Coordinators and providing your username.
Once you have set up the usual VPN connection (above)

Connect to ssh tunnel to iFix through ws01:

ssh -C -N -K -L 13389:ppd-ifix2.fnal.gov:3389 ubooneshift@ubdaq-prod-ws01.fnal.gov

Connect to iFix using a Remote Desktop Protocol client. On Ubuntu, the default is Remmina. For Mac OSX one can use the Microsoft Remote Desktop app, instructions can be found here: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn473012(v=ws.11).aspx

The information you need for the connection using Remmina is:

• Protocol = RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol)
• Server = localhost:13389
• Username = [leave this blank for now]
• Password = [leave this blank for now]
• Domain = [leave this blank]

Then, hit connect. A pop-up screen should load, and you will be prompted to enter your account information:

• Username = [your own personal Fermi Domain account]
• Password = [your own personal Fermi Domain password]

To connect using Microsoft Remote Desktop use the following:

• Server = localhost:13389
• Username = FERMI\< Fermi Domain username>
• Password = [Fermi Domain password]

Then, hit connect.

You should see a windows computer screen load, and ifix will start automatically. If it does not start automatically, double click on the iFix icon on the desktop. Be mindful to only observe the microboone alarm status, and do not make any alterations to any settings in the ifix. When you first load the ifix, you may notice an message: "The alarm queue SUMMARY LIST has overflowed. At least one alarm may have been lost." You can safely dismiss this message, the cryo experts have verified that none of the alarms are lost. In general, if there are alarms right at the start up of the ifix session (red lights, warning messages, etc.) you can safely dismiss them.

Open SSH Tunnel for Web Interfaces¶

Make sure to setup automatic proxy in your browser settings using this configuration: https://cdcvs.fnal.gov/redmine/attachments/download/24625/lartf.pac

In order to view the Online Monitoring Lizard, Ganglia and the PUBS status pages one needs to open the following SSH tunnel. This can be done in a separate Terminal by

ssh -K -D 8881 uboonedaq@ubdaq-prod-ws01.fnal.gov

Now you are ready to start-up the web pages.

Open Web Pages¶

The following web pages need to be open during the whole shift.

In the Opera browser open

• uBooNE Online Monitor Lizard

• MicroBooNE Trigger Page

• MicroBooNE Run Catalogue

• MicroBooNE Supernova Run Catalog

• MicroBooNE Run Summary

• MicroBooNE Run Statistics

• Network Weather Map

In any browser of your choice open

• Ganglia Shifer View

• MiniBooNE Monitor

• BNB Status Display

• NuMi Status Display

• Accelerator Division Notification Page

• Slow Monitoring Archiver Status runs in SlowMon VNC window

• MicroBooNE Operations Wiki

• MicroBooNE Run Plan

• MicroBooNE Expert Call List

• Shift Slack Channel

• MicroBooNE Elog

If you face any problems with the online monitoring Lizard look into OM - Checklist, OM - Guide and OM - Troubleshooting.

When you have trouble with the BNB Beam monitor checkout Beam - Guide.

Communication with ROC West¶

[We do not staff ROC west continuously anymore, so this section is no longer relevant. It's kept here for reference in case we have period where we staff ROC west and a remote center again.]

Communication with ROC West is an important part of your off-site shift, therefore:

• Connect to MicroBooNE's CERN Vidyo room using the instructions in Off-Site System Setup.

• Login to the MicroBooNE Slack and join the "shift" channel.

If the Vidyo connection fails, connect to Skype using your local shifting account and call ubooneshift. If both fail, use your landline to communicate with ROC West. Also inform ROC West if you have trouble with your off-site system.

Get ready for Shift¶

If you successfully performed all of the above steps, you are almost ready for shift. Call MCR using your landline, give inform them about the off-site shift and leave them your phone number.

Now, you are ready for shift!

Quick Start-up Guide¶

Open a terminal/shell

ssh -K -L 5903:localhost:5903 -L 5902:localhost:5902 -D 8881 uboonedaq@ubdaq-prod-ws01.fnal.gov

and on ws01, do

ssh -L 5903:localhost:5903 ubdaq-prod-evb.fnal.gov

Now connect yout VNC client to localhost:5903 and localhost:5902.

After that follow the steps to start up PUBS above and open the all the needed pages with your browser(s).