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First Steps

Obtain a personal certificate

Every grid user is identified through a personal certificate issued centrally. In the UK, this is done by the UK e-Science Certification Authority. The details of the registration process are explained on their main page, we recommend that you use the CertWizard tool.

You will need to apply for a User Certificate. At some point you will be asked for a Registration Authority (RA) which will verify your identity later. Please choose one based at or near your home institution. After you have sent the registration request, the RA will contact you directly with details of the required proofs of identity.

Please note that this whole process can take several days or more, and that you cannot do anything else until you have the certificate ready! There is no harm in applying for your certificate early on.

Prepare your certificate

After your certificate has been approved, you should use the buttons in CertWizard to both

  • Install the certificate. This should create a directory called .globus in your home directory, containing two files userkey.pem and usercert.pem.
  • Export the certificate as a PKCS12 file. This .p12 file should then be imported into your web browser. The import procedure is browser specific, search for "import p12 certificate" to find details.

Register with PhenoGrid

Once your certificate is installed in your browser, you can register with the PhenoGrid Virtual Organisation (VO).

Follow the instructions on the registration website. An automated email will be sent to the PhenoGrid VO admins informing them of your request. You will hear from them directly once your request has been granted.

Find a Grid user interface

All access to the Grid happens through designated user interface (UI) machines. Check if there is a UI at your local institution that is already configured to recognize PhenoGrid. If there is one, and you have an account on it, copy the .globus directory into your UI account and you can submit your first job!

If you have no local UI available, please contact us to discuss options.

User Guides

The Quick User Guide for Submitting Jobs contains more detailed descriptions of many of these steps, and has some information on submitting your first jobs.

Alternatively, a nicer frontend is provided by the Ganga tool (Depricated, do not do this).