Portal Documentation

All CAC resources and projects are managed in the CAC Portal at portal.cac.cornell.edu. For login instructions, see CAC Portal Login. See Portal Overview and Portal Usage Examples to get started. Click on the house icon anytime to return to the Portal home page.

Portal Login

1. Go to the CAC portal using a web browser. Click on the Login button in the upper right corner.

2. If you have logged into Globus before and remained logged in, you are automatically logged into the Portal. You will be redirected back to the CAC Portal home page and should skip all remaining steps. Continue on to the Portal Overview section.

   Otherwise, on the Globus login screen, select your institutional login and click the Continue button. Please be aware that you should always use the same credentials (same organization and login) to access the Portal.

   • Cornell users: Select Cornell University.
   • Weill Cornell Medicine users: Select Weill Cornell Medical College.

3. You will get forwarded to your institutional login page (CUWebLogin for Cornell users or WCM Web Login for Weill Cornell users). Log in using your NetID, CWID, or your institutional username and password.

4. If you are redirected back to the CAC Portal home page, you have successfully logged in and may proceed directly to step 8.

   If you are a new user or are accessing the Portal for the first time, you will see the page below. Click on Continue. Do not choose Link to an existing account, as the Portal authenticates with your Globus account's primary email, and linking another account could change the primary email. In this case, you will not be viewed as your intended identity.

5. It will ask you to complete the Globus sign-up.

6. On the page below, click on Allow.

7. If you are redirected to the page below, you will need to fill out your contact information. You only have to complete this page on your first login as a new user.

8. After completing your contact information (if prompted), you should arrive at the CAC Portal home page. You have successfully logged into the CAC Portal.

Portal Overview

The Portal provides links to update credentials and view/manage your CAC project.

On the top, the navigation bar has shortcuts to common CAC resources and a link to a help page and to update user's contact information. In the box called Request or Join a CAC Project, users can manage CAC project access and create new CAC projects. To the right, the box Manage your CAC login credentials contains links to change your CAC Account password or update your SSH key (for Cayuga cluster users). If a user is in a CAC project, the box Your CAC Projects(s) has links to view and manage CAC projects. If you do not have sufficient permission or role to access a link, the links are disable (grayed out). The following image is a what a non-Cornell user sees after login.

Update Contact

On the navigation bar, click on Welcome [Your Name] and choose Update Contact to update any of your contact information.

Request or Join a CAC Project

Request to Join an Existing CAC Project

In Request or Join a CAC Project panel, click on Request to Join an Existing CAC Project to see a list of existing CAC projects. In the dropdown menu, choose the CAC project that the PI requested you to join and click Send Request. An email is sent to the PI/Proxy about your request, and they can manage the requests in Review CAC Project Member Requests.

Review CAC Project Member Requests

In Request or Join a CAC Project panel, click on Review CAC Project Member Requests to see all join requests made to CAC projects that the user is a PI/Proxy of. The PI/Proxy can accept or reject the requests on this page. Once a request is accepted, a confirmation email is sent to the requester, and if they do not have a CAC account, the email will also contain their CAC account ID and instructions on how to set it up. If a request is rejected, an email is also sent to the requester.

Request an Exploratory CAC Project

Exploratory CAC projects are available to anyone at Cornell and WCM who has never had access to Red Cloud resources. The exploratory project has 165 compute hours, 50 GB of storage, and 1 hour of free consulting, which may be used to help you build your image or install your software. This exploratory project is designed to let users test and see if Red Cloud meets their needs. If you are eligible for an exploratory project, click Request an Exploratory CAC Project and complete the form.

Create a New CAC Project

Cornell University faculty and staff can start new CAC projects by clicking on Create a New CAC Project in Request or Join a CAC Project panel. Upon completing the form, the designated Account Contact will receive an email with instructions for setting up the project. The new CAC project will be created once the Account Contact successfully completes the setup process.

Manage your CAC Login Credentials

Update CAC Password

In Manage your CAC login credentials panel, click on Update CAC password to change your CAC account's password. This option is unavailable if you do not have a CAC account. Your CAC password expires every six months, so if you encounter invalid credentials when logging into private clusters, please update your CAC password and try again.

Generate SSH key pair (Cayuga Cluster Users Only)

In Manage your CAC login credentials panel, click on Generate SSH key pair to generate a new SSH key pair for logging into the Cayuga cluster.

Review Policies

In Manage your CAC login credentials panel, review CAC and Cornell University policies.

Your CAC Project(s)

Users in a CAC project may belong to one or more roles, which determines their management permissions.

• Project PI - The lead on the project, the person who can authorize billing and designate team members.
• Project Proxy - Can represent the PI in all ways related to the project.
• Project Account Contact - The person who handles billing in your department.
• Project Member - Can use the compute resources allocated to the project.

Description - View

The description of the project. All project members can view the project description.

Description - Update

The PI/ Proxy can update the project description.

Resources - View

The amount of resources on this project. All project members can view resources, including Red Cloud subscriptions, storage, running instances, and consulting hours history.

Resources - Update

The PI, Proxy, or Account Contact can update project resources, such as purchasing more Red Cloud subscriptions, increasing Red Cloud storage, toggling Archival Storage, or changing consulting hours.

Members - View

All project members can view current members on this project.

Members - Update

The PI/Proxy can manage members, including accepting join requests (through Review CAC Project Member Requests), promoting members to Proxies, demoting Proxies to members, and removing members from the CAC project.

Account - Invoices

The PI, Proxy, and Account Contact may view monthly invoices incurred by this project.

Account - Update

The PI, Proxy, or Account Contact can update the billing account for this project. The Account Contact may also be changed on this page.

Remove Project

The PI/Proxy can remove a project by clicking on Remove Project, and the project will be scheduled for removal. Everything will be deleted, including Red Cloud instances, storage, and unused subscriptions.

Portal Usage Examples

I Can't Login with My Credentials, What Should I Do? 🔗

Your CAC Account's password expires every six months, so you should reset it at Update CAC Password.

How Do I Join an Existing Project? 🔗

As the user:

1. In the Request or Join a CAC Project box, choose Request to Join an Existing CAC Project.
2. From the dropdown list, select the project the user has been asked to join and click on Send Request. An email is then sent to the Project PI/Proxy.

As the PI/Proxy:

1. In the Request or Join a CAC Project box, choose Review CAC Project Member Requests.
2. Approve or Reject the user's request.
   1. If approved, user will be added to the project within an hour.
   2. If rejected, a notification email is sent to the user.
      

How Do I Request an Exploratory Project? 🔗

If you are a Cornell user and have not yet had access to Red Cloud:

1. In the Request or Join a CAC Project box, choose Request an Exploratory CAC Project.

2. If you are eligible, you will see the exploratory project form. After completing the form, CAC will set up your exploratory project shortly.

   

As a Cornell Faculty or Staff, How Do I Start a new Project? 🔗

As the Cornell Faculty or Staff:

1. In the Request or Join a CAC Project box, choose Create a New Project.
2. After completing the project form, an email is sent to the designated Account Contact.

As the designated Account Contact:

1. Follow the steps in CAC Portal Login to login.
2. Once logged in, click on the link in the email that leads to a page called "Account Information for [Project ID]".
3. Complete the Project Account box with the proper billing information and click Update at the bottom.
4. The project will be created shortly after, and the project PI will be notified by email.

As the PI/Proxy, How Do I Add Resources (e.g., Red Cloud Subscriptions, Consulting Hours)? 🔗

1. In the Your CAC Project(s) box, under the Resource column, click on Update for the project.
2. Add Red Cloud Subscription:
   1. In the field to the right of Red Cloud Subscription, enter the amount to add.
   2. For example, if the current subscription count is 4, and you would like to increase the count to 5, enter 1 in the field and click Add this Qty.
3. Add File Storage:
   1. In the field to the right of File Storage, enter the new File Storage Limit and Update.
   2. For example, if the current limit is 50 GB and you want to update to 100 GB, you would enter 100 and click Update.
      
4. Toggle Archival Storage:
   1. On the radio button to the right of Archival Storage, toggle between On and Off, and click Update.
5. Setting Consulting hours:
   1. Consulting hours must be set to one of these three options:
      • On with no limit - Choose this option if you want to use consulting hours without checking and updating the limits.
      • Off - Choose this option to ensure that CAC will not bill consulting hours past the date it is turned off.
      • Set max limit - Choose this option to use consulting hours without exceeding the max limit specified.
   2. After updating your settings, remember to click Update.

As the PI/Proxy, How Do I Promote a User to Proxy? 🔗

As the user and Proxy/PI: 1. The user should first be added as a member.

As the Proxy/PI:

1. In the Your CAC Project(s) box, under the Members column, click on Update for the project.
2. Click on the Add Proxy button next to the member to be updated as a Proxy.

As the PI/Proxy, How Do I Update Account Contact? 🔗

As the PI/Proxy:

1. In the Your CAC Project(s) box, under the Account column, click on Update for the project.
2. In the Designated Account Contact box, change the email, name, and phone number to those of the new designated Account Contact. An email is sent to the new Account Contact.

As the new Account Contact:

1. Follow the steps in CAC Portal Login to login.
2. Once logged in, click on the link in the email that leads to a page called "Account Information for [Project ID]". If you see the page, it confirms you have proper access to the project as the Account Contact.

As the Account Contact, How Do I Update Project Billing Account? 🔗

1. In the Your CAC Project(s) box, under the Account column, click on Update for the project.
2. In the Project Account box, update the Project Account box as needed and click on Update at the bottom. A notification email is sent to the PI, Proxy, and the Account Contact.