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How Do I Request Help?
28-Jan-2008
Introduction
The Research Computing Support Group (RCSG) utilizes the Help Desk provided by the Division of Information Technology to route requests for help to the RCSG for our Shared Compute Clusters. The Help Desk can receive your request either by phone or email. In order to get the fastest service, please provide all of the following information in your request. Failure to do so will slow down problem resolution.
Problem Submitting or Running a Job
If you are having trouble submitting a job on one of our shared compute clusters, or are able to submit a job but it terminates with an error that you do not understand, please inform the Help Desk and include the following information:
- Message Subject:
- Include an informative subject line that includes the name of the cluster.
- Message Body::
- Description: Provide an informative description of the problem.
- Job ID: Include the job ID number(s) of any failed jobs so that we can trace the job(s) execution on the cluster.
- Job Script: Include the full path to the job submission script for the failed job(s).
- Error Messages: Include the exact error messages you received (if any) or include the full path to the job(s) error file (usually a file ending in .ER in the current working directory of your job unless you have specified otherwise).
- Expected Output: Include a description of the expected job output (how long the job is expected to run; what the output should look like, and so forth).
- Urgency: Do not mark a Help Desk ticket as Urgent unless the cluster is refusing to run jobs by all users, the cluster is inaccessable, the filesystems are unavailable, and so on. Urgent status is generally reserved for system failures.
Problem Compiling Your Code
If you are having a problem compiling software on one the shared compute clusters, please inform the Help Desk and include the following information:
- Message Subject:
- Include an informative subject line that includes the name of the cluster
- Message Body:
- Description: Provide an informative description of the problem.
- Code Location: Include the full path to the code you are trying to compile.
- Compilation Instructions: Provide the instructions that you are using to compile the code, including any environment variables you are using.
- Download URL: Provide the download URL where the software came from (if applicable).
- Error Messages: Include the exact error messages you have received (if any) when you tried to compile the software.
- Urgency: Do not mark a Help Desk ticket as Urgent unless the cluster is refusing to run jobs by all users, the cluster is inaccessable, the filesystems are unavailable, and so on. Urgent status is generally reserved for system failures.
Need Help Installing Software
If you need to install your own software, please see our Software Installation Policy which covers this subject.
General Problems
If you are having a problem with a shared computer cluster that is not covered by one of the previous sections, please inform the Help Desk and include the following information:
- Message Subject:
- Include an informative subject line that includes the name of the cluster
- Message Body:
- Description: Provide an informative description of the problem.
- Details: Include relevant details. For example, if you are having trouble logging in to the cluster, please specify what type of desktop system you are using (Mac, Windows, Unix, Linux) and the version of the operating system. If you are having trouble transferring files, for example, please tell us the approximate size of the files, where you are transferring them to and from (include the full path name on the cluster), the names of the files, and so on.
- Error Messages: Include the exact error messages you have received (if any) as a result of your problem.
- Urgency: Do not mark a Help Desk ticket as Urgent unless the cluster is refusing to run jobs by all users, the cluster is inaccessable, the filesystems are unavailable, and so on. Urgent status is generally reserved for system failures.
Contacting the Help Desk
http://helpdesk.rice.edu
helpdesk@rice.edu
713-348-4357
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