News and Announcements from OSG Operations > Power maintenance in the Indiana University - Bloomington Data Center - June 4, 2013

On June 4th from 8:00 to 17:00 EDT there will be extensive work in the Bloomington data center involving power maintenance. The portion of the data center hosting GOC services should not be affected and OSG operations staff will be available in the unlikely event of an inturruption.

News and Announcements from OSG Operations > Announcing test of Java 7-based packages

OSG community:

To help OSG admins migrate from the now-unsupported Java version 6, the OSG
Software team has prepared and tested new builds of all Java packages using
Java version 7 (specifically OpenJDK 7). Today, we are announcing that the
new packages are ready for broad testing by the community.

Because sites may not want to install the new Java packages immediately, we
are providing the packages in our separate Upcoming repositories. That is,
the packages are currently in the "osg-upcoming-testing" repo and will move
to production initially in the "osg-upcoming" repo.

If you are eager to migrate away from Java 6, please help us by testing the
new Java 7 packages! For documentation on installing or upgrading, see our
preliminary instructions at:

https://www.opensciencegrid.org/bin/view/Documentation/Release3/InstallSoftwareWithOpenJDK7

The main software components affected by this project are:

* BeStMan 2
* dCache and BeStMan SRM clients
* GUMS
* Gratia service
* HDFS (aka hadoop-0.20)
* Pegasus
* VOMS (specifically, VOMS Admin)

The full list of packages undergoing testing is provided below.

The following packages were rebuilt and put in osg-upcoming-testing:

bestman2
cog-jglobus-axis
dcache-srmclient
emi-trustmanager
emi-trustmanager-axis
emi-trustmanager-tomcat
glite-data-transfer-interface
glite-security-trustmanager
glite-security-util-java
gratia
gums
hadoop-0.20
jclassads
jetty
jglobus
joda-time
ndt
osg-ce
osg-client
osg-gridftp-xrootd
osg-se-bestman
osg-se-bestman-xrootd
osg-wn-client
pegasus
slf4j
voms-admin-server
voms-api-java
xrootd-hdfs

For more information, please see:

https://www.opensciencegrid.org/bin/view/Documentation/Release3/Java6Migration_draft

We welcome feedback on issues you encounter with the new packages at
or .

News and Announcements from OSG Operations > GOC Service Update - Tuesday, May 28th at 14:00 UTC

The GOC will upgrade the following services beginning Tuesday, May 28th, 2013 at 14:00 UTC. The GOC reserves 8 hours in the unlikely event that unexpected problems are encountered.  We encourage users to test affected services before the production release.

Oasis
* Adding symlink to cern cvmfs per CMS request
* Add listen ports on oasis-replica


OSG-XSEDE
* increase physical memory from 48 to 144 GB. (pending arrival of parts)


OIM 3.18
* PKI / Adding check for user certificate left un-issued for more than 15 days (send reminder), and 30 days (close ticket) [OSGPKI-377]
* Added a check to prevent user from re-requesting user certificate if there is another user certificate request that is in Requested or Approve states with the same DN requested.
* Updated user cert CSR generation help text based on Horst's input (GOC Ticket 15072)


MyOSG 2.11
* Upgrading to Zend Framework 1.12.3 (To fix Zend_Session issue)
* (Tentative) Publishing beta version of perfsonar mesh config


Ticket 1.64
* Increasing memory size on ticket1 to be 3G
* (patched) Fixed the issue where metadata values were not SQL escaped
* (patched) Fixed the issue where not all search results were displayed


RSV-SAM
* Switch production SAM publisher from rsv.grid to rsv1.grid


OSG Display - ITB version is available at http://display-itb.grid.iu.edu
* Upgrading UI wrapper to the new version.


All Services:

There will be OS updates; reboots will be required.  Downtime should be minimal, and the usual high-availability mechanisms will be used to reduce service downtime even further and eliminate it in most cases.  However, services may experience degraded performance, and the services without HA mechanisms (OIM and Twiki) will still experience brief downtimes.  Updates include, but are not limited to:
* [RHSA-2013:0769-01] Low: glibc security and bug fix update
* [RHSA-2013:0770-01] Important: java-1.6.0-openjdk security update
* [RHSA-2013:0772-01] Important: mysql security update
* [RHSA-2013:0815-01] Moderate: httpd security update
* [RHSA-2013:0822-01] Critical: java-1.7.0-ibm security update
* [RHSA-2013:0823-01] Critical: java-1.6.0-ibm security update
* [RHSA-2013:0830-01] Important: kernel security update
* [RHSA-2013:0831-01] Moderate: libvirt security and bug fix update

Derek's Blog > Submitting R jobs with Bosco

The Bosco team has been working on integrating with the R statistics processing language.  We have chosen to modify the GridR package in order to integrate with R.

How will the R user see Bosco?

RStudio IDE showing demo of Bosco + GridR integration

News and Announcements from OSG Operations > Announcing OSG Software 3.1.18

We are pleased to announce OSG Software version 3.1.18!

This is the new OSG Software distributed via RPMs for:

* Scientific Linux 5 and 6
* CentOS 5 and 6
* Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and 6

This release affects the SET-OF-METAPACKAGES (client, compute element, etc...). Changes include:

* Condor updated to version 7.8.8
* Oracle Java updated to version 1.6p45
* jGlobus fix for CRL reloading in BeStMan 2.3
* osg-ca-scripts fix logrotation

Release notes and pointers to more documentation can be found at:

https://www.opensciencegrid.org/bin/view/Documentation/Release3/Release3118

Need help? Let us know:

https://www.opensciencegrid.org/bin/view/Documentation/Release3/HelpProcedure

We welcome feedback on this release!

News and Announcements from OSG Operations > GOC Service Update - Tuesday, May 14th at 14:00 UTC

The GOC will upgrade the following services beginning Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 at 14:00 UTC. The GOC reserves 8 hours in the unlikely event that unexpected problems are encountered. We encourage users to test affected services before the production release.

GOC Ticket 1.63
* Disallowing search bots to access our ticket search interface which was causing a lot of false goc-alerts.
* Added capability to show "all tickets" in the search page.
* Increased the ticket count to be displayed on a single search page from 10 to 25
* Updated Campus Grid ticket submission form to assign campus grid support center.
* Fixed the problem where user couldn’t select menu item while Google analytics is loaded.

MyOSG 2.10
* Real Time Event / Updated the way OIM logs are displayed
* RSV Status Map / Update z-index logic to place sites with more resources on top of others [GOC Ticket 12911]

OIM 3.17
* Switching to OpenJDK6. Sun JDK6 is causing timeout issues while generating pkcs12.
* Added capability to specify which column should not be logged to OIM log table. Added user certificate retrieval passwords as non-log fields. Added capability to suppress log notification to AMQP.
* PKI / Added check to prevent OIM authenticated user from re-requesting someone else's certificates in terminal state.
* PKI / Updated notification message sent to the owner of expired user certificate to be more descriptive.
* PKI / Replaced GOC Ticket link with Request Time on certificate list [OSGPKI-356]
* PKI / Updated user certificate request to display all associated DN to let user know why they can’t submit the request with the specified email [OSGPKI-339]
* PKI / Added 2nd authentication checks before actually executing requested action; request status could change between when user display the certificate detail and when user performs an action.
* PKI / Added a link to a document explaining what to do if user forget his retrieval password inside user certificate issue action controller.
* PKI / Updated default sponsor selection from first one in the list to primary sponsor [OSGPKI-371]
* Setting default Next Action Date to the submit time instead of submit time + 7 days by default [OIM-60]
* (patched) PKI / Removed console.log() which was preventing host/user search form to not search properly on IE
* (patched) PKI / Fixed the bug where re-requesting didn’t reset CSR field which prevents OIM from issuing new CSR / private key
* (patched) PKI / Added sorting on VO names field in user certificate search form.

Blogs
* Added Marco’s Blog. Updating OSG GOC group image.

CAMon (camon.grid.iu.edu)
* This service will be shutdown.

GratiaWeb
* Upgrading to osg-measurements-metrics-db/web 1.2-1
* Added new Campus page (GRATIAWEB-32)
* Modified name of Factory Frontend Accounting page (GRATIAWEB-33)

BOSCO news > Bosco at Condor Week

Last week was Condor Week, where the we presented an overview of Bosco.

Some thoughts from the Bosco team on Condor Week:

• Miha Ahronovitz
  
• Marco Mamdelli

News and Announcements from OSG Operations > Oasis special maintenance announcement

The OASIS stratum-0 server (oasis.opensciencegrid.org) will be unavailable for 24 hours starting at 8:00 (eastern) Tuesday May 7. The maintenance is to increase the usable size of the repository. The stratum-1 (oasis-replica.opensciencegrid.org) will remain available during this period.

News and Announcements from OSG Operations > Announcing OSG Software version 3.1.17

We are pleased to announce OSG Software version 3.1.17!

This is the new OSG Software distributed via RPMs for:

* Scientific Linux 5 and 6
* CentOS 5 and 6
* Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and 6

This release affects the client, the compute element, and the storage element. Changes include:

* GSI-OpenSSH updated to version 5.6 to fix a security issue
* jGlobus updated to version 2.0.5
* VOMS 2.0.8 clients patched to support SHA-2 proxies
* Pegasus updated to version 4.2.0
* XRootD updated to version 3.3.1
* OSG-Configure bugfixes

Version 3.1.17 also contains the first release of the tarball installs for the
worker-node-client and the client. These tarballs contain a complete
installation of the client or worker-node-client software that can be installed
by an unprivileged user, or into a non-standard location such as an NFS share.

Installation guides are available at:
https://www.opensciencegrid.org/bin/view/Documentation/Release3/InstallWNClientTarball
for the worker-node-client, and:
https://www.opensciencegrid.org/bin/view/Documentation/Release3/InstallOSGClientTarball
for the full client.

Release notes and pointers to more documentation can be found at:

https://www.opensciencegrid.org/bin/view/Documentation/Release3/Release317

Need help? Let us know:

https://www.opensciencegrid.org/bin/view/Documentation/Release3/HelpProcedure

We welcome feedback on this release!

- Matyas Selmeci
OSG Software Team

OSG Metrics & Assessment > Notes from OSG CIC HTC Pegasus Webinar

• Giving nice overview of Pegasus - been around 10 years now! Time flies!
• Catalogs that Pegasus needs
• site catalog
• transformation catalog
• replica catalog - location of data products
• I wonder if Skeleton Key could work with it?
• PegasusLite - simple stage-in to the compute nodes
• Command line tools
• See tutorial http://pegasus.isi.edu/wms/docs/latest/ 
• Usability questions I have
• End-user versus campus infrastructures provide
• There is an rpm-install: if you have a condor pool already setup
• The "site" can maintain a site catalog
• Dashboard - see: http://pegasus.isi.edu/presentations/cic-webinar
• Black-diamond dag example looks fun.
• I wonder if one could make a proof equivalent (scatter - gather)

News and Announcements from OSG Operations > REMINDER: Pacman End of Life

Dear OSG Site Admins,

As we previously announced, the OSG has reached a point where 70% of all resources have updated to the new RPM based packaging of the OSG software stack. Thank you to everyone that contributed to make this a successful transition. As you know from previous emails, Pacman soon will no longer be supported.

The End of Life (EOL) date for Pacman is May 31, 2013. An important driver for this date is that the OSG will be transitioning to SHA2 based certificates in mid August and these will cause a number of compatibility issues with Pacman software; there are no plans to retrofit OSG 1.2 (the Pacman distribution) with SHA2 capabilities.

If you have concerns, we need to hear from you. We are aware of the need for a non-root worker node installation option required at some resources. The OSG Software Team is working hard to make sure this option is available well before the EOL date. If there are other issues that might prevent you from upgrading before the EOL date, please let us know so that we can help you make a smooth transition.

News and Announcements from OSG Operations > Notice of voms-admin-client output changes

OSG Software upgraded voms-admin-client from 2.0.16 to 2.0.17 in the 3.1.13
release on 29 January 2013. It was recently discovered that the output
format of various CLI commands, such as "voms-admin list-users", changed in
that release. Users who rely on the voms-admin CLI output format should
adjust accordingly.

Thanks to Steve Timm for pointing out this change.

BOSCO news > Bosco 1.2 Alpha Released

Today I am pleased to announce that release of the Bosco 1.2 Alpha. The 1.2 release is all about usability.  We added better error messages, improved scalability, and made installation even easier.

Bosco 1.2 release notes are found on the twiki.  As this is just an alpha, the release notes are evolving.

If you find any issues with the alpha, please send a message to bosco-discuss@opensciencegrid.org.

News and Announcements from OSG Operations > GOC Services Update - Tuesday, April 23rd at 14:00 UTC

The GOC will upgrade the following services beginning Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013 at 14:00 UTC. The GOC reserves 8 hours in the unlikely event that unexpected problems are encountered.  We encourage users to test affected services before the production release.


software.grid.iu.edu
* Placing a deprecation banner on the homepage [GOC Ticket 14581]


OIM 3.16
* PKI / Completed user certificate re-request functionality [OSGPKI-363]
* PKI / Made password fields to not reset during user certificate request [OSGPKI-370]
* PKI / Added request_comment parameter for host revoke API [OSGPKI-369]
* PKI / Added RSA key size validation during host certificate request [OSGPKI-316]
* PKI / Added capability to add more than 1 CSR in host certificate request web form
* PKI / Fixed ticket/update to set nextaction correctly, and send assignee update
* Added "What is (NoCert)" link and documented what it means. [OSGPKI-336]
* (patched) PKI / Fixed incorrect checking of certificate request DN instead of DN record during user certificate approval / request


MyOSG 2.9
* Upgrading to PHP 5.3
* Added Perfsonar Matrix page (experiemental) which displays perfsonar matrix result
* Added Perfsonar Hoststatus page (experimental) which displays current perfsonar host status.
* Improved the way LDIF bdii information XML is cached and made it to reuse old cache in case of connection timeout.
* Updated MiscEvent page to use dynamic timestamp
* Redesigned voactivation page, and rggipstatus page.

All Services
There will be OS updates; reboots will be required.  Downtime should be minimal, and the usual high-availability mechanisms will be used to reduce service downtime even further and eliminate it in most cases.  However, services may experience degraded performance, and the services without HA mechanisms (OIM and Twiki) will still experience brief downtimes.

News and Announcements from OSG Operations > Proposed non-RPM clients for OSG Software

With OSG Software version 3, the OSG has moved to RPMs as the primary means of distributing software to sites. However, we understand that some users need to install client tools without RPMs, either because the install must be performed without root access or because the installed software must be contained within a single, separate directory hierarchy (or both).

The OSG Software team will soon provide non-RPM client packages that can be installed anywhere by anyone. Specifically, each package will install into a single directory on a filesystem and the installation process will work for any user with appropriate permissions. There will be separate packages for the worker node client and full client.

The new packages will be downloadable tarballs (i.e., compressed archives), one for each kind of client (worker node and full), major operating system release (EL5 and EL6), and architecture (32- and 64-bit). The new tarballs will be derived from the corresponding production RPMs of osg-wn-client and osg-client.

Users will download and unpack an appropriate tarball, then run a script contained therein to finish the installation. Before actual use, each user will need to source a setup script, as was done with Pacman installations.

Because we cannot assume much about the host system, the tarballs and their resulting installations will necessarily contain some software components from the underlying OS and EPEL repositories. We will strive to minimize the number of such components, but some will remain. Site administrators should understand that we will not issue updates to our tarballs every time the underlying OS and EPEL repositories change, but instead only as part of normal OSG Software releases. This policy applies to security and non- security package updates from the OS and EPEL.

Administrators will be responsible for updating from one tarball release to another. Mostly, this process will simply be to download and unpack each new release to a separate directory. A symbolic link can be used to provide a consistent path to the current release. Manual modifications to package files will have to be applied for each release or copied over.

Technical work is nearly complete on this project, and we are aiming for a April 30th release. That date should leave ample time to complete updates well before the planned May 30 End-Of-Life for OSG 1.2 (Pacman).

We welcome feedback on this plan at goc@opensciencegrid.org or osg-software@opensciencegrid.org.

News and Announcements from OSG Operations > Update on OSG PKI Outage

Dear OSG RA agent, GridAdmins,

The PKI outage reported late Friday afternoon (5/Apr) was resolved as of 7:04 pm (eastern) Friday. Please resume normal use of the PKI and the GOC apologizes for any inconvenience.