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	<title>Emulab.Net - How to Get Started</title>
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<h1>
    Overview of the Authorization Scheme, Policy, <br> and "How To Get Started"
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We use a hierarchical structure: we authorize a project under a
principal investigator (e.g. a faculty member) and delegate authority
to that person to authorize the project's members-- and accountability
for their behavior.

<h3>How do I get started?</h3>
<p>
Briefly, you use the links at your left to create and join
<em>projects</em>.  Typically, someone who will be the <em>project
leader</em> requests permission from Testbed Ops/Admin, via the web
interface, to <em>create</em> a project.  In academic parlance, a
project leader is a "principal investigator."  That person is expected
to be someone who is responsible, whose position is more or less
verifiable by us, and is therefore accountable.  Specifically, the
project leader is held responsible for the actions of members of
his/her project.

<p>
For example, if you are a grad student who "owns" a project and no
faculty member is really involved, normally you should still get your
advisor or other professor to be the project leader.  Exceptions could
include your being a senior student well-known in the research
community.  If you are not a student, but a senior/core member of an
open source project, either you or someone more official in
the project should be leader, as appropriate.
If you are in a research lab and are not brand new there, you would
probably be the project leader.

<p>
Typically, after an hour to a day later, or up to week (rarely),
you will receive email from the testbed admin folks,
either approving or denying your project.  You will then be able to
really use the testbed: you will be able to perform various functions
through the Web interface and through a Unix login account.

<p>
People working on the project
(students, staff, etc.) will request permission from the project
leader, also via the web interface, to <em>join</em> the project.
These requests can precede project approval; they will be queued.
Once project members have been authorized by the leader, they can use
the Web interface and their Unix login to start and run experiments,
reserve and configure nodes, etc.

<p>
More detailed information on this
process can be found in the
<a href="docwrapper.php3?docname=faq.html">Emulab FAQ</a>.

<h3>Another way of saying the same thing</h3>

<p>
If you didn't understand that, then how about this. Use this set of
Web pages:

<ul>
<li> to gain authorization to use the testbed, either as
	<ul>
	<li> a project leader ("principal investigator") who is
	 starting a new project ("start project"), or
	<li> as a worker bee in a particular project ("join project");
	</ul>
<li> as a project leader, to approve or deny pending project members;
<li> to authenticate ("login") to the Web-based testbed services.
</ul>

<p>
When your project or membership request is approved or denied you will
receive email.

<h3>Seems awfully complicated</h3>

<p>
It should be a lot easier in practice than it sounds.

<p>
We need accountability.  However, we want to avoid slowing things
down by checking every user-- thus we delegate that authority
to the PI's.  Since the PI (project leader) has so much authority,
we need more info from them, such as their postal address.

<p>
If you think this sounds bad, try getting access to a telescope
or supercomputer.

<p>
We are certainly open to suggestions, however, and already plan
to improve the interface in a number of ways.

<p>
<li><h4>I've been approved.  How do I use my account?</h4>
<p>
The first step would be to come back here and log in to the Web
interface.  That will update the list of options in the side bar.
	You might be authorized to start projects or experiments, or
	maybe just to use the nodes in an experiment. Either way, your
	options will show up in the side bar.
Those will normally include starting a new "experiment" which leads to
reserving a set of nodes, which leads to automatic creation of Unix
accounts on those nodes for all members in your project. You will be
able to use ssh to log into those machines.

<p>
You will also receive an account on the users' master host
"users.emulab.net", and from there will be able to access the test
nodes' serial line consoles via 'tip' as well as access console log
files.