Computing accounts and data access

Here you can find useful information about the tools for data access and analysis mainly for our photon science facilities. Please also have a look at the FAQ section below. For any further question please contact the PSI IT Service Desk.

Sometimes it can be confusing for new users to understand all the different accounts in use at PSI. Here we try to explain them clearly.

The Digital User Office DUO enables the PSI User Office to administrate the user operation. As a user of PSI large scale facilities you can use DUO to

• submit proposals
• submit experimental reports
• order badge and dosimeter for your experiment at PSI
• book a room in the guesthouse for your next stay at PSI
• ....

In short: DUO helps you to manage your user activities at PSI. 

You have to create a local DUO account or use an existing Umbrella account (umbrellaID) or PSI account to log in. Please note that local DUO account does not give you access to further IT services or resources.

PSI employees with a work contract get a full PSI account including for example a PSI email address (firstname.lastname@psi.ch) and access to defined IT services like the PSI Intranet. The PSI account can be linked to the DUO account and then used for login.

External users sometimes need a temporary PSI account, for example to access data. These accounts are called ext-accounts and include “ext-” in the name.

To request an ext-account, send an email to your beamline manager and include your DUO account name. These accounts are temporary but can be extended, for example for future experiments.

• SLS beamline managers
• SwissFEL beamline managers
• SINQ beamline managers (select the respective instrument/people)
• SμS beamline managers (select the respective instrument and find the contact at the bottom of the page)
• CHRISP experiment responsibles

In short: ext-accounts are temporary PSI accounts for external users and grant limited IT access and authorizations (e.g. remote access, no PSI email address) in addition to your DUO account.

Please note: PSI accounts are always personal. It is forbidden to share your password. You have to identify yourself with your personal ID card to activate the ext-account.

The umbrella account also called umbrellaID is the federated identity system for the users of the (European) neutron and photon facilities. The main advantage of umbrellaID is that users get one account for all partner facilities. After logging in once, you can access services at these partners without logging in again (Single Sign-On).

Services at various facilities, such as PSI DUO, are increasingly being integrated with umbrellaID.

p-groups (e.g. "p16234") are lists of PSI accounts (internal or external) that gives specific access rights (e.g. data access). The main proposer (for her/his particular proposal) or beamline manager can manage these lists. At the photon science facilities (SLS/SwissFEL) p-groups are created together with the invitation email after scheduling the beam time.

They also determine the access rights to measured data in the PSI Data catalogue during the embargo period.

The neutron and muon facilities recently started to make use of p-groups (ongoing project). Please get further information for SINQ and for SμS.

At PSI, e-accounts are only used at SLS. These non-personal group accounts (e.g. "e17111") allow to access to certain computers and folders during and after the experiment. Each experiment gets an e-account by default, and it is valid for a limited time. Beamline managers can manage e-accounts and extend their validity if needed.

Whom to contact if I have IT problems?

Please contact the PSI IT service desk!

MFA setup does not work

User name ‘ext-<user>@psi.ch’ is not found when setting up MFA with Microsoft.

The external account is not yet activated because your identity has not yet been verified.

Please send a copy of your ID or passport by email to helpdesk@psi.ch for verification. If you have already done so, please also contact helpdesk@psi.ch to check the status of your verification.

Reset existing MFA setup

If the smartphone on which MFA was set up can no longer be accessed (e.g. when changing smartphones), MFA cannot be set up on the new smartphone. When trying to do so, it requires an MFA confirmation on the old device.

Please send an e-mail to helpdesk@psi.ch to delete the old MFA setup.

What can I do if I have not received an activation e-mail for the ext-account?

Please contact useroffice@psi.ch

Why do you need an ext-account if you already have a DUO account?

The DUO account is used to organise your beamtime at PSI and the ext-account can be used to view and process the data generated by the beamline.

My ext-account will expire, how can I renew it?

The ext-account will expire after a maximum of one year. When this happens, you will receive a daily reminder email from servicedesk@psi.ch 20 days in advance. 

To extend the account, please contact your beamline manager (see list above). They can extend the ext-account in DUO again.

I no longer need my ext-account, how can I delete it? 

Please send an email to helpdesk@psi.ch to delete your account.

Change password

• Password Manager (pw.psi.ch) in the web browser.
• The manager can also be accessed outside the PSI network. Registration is mandatory before you can use it. To register, please add an alternative email address (not PSI address) or a mobile phone number (in the format 0791234567@mail2sms.swisscom.com).
• Contact your Beamline Manager so that he can set a new password.

Password expired or forgotten

• People who are registered in the password manager can reset their password in the password manager (pw.psi.ch) in the web browser.
• People who are not registered in the password manager must contact the helpdesk. Please send an email to helpdesk@psi.ch with a copy of your identity card or passport and your mobile phone number.
• Contact your Beamline manager so that they can set a new password.

I cannot connect to WLAN corp

Please send an email to helpdesk@psi.ch to check whether the ext-account has the necessary authorisations to log in to WLAN corp.

If the password of the ext-account has been changed recently, it is also possible that the old login data is still stored in the WLAN connection. In this case, please forget the network completely and then log in again with the new password. 

What do I do if I have problems with SSH Hopx?

Official SSH documentation:

https://www.psi.ch/en/computing/ssh-hop-ng