Managing user credentials

This section assumes that the DIRAC client is already installed and configured.

Managing Certificates

Donwloading Certificate from browser

  • Get the certificate from the browser:

    • Firefox:

      Preferences -> Privacy & Security -> View Certificates -> Select your certificate -> Backup

    As a result you will get the certificate as a file with .p12 extension.

Converting Certificates from P12 to PEM format

  • Run dirac-cert-convert script to convert your certificate to the appropriate form:

    $ dirac-cert-convert <USERCERT>.p12
    

    Output of this command must look like:

    $ dirac-cert-convert usercert.p12
    Creating globus directory
    Converting p12 key to pem format
    Enter Import Password:
    MAC verified OK
    Enter PEM pass phrase:
    Verifying - Enter PEM pass phrase:
    Converting p12 certificate to pem format
    Enter Import Password:
    MAC verified OK
    Information about your certificate:
    subject= /O=GRID-FR/C=FR/O=CNRS/OU=CPPM/CN=Vanessa Hamar
    issuer= /C=FR/O=CNRS/CN=GRID2-FR
    Done
    

    “Enter Import Password:” prompt requires the password given when the certificate was exported from the browser. It will be requested twice. The PEM pass phrase is the password associated with the created private key. This password will be requested each time you will create a proxy. Do not forget it !

  • Check that your certificate was correctly converted and placed in the $HOME/.globus directory, in PEM format and with correct permissions:

    $ ls -la ~/.globus
    total 16
    drwxr-xr-x  2 hamar marseill 2048 Oct 19 13:01 .
    drwxr-xr-x 42 hamar marseill 4096 Oct 19 13:00 ..
    -rw-r--r--  1 hamar marseill 6052 Oct 19 13:00 usercert.p12
    -rw-r--r--  1 hamar marseill 1914 Oct 19 13:01 usercert.pem
    -r--------  1 hamar marseill 1917 Oct 19 13:01 userkey.pem
    

Managing Proxies

Before running any command in the grid, it is mandatory to have a valid certificate proxy. The commands to create a valid proxy using DIRAC commands are shown below.

Creating a user proxy

  • First, in the machine where the DIRAC client is installed setup the DIRAC environment running the following commands:

    cd $DIRAC_PATH (if you set it)
    source bashrc
    
  • After the environment is set up, you are able to create your proxy with the following command:

    dirac-proxy-init
    

    the above will create a proxy from the certificate in ~/.globus, with a default role. The switches below will create a proxy of group “dirac_user” (if defined) and will securely upload such proxy to the DIRAC proxy store (ProxyManager), from where it could later be downloaded:

    dirac-proxy-init --group dirac_user --upload
    

    The additional “–debug” switch (alias of “-ddd”) can be used for debugging purposes, and its output would end up being similar to the following:

    $ dirac-proxy-init --group dirac_user --upload --debug
    Generating proxy...
    Enter Certificate password:
    Contacting CS...
    Checking DN /O=GRID-FR/C=FR/O=CNRS/OU=CPPM/CN=Andrei Tsaregorodtsev
    Username is atsareg
    Creating proxy for atsareg@dirac_user (/O=GRID-FR/C=FR/O=CNRS/OU=CPPM/CN=Andrei Tsaregorodtsev)
    Uploading proxy for dirac_user...
    Uploading dirac_user proxy to ProxyManager...
    Loading user proxy
    Uploading proxy on-the-fly
    Cert file /home/andrei/.globus/usercert.pem
    Key file  /home/andrei/.globus/userkey.pem
    Loading cert and key
    User credentials loaded
     Uploading...
    Proxy uploaded
    Proxy generated:
    subject      : /O=GRID-FR/C=FR/O=CNRS/OU=CPPM/CN=Andrei Tsaregorodtsev/CN=proxy
    issuer       : /O=GRID-FR/C=FR/O=CNRS/OU=CPPM/CN=Andrei Tsaregorodtsev
    identity     : /O=GRID-FR/C=FR/O=CNRS/OU=CPPM/CN=Andrei Tsaregorodtsev
    timeleft     : 23:59:57
    DIRAC group  : dirac_user
    path         : /tmp/x509up_u501
    username     : atsareg
    
    Proxies uploaded:
     DN                                                      | Group      | Until (GMT)
     /O=GRID-FR/C=FR/O=CNRS/OU=CPPM/CN=Andrei Tsaregorodtsev | dirac_user | 2012/02/08 13:05
    

    As a result of this command, several operations are accomplished:

    • a long user proxy (with the length of the validity of the certificate) is uploaded to the DIRAC ProxyManager service

    • a short user proxy is created with the DIRAC extension carrying the DIRAC group name and with the VOMS extension corresponding to the DIRAC group if the gLite UI environment is available. This proxy is stored in the local “/tmp/” directory, as shown.

    If the gLite UI environment is not available, the VOMS extensions will not be loaded into the proxy. This is not a serious problem, still most of the operations will be possible.

Getting the proxy information

  • Check that your proxy was correctly created and the DIRAC group and the VOMS extension are set correctly, running the command:

    dirac-proxy-info
    

    For example:

    $ dirac-proxy-info
    subject      : /O=GRID-FR/C=FR/O=CNRS/OU=CPPM/CN=Vanessa Hamar/CN=proxy/CN=proxy
    issuer       : /O=GRID-FR/C=FR/O=CNRS/OU=CPPM/CN=Vanessa Hamar/CN=proxy
    identity     : /O=GRID-FR/C=FR/O=CNRS/OU=CPPM/CN=Vanessa Hamar
    timeleft     : 23:53:55
    DIRAC group  : dirac_user
    path         : /tmp/x509up_u40885
    username     : vhamar
    VOMS         : True
    VOMS fqan    : ['/vo.formation.idgrilles.fr']
    
  • At this moment, your proxy can be uploaded to the ProxyManager service. To check that:

    dirac-proxy-get-uploaded-info
    

    In this case the output shows user DN, group, expiration time and persistency flag:

    $ dirac-proxy-get-uploaded-info
    Checking for DNs /O=GRID-FR/C=FR/O=CNRS/OU=CPPM/CN=Vanessa Hamar
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | UserDN                                          | ExpirationTime      |
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | /O=GRID-FR/C=FR/O=CNRS/OU=CPPM/CN=Vanessa Hamar | 2011-06-29 12:04:25 |
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
  • The same can be checked in the Web Portal at the following location:

    Applications -> Proxy Manager
    

    Using the portal you have the option to delete your proxies.