"Fall 2017 Use Cases and Capability Delivery Plans" Rating

This use case, from the XSEDE security incident response team, describes how team members need to be able to quickly obtain a list of all resources and services on which a specific XSEDE user identity has an active account. This is needed both for providing user support (e.g., help desk) and for handling account compromises. The delivery plan calls for updates to the existing XSEDE user portal User Query interface to enable searching by local SP usernames (not just XSEDE usernames) and to show current account status (active/inactive) in results.

This use case describes how the XSEDE system should support researchers and educators in identifying the appropriate resources for their project allocation proposals. The delivery plan proposes to increase the visibility of information from the current Resource Description Repository (RDR) for both allocated and non-allocated resources and to add supplementary links to data from other sources, such as the community software repository (CSR) and the XSEDE User Portal system monitor.

This use case originated from Jetstream users with education allocations. They'd like their students to be able to login to VMs they administer using their XSEDE identities rather than the instructor having to issue new IDs/passwords. (Note that a solution to this problem would not be limited to XSEDE VMs, but could be used on any system administered by non-XSEDE personnel, including science gateways that offer command-line services or campus login systems.) XSEDE's public authentication service provides an implementation path, but a specific solution that complies with XSEDE's security requirements isn't immediately obvious. The immediate plan is to conduct a technology readiness assessment to identify a specific technical solution satisfying all relevant requirements. Total effort proposed is 4-5 person weeks.

This use case was identified in XSEDE's Spring 2017 needs analysis for group management functions and describes a need expressed by many areas of the XSEDE enterprise. The need is for anyone--researchers, educators, staff members, service providers, campus administrators, science gateway developers--to be able to define a group in XSEDE that can be used later for things like access control, data sharing, email distribution, or team/task assignments. At this time, the delivery plan is to search for, identify, and evaluate available technologies that XSEDE could use for this and related group features. The effort proposed for this assessment (which covers all of GRP-02 through GRP-16) is 4.5 to 5.5 person months.

This use case was identified in XSEDE's Spring 2017 needs analysis for group management functions and describes a need expressed by many areas of the XSEDE enterprise. The need is the ability to invite someone to join a group. (The group would likely be one used for managing staff teams/tools/assignments, for email distribution, for coordinating research activities, or for a science gateway or campus service.) The invitee may not yet be registered with XSEDE--they could be invited via email--and the invitee will not belong to the group until he/she accepts the invitation, including, if necessary, registering with XSEDE. At this time, the delivery plan is to search for, identify, and evaluate available technologies that XSEDE could use for this and related group features. The effort proposed for this assessment (which covers all of GRP-02 through GRP-16) is 4.5 to 5.5 person months.

This use case was identified in XSEDE's Spring 2017 needs analysis for group management functions. This use case is specific to science gateway developers, external service providers, and staff tool providers. The need is to be able to manage a group's configuration under program control (via an API) rather than manually through a Web browser. At this time, the delivery plan is to search for, identify, and evaluate available technologies that XSEDE could use for this and related group features. The effort proposed for this assessment (which covers all of GRP-02 through GRP-16) is 4.5 to 5.5 person months.

This use case originates from the IU/TACC Jetstream service provider team and their users, who would like to be able to use XSEDE identities to authenticate to Jetstream's OpenStack APIs. Jetstream's Web interface (Atmosphere) currently uses XSEDE's public authentication service, but OpenStack API access currently requires issuing "local" IDs/passwords. (Note that a solution to this problem would not be limited to Jetstream, but would be available to any service provider offering OpenStack cloud services.) The delivery plan calls for the Jetstream team to test OpenStack's OIDC authentication module with XSEDE's OIDC-based public authentication service. XSEDE personnel may be needed to assist with this testing and PSC/Bridges personnel may also contribute. Total effort proposed (by all contributing parties) is 4 person weeks.

This feature has been requested by educators using XSEDE education allocations to support classes and training activities. The request is to allow educators to add (or invite) members to an allocation project team by sending XSEDE an email message containing a list of email addresses, rather than manually entering each proposed member in the user portal's Web interface. The delivery plan at this time is simply to request a security risk assessment to​ identify "safe" implementation​ options from a security risk perspective. Proposed effort for the assessment is one person week.

This use case was identified in XSEDE's Spring 2017 needs analysis for group management functions. This use case is specific to science gateway developers and campus system administrators who want to use XSEDE groups in their services. The need is for developers not affiliated with XSEDE (e.g., science gateway, campus, or XSEDE L3 service developers) to be able to use XSEDE-defined groups in their applications and services, with appropriate authorizaiton. At this time, the delivery plan is to search for, identify, and evaluate available technologies that XSEDE could use for this and related group features. The effort proposed for this assessment (which covers all of GRP-02 through GRP-16) is 4.5 to 5.5 person months.