Electronic Logbooks

1
Electronic Logbooks

• Why moving away from Atlog ?
• Proposed improved configuration
• Release schedule

2
Why moving away from Atlog ?

• Elog is the original software
• Developed and maintained at PSI by Stefan Ritt
• Tested in summer 2005 by Tobias Lohe, summer
  student.
• Limitation if over 100,000 entries
• Atlog is an Atlas modification of Elog
• Use Oracle as storage for entries, instead of the
  file system
• Remove the performance limitation for big
  logbooks
• It has been installed at the Pit with two
  servers, one for inside the LHCb pit network, one
  for outside access
• Many logbooks pre-installed
• Some already used, with few (ltlt100) entries

3

• But Atlog has several limitations
• Can not import/export logbooks ? impossible to
  merge Velo old logbooks used in ACDC and in
  construction
• Can not delete or modify an item
• Crash when an unknown command is sent
• Doesnt react properly to port scans,
• Attachments still as files, not in Oracle.
• Doesnt support accented characters
• And limited response from the maintainer
• Try to go back to plain Elog
• Learn how to configure it for the current use
• Commissioning logbooks dont have the same use as
  official logbook of a running experiment, in
  particular in the number of entries per day, the
  automatic insertion of entries and the automatic
  insertion of run and fill numbers

4
Proposed improved configuration

• All current (pit) and external (Velo, NIKHEF)
  logbooks will be available together
• I managed to have an ad-hoc modified Atlog
  service to give me back the news in Oracle, and
  understood how to get the Velo logbooks from both
  here and NIKHEF.
• I would like a simplified layout for the logbooks
• Simply date, author, system affected, subject
  and text
• All pit logbooks with a similar structure
• Makes the maintenance easy
• Use user registration
• Needed only to post an item, not for reading
• Self registration
• Need a short name, typically your local account,
  your full name to appear in the Author field, and
  a dedicated password

5

• Can we avoid user registration ?
• Yes, but then the author is free field, can
  contain unclear values
• Who was John on 12 May 2005 ?
• Entering your name password once is not very
  different from entering it (alone) with each
  posting
• Remember authentication is not needed for
  reading
• The browser remembers your name for 8 hours (can
  be changed)
• Idea The shift console will run from a generic
  account, but the shift crew entries should have a
  meaningful author field
• A good way to have some command restricted
• The concept of administrators is implemented in
  Elog, they can add/remove users, reset passwords,
  edit configurations,
• We could also protect write actions from outside
  the pit by password But is it worth?

6
Proposed schedule

• You can play with the proposed layout
• http//lbweb01.cern.ch8081 is accessible only
  from inside CERN
• Not from outside, due to the CERN firewall
  settings
• Check for unused logbooks and configuration
• RICH1 and RICH2 or a single RICH?
• Need to disable all logbooks (Pit Velo
  NIKHEF) for conversion
• The operation is still a bit tricky, adding new
  entries at the same time would not make it
  easier
• Then restart the new service at the pit, and
  discontinue the Velo NIKEF ones.
• Either early next week, or from June 25

7
Future

• Keep Write, Edit, Delete access inside and
  outside
• Except if you disagree for your logbook. Let me
  know
• This seems the most useful during the
  commissioning period
• At some point, allows only read access from
  outside
• Write only possible from inside the LHCb Pit
  network
• What we want during running period, no
  interference with the shift logbook!
• Settings and configuration of the Shift logbook
• Want probably Fill and Run number in the entries
• Make sure the author name is correct for shift
  crew entries
• Automatic entries from LHC states, Run control,
  alarms,

8
Feed back needed

• This is a very important tool for an experiment
• We have (still) time to play with various
  settings
• And try to implement improvements and new
  functionalities
• A shift logbook will probably look different from
  the commissioning one
• Several entries per hour, not one per (few) days
  as now
• Many short entries, now long reports of progress
• But the same tool can probably do it.
• Thanks for feed-back