| 8 | | Every authenticated user sees a left-hand sidebar organized into sections. The sections and pages available to you depend on your role (regular user, PI/Group Admin, or Global Admin). This guide covers the features visible to all regular authenticated users. The sidebar collapses into a hamburger menu on mobile devices for a fully responsive experience. |
| | 8 | The portal is designed to support the complete experiment lifecycle. When you first arrive, you [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/GettingStarted create an account] and set up your [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Account SSH keys]. When you are ready to run an experiment, you open the [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Scheduler Scheduler] to reserve a testbed domain for the time you need. During your reservation, the [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Status Status] pages show you the real-time state of every node in your domain, so you always know which nodes are powered on, which are off, and whether any need attention. Throughout this process, the [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Forum Community Forum] is just a click away — a popup discussion window where you can ask questions, share findings, or get help from other users and testbed staff without leaving the portal. |
| | 9 | |
| | 10 | After your experiment, you can review your [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/DiskImages disk images] to manage the custom images you have saved, and browse the [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Directory Directory] to find collaborators or check organization membership. |
| | 11 | |
| | 12 | The portal runs at '''https://www.cosmos-lab.org/portal''' and works on any modern browser, including mobile devices where the sidebar collapses into a responsive menu. |
| 18 | | New to COSMOS? Start here. This section walks you through creating an account, activating it via email confirmation, and logging in for the first time. It covers username requirements, password policies, organization selection, and what to expect during the approval process. If you already have an ORBIT account, your credentials work on COSMOS as well. |
| 19 | | |
| 20 | | === [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Dashboard Dashboard] === |
| 21 | | |
| 22 | | Your home page after logging in. The Dashboard provides an at-a-glance summary of your profile, disk usage, reservation history, and login activity. It also features quick links to frequently used pages and a Community Forum link that opens a discussion popup where you can interact with other testbed users. |
| 23 | | |
| 24 | | === [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Account Account Management] === |
| 25 | | |
| 26 | | Manage your profile information, change your password, and upload SSH public keys. SSH keys are essential for connecting to testbed nodes during your experiments — the portal validates key format and type in real time and supports modern key types including Ed25519, ECDSA, and FIDO/U2F hardware keys. This section includes step-by-step instructions for generating keys on Linux, macOS, and Windows. |
| 27 | | |
| 28 | | === [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/SSH SSH Access] === |
| 29 | | |
| 30 | | Once you have a reservation and SSH keys configured, you need to connect to testbed nodes. This section explains the SSH connection model: you first connect to a console server (jump host) using your portal username, then hop to individual testbed nodes as root. It covers ProxyJump configuration, SSH tunneling for web services and Jupyter notebooks, SOCKS proxies, and how to set up your `~/.ssh/config` for convenient access. |
| 31 | | |
| 32 | | === [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Scheduler Scheduler] === |
| 33 | | |
| 34 | | The Scheduler is a calendar-based reservation system that gives you exclusive access to testbed domains and sandboxes during your time slot. This section explains how to navigate the calendar, create single and recurring reservations, invite collaborators, compete for contested time slots, and understand the automatic approval algorithm. It also documents the color coding system and the My Reservations management page. |
| 35 | | |
| 36 | | === [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Status Testbed Status] === |
| 37 | | |
| 38 | | During active reservations, Status pages appear in the sidebar showing real-time information about the testbed domain you have reserved. The primary status page displays a visual grid of all nodes with color-coded power states (on, off, unreachable). For SB4 reservations, an RF Matrix control page lets you interactively adjust RF attenuation values between nodes. |
| 39 | | |
| 40 | | === [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/DiskImages Disk Images] === |
| 41 | | |
| 42 | | The Disk Images page lets you browse, search, and manage testbed disk images. You can view your own images, publicly available images shared by other users, and (for admins) the complete image library. Each image shows its name, owner, size, creation date, and a description. You can also manage image visibility (public/private) and delete images you own. |
| 43 | | |
| 44 | | === [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Forum Community Forum] === |
| 45 | | |
| 46 | | The COSMOS Community Forum is an integrated discussion platform where testbed users can ask questions, share experiment results, discuss best practices, and get help from the community and testbed administrators. The forum opens in a popup window so you can keep it alongside the portal while working. It uses single sign-on — if you are logged into the portal, you are automatically logged into the forum. |
| 47 | | |
| 48 | | === [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Directory Directory] === |
| 49 | | |
| 50 | | The Directory section lets you browse the COSMOS/ORBIT user community. You can search and filter the complete list of registered users by name, username, or email, and browse all registered organizations with their members and PIs. |
| | 22 | '''Detailed guide:''' [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/GettingStarted Getting Started with the COSMOS Portal] |
| 56 | | ||= Sidebar Section =||= Page =||= Description =|| |
| 57 | | || My Account || [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Dashboard Dashboard] || Profile summary, quick links, usage statistics || |
| 58 | | || || Community Forum || Discussion forum (opens in popup window) || |
| 59 | | || Scheduler || [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Scheduler Scheduler] || Calendar-based reservation system || |
| 60 | | || || My Reservations || List and manage your upcoming reservations || |
| 61 | | || Status || Testbed Status || Node power state grid (visible during active reservations) || |
| 62 | | || || RF Matrix (SB4) || RF attenuation matrix control (SB4 reservations only) || |
| 63 | | || Directory || Users || Browse all registered users || |
| 64 | | || || Groups || Browse all organizations and their members || |
| 65 | | || || [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/DiskImages Disk Images] || Browse and manage testbed disk images || |
| | 28 | Before you can connect to testbed nodes, you need to upload at least one SSH public key through the portal. The [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Account Account Management] page handles your profile, password, and SSH keys. The portal validates your key format and type in real time — it supports modern key types like Ed25519 and even FIDO/U2F hardware security keys, and it will reject private keys or malformed input immediately. You can upload multiple keys (one from your laptop, one from your desktop) so you can access the testbed from any of your machines. |
| 73 | | * '''Mobile friendly''' — on small screens, the sidebar collapses into a hamburger menu accessible from the top-left corner. |
| 74 | | * '''Hover for help''' — each sidebar link has a small info icon; hover over it to see a tooltip describing the page. |
| 75 | | * '''Keyboard shortcuts''' — press Escape to close any modal dialog. |
| 76 | | * '''Session timeout''' — if your session expires, the portal redirects you to the login page. Your last URL is preserved so you return to the same page after logging in. |
| 77 | | * '''Can't log in''' — use the Forgot Password or Forgot Username links on the login page. If your account is still pending approval, contact your group PI. |
| 78 | | * '''SSH connection refused''' — verify that your reservation is currently active (approved, not just pending) and that your public key is uploaded in the SSH Keys page. See the [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/SSH SSH Access] guide for detailed troubleshooting. |
| 79 | | * '''Can't see status pages''' — Status pages only appear when you have a current or upcoming reservation. Global administrators see all status pages. |
| | 38 | The [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Scheduler Scheduler] is a visual calendar where you reserve exclusive access to testbed domains and sandboxes. Each domain (like `grid.orbit-lab.org` with its 400 nodes, or `sb1.cosmos-lab.org` with its SDR equipment) is shown as a row, with 30-minute time slots arranged across the day. Color-coded blocks show which slots are available, which are taken, and which are yours. |
| | 39 | |
| | 40 | [[Image(portal-scheduler.png, width=30%)]] |
| | 41 | |
| | 42 | Creating a reservation is as simple as clicking an empty slot and filling in the start and end times. You can invite collaborators to share your reservation, set up weekly or monthly recurring reservations for ongoing experiments, and even compete for contested time slots using a fairness algorithm that prioritizes users who have used the testbed less recently. |
| | 43 | |
| | 44 | Reservations are approved automatically — requests submitted before noon are pre-approved for the next day by 2 PM, and other requests are approved just-in-time when the slot begins. There is no manual approval step in most cases. |
| | 45 | |
| | 46 | '''Detailed guide:''' [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Scheduler Scheduler] |
| 85 | | * [https://www.cosmos-lab.org COSMOS Project Homepage] |
| 86 | | * [https://www.orbit-lab.org ORBIT Lab Homepage] |
| 87 | | * [https://wiki.cosmos-lab.org/wiki/WikiStart COSMOS Wiki] |
| 88 | | * [https://www.openssh.com OpenSSH Project] — the SSH implementation used on all testbed nodes |
| | 52 | Once your reservation is active, [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Status Status] pages appear in the sidebar showing real-time information about your testbed domain. The primary status page displays a visual grid of every node — color-coded green for powered on, dark for off, yellow for unreachable, and red for admin-down (taken offline for maintenance). The grid refreshes automatically every 30 seconds. |
| | 53 | |
| | 54 | For SB4 sandbox reservations, a dedicated RF Matrix control page lets you interactively adjust the programmable RF attenuators between nodes, simulating different wireless distances and topologies for controlled experiments. |
| | 55 | |
| | 56 | '''Detailed guide:''' [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Status Testbed Status] |
| | 57 | |
| | 58 | ---- |
| | 59 | |
| | 60 | == Connecting via SSH == |
| | 61 | |
| | 62 | With your reservation active and SSH keys in place, you connect to testbed nodes using a two-hop SSH model. Your connection goes first to a console server (jump host) using your portal username, then hops to individual nodes as root. The [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/SSH SSH Access] guide covers the connection commands, how to configure your `~/.ssh/config` for convenient access, SSH tunneling for web services and Jupyter notebooks, and file transfer with `scp` and `rsync`. |
| | 63 | |
| | 64 | '''Detailed guide:''' [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/SSH SSH Access] |
| | 65 | |
| | 66 | ---- |
| | 67 | |
| | 68 | == Managing Disk Images == |
| | 69 | |
| | 70 | The [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/DiskImages Disk Images] page lets you browse the complete image library — your own saved images, publicly shared images from other users, and the baseline images maintained by testbed administrators. You can search by name or description, sort by any column, toggle image visibility between public and private, and delete images you no longer need. Each image shows its name, owner, size, creation date, and a description of its contents. |
| | 71 | |
| | 72 | '''Detailed guide:''' [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/DiskImages Disk Images] |
| | 73 | |
| | 74 | ---- |
| | 75 | |
| | 76 | == Joining the Community == |
| | 77 | |
| | 78 | The [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Forum Community Forum] is a discussion platform integrated directly into the portal. It opens in a popup window so you can keep it alongside the main portal while working. The forum uses single sign-on — if you are logged into the portal, you are automatically signed into the forum without any extra steps. |
| | 79 | |
| | 80 | The forum is organized into categories like Getting Started, Experiments, SDR & RF, Troubleshooting, and Feature Requests. A notification badge on the sidebar tells you when new posts need your attention. The forum is internal to the COSMOS community — it is not publicly accessible and is not indexed by search engines. |
| | 81 | |
| | 82 | '''Detailed guide:''' [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Forum Community Forum] |
| | 83 | |
| | 84 | ---- |
| | 85 | |
| | 86 | == Browsing Users and Groups == |
| | 87 | |
| | 88 | The [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Directory Directory] lets you search and browse all registered users and organizations on the testbed. It is useful for finding collaborators, verifying group membership, and looking up an organization's PI. Both the user and group lists are searchable, sortable, and paginated. |
| | 89 | |
| | 90 | '''Detailed guide:''' [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Directory Directory] |
| | 91 | |
| | 92 | ---- |
| | 93 | |
| | 94 | == Tips == |
| | 95 | |
| | 96 | * '''Hover for help''' — each sidebar link has a small info icon with a tooltip describing the page |
| | 97 | * '''Mobile friendly''' — the sidebar collapses into a hamburger menu on small screens |
| | 98 | * '''Session persistence''' — if your session expires, the portal remembers your last page and returns you there after re-login |
| | 99 | * '''Keyboard shortcuts''' — press Escape to close any dialog |
| | 100 | |
| | 101 | For troubleshooting and additional help, see [wiki:UserGuide/Support Support] or ask on the [wiki:UserGuide/Portal/Forum Community Forum]. |
