Helpdesk

About the Helpdesk

Submit a ticket via the MSI Helpdesk for General Support and Software Purchase requests, apply for Class Accounts, complete a Non-faculty PI Eligibility Form, request a purchase for Dedicated Computing or, request access to Citrix. Get answers to any questions you may have about MSI services. 

Please submit a ticket below by selecting the type of form you'd like to submit detailing your requests, questions or issues. One of our experts will get back to you promptly.  Please check our System Status app and any recent email communications from MSI regarding system outages, before submitting a ticket about loss of service.

Helpdesk Location

The MSI helpdesk is located at 587 Walter Library, 117 Pleasant St SE Minneapolis MN 55455
Contact the helpdesk at (612) 626-0802
Email the helpdesk directly at [email protected]

Helpdesk Hours

The helpdesk is staffed to respond to tickets and calls Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 4:00pm CT.

For in-person support, our primary walk-in days are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday where our Tier 1 support staff can answer or direct any questions. 

Virtual meetings are available on Wednesday, Friday by signing up using our Google calendar : Sign up page 

For information about what services Tier 1 support can assist with, please refer to Help desk video consultations


Submit a Ticket

Submit a ticket

Ticket type
Select the type of form you'd like to submit.
e.g. every Monday from 9 am to 11 am, Feb 12th - Mar 4th.
One file only.
256 MB limit.
Allowed types: xls, xlsx.
Options Desired
Please choose one or more options from the list of dedicated computing nodes you're interested in purchasing
Please enter your rationale for requesting Citrix access over using MSI's other services.
Software Requested
Please check all the software you intend to use via Citrix.

How Do I Get Access?

Access to MSI resources is available to Principal Investigators (PIs) and their research groups. PI's without current MSI access can apply for MSI accounts for themselves and their group members. If you are a member of a research group and want access to MSI you will need to gain it though your PI. If your PI has access to MSI they can add new users to their group and complete yearly renewals using the myMSI interface. 

For PIs who are University of Minnesota affiliated

Select: Request an MSI Account and your account can be created from your UMN InternetID (formerly called x500).

For PIs who are not University of Minnesota affiliated

You will need to acquire a UMN Person of Interest ("POI") identifier. Send an email to [email protected], requesting access to MSI’s resources as a faculty researcher at an accredited institution of post-secondary education in the State of Minnesota and include the following information:

  1. Name
  2. Address, this can be a business address
  3. Phone number, this can be a business phone
  4. Email address
  5. Your title
  6. Institution name
  7. Date of birth
  8. Attestation: the PI requesting the POI account (either for themselves or another member of their home institution) must attest if the person receiving the POI account does or does not meet one or more of the Minimum POI Inclusion Criteria below. These criteria determine if the POI must be assigned the UMN Preventing Sexual Misconduct, Discrimination and Retaliation training. If you attest that this POI does not meet any of these criteria, the requestor is responsible for notifying MSI of any changes in the future that would align this POI with one or more criteria, and thereby require them to take the training.
    • Minimum POI Inclusion Criteria
      Any POI who meets one or more of the following criteria is required to complete the educational module on Preventing Sexual Misconduct, Discrimination, and Retaliation:
      • POIs who are responsible for coaching, mentoring, advising, supervising, or instructing University of Minnesota members--or who otherwise hold a position of authority over University of Minnesota members-- as a part of their POI role.
      • POIs who have regular one-on-one interactions with UMN students as a part of their POI role, whether in-person, virtually, or via email.
      • POIs who have a significant presence on campus or at a University of Minnesota facility as a part of their POI role. At a minimum, POIs who spend more than an estimated 40 hours/year on campus or at a University of Minnesota facility will be considered to have significant presence and must complete the educational module.

MSI will use this information to request a UMN account for you, from which your MSI account can be created. MSI will contact you when your UMN access is approved and with instructions on how to activate your new UMN account. 

Who Can Get Access?

University of Minnesota PIs and organizations which have purchased time on the MSI systems are eligible to initiate accounts for themselves and their group members. 

Complete Eligibility Information

A faculty member may request accounts for students in a course they are teaching. These requests should be made at least two weeks before the class begins. 

Applying for Class Accounts

What Are Your Allocations?

New MSI PIs are allocated by default 150 GB of high performance storage. Larger storage allocations can be requested when you become a MSI user and during your yearly account renewal. 

More Information about Storage Allocations

What Do I Do After I Get Access? 

Our Quick Start Guides are a good way to learn how to connect to and navigate within MSI systems. MSI also has Tutorials that offer training beyond what is covered in the Quick Start Guides. 

I meet one or more of the Minimum POI Inclusion Criteria
Please upload confirmation from your Dean or Department Head indicating their approval for you to become an MSI PI. This could be a short note with their signature, or an upload of an email exchange indicating their approval.
One file only.
256 MB limit.
Allowed types: gif, jpg, jpeg, png, txt, rtf, pdf, doc, docx, ppt, pptx, xls, xlsx, .

Alternatively, email [email protected] to create a ticket. All ticket should contain the following information:

  • Name
  • MSI Group (if you have one)
  • Email
  • Slurm scripts and past job IDs
  • Screenshots of the error observed
  • The time the issue first appeared
  • Describe how the issue can be replicated
Virtual Walk-in

Send an email to the MSI helpdesk([email protected]) and in the subject line include the three-letter acronym (if appropriate, see below) of the staff group you would like to coordinate a meeting with. Please provide a description of any existing issues that should be covered so that staff has time to make an assessment beforehand. Also, include your current availability that staff can use to align a time that works best for both parties.

Once staff has received the request they will follow up with a proposed time and invitation link.

Helpdesk

  • Getting familiar with MSI for the first time
  • Connecting to MSI resources from your local machine, such as through Open OnDemand
  • Information on how to access to software modules that requires permission
  • SLURM batch script troubleshooting, e.g. " Is my job script receiving the resources I am requesting?"
  • Data transfer assistance between MSI storage and local storage (e.g. Tier2, Globus, Snapshot)
  • Basic software installation from sources like pip, conda

 

Research Informatics and Computing (RI-IC)

  • High-level job and software troubleshooting
  • HPC Optimization
  • Jupyter Notebooks
  • Software update for an existing module
  • R parallelization

 

Research Bioinformatics

  • RNA sequencing assistance
  • CHURP framework
  • Life sciences software
  • RIS specific software packages

 

NOTE:  Due to the time commitments of the helpdesk and staff please allow a minimum of 24-hour lead time between making the request and the proposed times you are available.

Schedule an MSI Helpdesk Video Consult

Check System Status

You can check the live status of the various systems MSI offers at the button below.

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