Write files to CVMFS

(original text from Andrzej Szelc) (updated March 5th, 2026, to better reflect currently authorized users with CVMFS privileges)

Modifications to ICARUS area in CVMFS are performed interacting as user cvmfsicarus on the server oasiscfs.fnal.gov. A file README in the home directory in there contains instructions that may be more up to date than these ones.

These are the suggested operations, optimised for “the less time in oasiscfs.fnal.gov, the better”:

1. get a Kerberos ticket as usual:

   kinit -R "${USER}@FNAL.GOV" || kinit "${USER}@FNAL.GOV"
   

   (this is just a trick so that it renews if available, otherwise it asks for a password and creates a new one)

2. log in oasiscfs.fnal.gov (you need to be authorised):

   ssh cvmfsicarus@oasiscfs.fnal.gov
   

3. start the CVMFS update session:

   cvmfs_server transaction icarus.opensciencegrid.org
   

4. navigate to a temporary folder for storing the tarballs:

   cd /cvmfs/icarus.opensciencegrid.org/products/icarus/.workdir
   

5. Use the available script (copyFromJenkins) to download the build

   perl copyFromJenkins icaruscode-release-build
   

   or

   perl copyFromJenkins icarus_data-release-build
   

6. do what it takes to modify the CVMFS area at /cvmfs/icarus.opensciencegrid.org: copy files, move files, expand files, edit files…

   tar xvvf icarus_data-01.00.00-noarch.tar.bz2 -C /cvmfs/icarus.opensciencegrid.org/products/icarus
   

7. Be sure to clean up the work directory by deleting the tarballs and txt files

8. close and “publish” the update wit a tag string and a message; make sure you are not in the CVMFS directory:

   cd ~
   cvmfs_server publish -m "Published icaruscode v09_39_01" -a 9.39.01 icarus.opensciencegrid.org
   

   will create a new tag 9.39.01, with a meaningful description. A tag can be also created after publication, with cvmfs_server tag -m "Published icarus_data 1.0.0" -a 1.0 icarus.opensciencegrid.org (same effect as before). To see all tags, issue cvmfs_server tag -l icarus.opensciencegrid.org (-l is optional).

9. log out

You can try and check the directory /cvmfs/icarus.opensciencegrid.org/products/icarus (and note that on GPVM the directory /cvmfs/icarus.opensciencegrid.org might not show with a ls /cvmfs, but it will automatically appear the first time it is requested), but it takes some time for the CVMFS server to propagate the change to the world.

A useful cvmfs manual can be found at https://cvmfs.readthedocs.io/en/stable/index.html

Access privileges

A few ICARUS people are allowed to log as cvmfsicarus on oasiscfs.fnal.gov, and they can add others. As of March 2026, these people are:

To add a user to the list, their Kerberos principal must be added to .k5login file in the home directory of cvmfsicarus.

StashCache

StashCache is a storage area visible via CVMFS. Nevertheless, it’s quite a different beast, and information about it can be found in its own StashCache wiki page.