NAIRR Pilot: From Requesting Resources to a Running Class
The complete admin journey — written from hard-won experience, with the exact clicks and the traps that waste the most time. Follow it in order and you won't get lost like the rest of us did.
First, the #1 source of confusion: there are THREE different websites
They look related but do different jobs. Knowing which is which saves hours:
| Website | What it's for |
|---|---|
| access-ci.org operations.access-ci.org/identity | Create & manage your ACCESS ID (your login identity) |
| submit-nairr.xras.org | Manage your NAIRR project — add users, request extensions. This is where student-adding happens. |
| jetstream2.exosphere.app | Use the resources — launch instances, run notebooks |
Your ACCESS ID is the single login for all three. There's no separate "Jetstream2 account." And note: the standard ACCESS Allocations Portal (allocations.access-ci.org) is NOT used for NAIRR Pilot projects — that's a common wrong turn. NAIRR Pilot = submit-nairr.xras.org.
Phase 1 · Get your allocation
Get an ACCESS ID (you, and every student)
Register free at operations.access-ci.org/identity/new-user. No ID = no access, full stop. Remember how you register (see the login trap in Phase 2).
Use an INSTITUTIONAL email — never Gmail / personal
NAIRR Pilot requires participants to be at a U.S. institution. An ACCESS ID created with a personal email (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook.com, etc.) is NOT eligible and can't be added to the project. Students must register with their school email (e.g. name@university.edu) and, where offered, their university login. Tell students this before they sign up — a wrong signup means re-registering (or adding their institutional email to their ACCESS profile) before they can join. This trips people up constantly.
Request a NAIRR Pilot Start-Up project
Go to nairrpilot.org → Start-Up Project and submit a request. You're the PI.
- It's a short form + your CV — far lighter than people fear.
- Typically approved in days. You'll get an award email with your project ID (e.g. NAIRR2xxxxx) and an SU amount.
- Start-Up projects run ~3 months and are not extendable (plan renewal early — see Phase 5).
The message for hesitant faculty
The application is the part everyone dreads — but it's a short form and a CV, approved in days. Getting NAIRR resources is far easier than it looks. The harder part is the navigation below, which is exactly why this playbook exists.
Phase 2 · Log in the right way (the identity trap)
Pick the identity provider you registered with
At any ACCESS/NAIRR login you choose an identity provider. Pick the same one you used to register — not just whichever looks right:
- Registered with an email / ACCESS username? → choose "ACCESS CI (XSEDE)".
- Registered through your university? → choose your university.
"User Not Registered" — the classic trap
If your university login errors with "User Not Registered," you actually registered with an email/ACCESS username — go back and choose "ACCESS CI (XSEDE)" instead. To fix it permanently, link your university identity to your ACCESS account (CILogon identity linking). If a wrong choice gets stuck, clear it at cilogon.org/me → "Delete ALL," then retry.
Phase 3 · Add your students
Add users on the NAIRR portal — exact steps
This is the step that confuses everyone. Use submit-nairr.xras.org — NOT the ACCESS Allocations Portal.
- Each student creates an ACCESS ID and sends you their ACCESS username.
- Go to submit-nairr.xras.org and log in (Phase 2).
- Click the "Add User" tab in the top menu.
- In the Users column for your awarded project, click "Manage."
- Add each student by their ACCESS username.
Two things that bite people
• Added users take up to ~4 hours to sync to Jetstream2 — do it a couple days before class, never the morning of.
• Every participant must be at a U.S. institution (a NAIRR Pilot requirement). Can't find a username? Use the ACCESS Username Lookup.
Phase 4 · Run the class
Hand students the setup guide
Once they're added (and synced), students follow the student setup guide: launch an instance, clone the repo, run the notebook. Check your SU balance has room (CPU instances are cheap; a workshop barely dents a typical award) and remind everyone to Delete their instance when done so it stops drawing SUs.
Phase 5 · When it expires (~3 months)
Keep going past the Start-Up term
You'll get an email ~30 days before your end date. Start-Ups are generally not extendable, so to continue:
- Submit a full NAIRR Pilot proposal — the intended path to keep your activities running (and get more resources).
- The expiration email may still offer an extension request (requires a short progress report) — worth trying for a small bridge.
- Ask your resource provider (e.g., Jetstream2/IU) whether they'll keep your access on independently.
- Either way, submit your Final Report — it's required and influences the future of the program.
Quick reference — the traps, in one place
- Wrong portal: NAIRR Pilot users are added at submit-nairr.xras.org ("Add User" tab), not allocations.access-ci.org.
- Wrong page: existing projects live under your awarded projects / "Add User", not the new request form.
- Wrong email: ACCESS IDs made with Gmail/personal email are ineligible — students must register with their institutional (.edu) email.
- Wrong login: "User Not Registered" → choose "ACCESS CI (XSEDE)".
- Guest vs owner: you can only manage projects where you're the PI — not ones you were added to as a user.
- Sync delay: added users take ~4 hours — add them early.
Where to get help
Stuck on allocations or Jetstream2? Email help@jetstream-cloud.org, or join Jetstream2 office hours — Tuesdays, 2:00 PM Eastern, on Zoom. For NAIRR allocation/account questions, open a ticket at nairrpilot.org/open-support-request.