Systems Set Up

Systems Set Up #

These are not hand-holding instructions. Rather they are a reference to help with your setup. If they are wrong or incomplete, please edit them.

The page has been roughly organised into high priority things (do in your first couple of days), low priority (sometimes in the first couple of weeks), and reference.

If any of the material is unfamiliar (e.g. you haven’t seen a GitHub project board before), then please ask your buddies (or anyone else you meet in the group) to have an informal chat about it.

High priority #

Getting a computer #

Receive (or be assigned) new computer from IT. It will have an admin account for IT, and probably an account for you with a default password. Contact your line manager as a matter of urgency if you are not able to get a laptop on your first day at the Turing.

Log in with the password provided by IT.

Change your password.

Your new password should be strong (12 random characters), and ideally randomly generated by a password manager. Feel free to use a diceware-style passphrase.

Your password should be:

  • unique to the machine/system
  • randomly generated (use a password generator)
  • have an entropy of at least 64 bits, see wikipedia
    • At least 11 characters if alphanumeric (use 12, though)
    • At least 10 characters if alphanumeric plus symbols
    • At least 5 words if using dice ware

At this point you can also configure fingerprint authentication.

Make sure you have FileVault on.

You should be setup with local admin privileges. Contact IT if this isn’t the case.

Install Homebrew #

We recommend using Homebrew as your Mac package manager. Currently IT installs Homebrew by default on our laptops under /usr/local/bin. However, in the long run this might create problems with the new M1 Macs we use. To see if this problem applies to you, run which brew in the terminal and check if that’s the location. Until this is fixed by IT, what we recommend is the following:

  1. Uninstall the current version of Homebrew by running the following command in the terminal: sudo /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/uninstall.sh)"
  2. Install Homebrew again following the instructions on the website. This will install Homebrew under /opt/homebrew/bin/brew (you can check by entering which brew in the terminal to see the new location).

Communication Channels #

Most communication happens through Slack. More structured communication happens through GitHub. These two systems are the first things you should setup (once you’re on Slack it’s a lot easier to ask for help).

Slack #

Install Slack:

brew install --cask slack

Once installed join the Turing Slack. You can self-subscribe with your @turing.ac.uk email address.

Important channels to join:

  • You should be added to #general and #random by default.
  • Ask anyone in the team to add you to the private channel #hut23.
  • If you are a senior, please ask another senior to invite you to the REG senior’s Slack channel (#line-managers).

GitHub #

We use GitHub for most coordination.

To get access to Turing GitHub, create a GitHub account (or use an existing one), and fill out this MS Form with your GitHub handle (if you have access to Turing Complete). Then let the GitHub org controller know that you have done this and they can add you straight away.

Also check the Project tracker to get a feeling on what goes on. We use it to track official projects we are tasked with. This is where we express preferences for projects, with emojis. Project leads should be assigned to the relevant issue and are responsible for keeping the issue up to date. Check this section of the handbook for more details.

Office 365 account #

Your Turing main account rests here. You get access to mail (Exchange), calendar, a shared drive, Office apps. Check that you can login, and change your password and configure MFA. Ask IT if in need for help.

Lower Priority #

Here we have more information about how we use the high priority systems, and also other systems to explore.

Other office equipment #

New REG starters are entitled to a Dell 4k USB-C monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse. You can get this by filing a support ticket with IT. Contact the person in charge of onboarding for help with this.

There is a budget to purchase peripherals (monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc.) as well as other equipment such as an office chair and desk. You can purchase the office chair and desk yourself and claim back up to £200 in total via Certify. The steps to do this are described in the homeworking policy on Mathison.

Additonal support items including, footrests, lumbar supports, mouse mats etc. can also be requested through the Facilities team upon completion of the online workstation self-assessment form, up to the total cost of £50 per employee.

Slack Channels #

Turing is a large organisation and there are many other channels you may want to join. Some are purely social, some are related to programmes or projects. For example, #tps (for the closely aligned Tools, Practices and Systems programme), #kitchendropin, #social, #pubclub, #askaway, #research-computing, #interesting-events, #football. If you get interested in something just ask if there is a channel about it.

All of the REG-specific channels are prefixed with hut23, so that’s a good thing to search for in the channel list.

You may also want to add yourself to #hut23standup, which some of us use for automated standups of “About Us” questions. The purpose is to get to know other team members by answering a question three times a week. Geekbot should send you the next question at 10:30am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Tips for using Geekbot:

  • You can report before/after Geekbot asks you by sending it a message from Slack, e.g. report About Us.
  • The Slack channels containing the responses can generate a lot of notifications. You might want to turn off notifications, or alternatively mute the channel and check in on it manually instead. (Right-click on the channel name to do this.)
  • You can customise the time of Geekbot’s questions. Send dashboard as a message to Geekbot and click the link it returns. From there, you can select a standup and the “My preferences” button will take you to the customisation page. (This setting may not be enabled on all standups.)
  • You can export a list of your previous responses to a standup from the dashboard. Click on the “timeline” tab of the relevant standup, and from there you can select the participants and questions to export to a csv file. This is particularly useful when you have forgotten to fill in Harvest for a while and need the information from the daily standup!

Other workspaces you could join:

  • The Society of Research Software Engineering has a Slack worspace. For information about joining the Society see the SocRSE page.

Mailing Lists #

The Newsletters & Mailings page on Turing Complete has a “Update Mailing Preferences” link to sign up to receive some internal newsletters/communication.

Harvest and Forecast #

We use Harvest to (loosely) track our time, and Forecast to manage allocations to projects. Get in touch with the person in charge of researcher tool management to setup a meeting sometime in your first week.

Harvest is a time tracking app used to monitor the amount of time being dedicated to each project. The easiest way to get set up is to ask your Line Manager or another member of the team to invite you and make you admin. You can then add yourself as a team member to whichever projects you’re working on and start tracking your time. There is a page here which goes into more detail about where you should log different activities.

Cezanne HR #

Our HR system is Cezanne HR. You can log onto this with your Turing credentials using the “Enterprise login” option. If “Enterprise login” does not work, email HR to fix it.

This system is used for:

  • Requesting annual leave.
  • Recording days off due to illness etc..
  • Managing the objective setting and performance review process (after your probation period).

Create a Public Profile on the Turing Website #

There are several ways to do this:

  1. You can fill in this form on Turing Complete to request a public profile.
  2. Alternatively, contact the people in charge of REG communications, providing the following info:
    • Your title and full name
    • A short personal bio
    • A brief description of your Turing-related research
    • (optional) A brief description of your achievements and award
    • (optional) Photo
    • (optional) Webpage
  3. You can also edit the website yourself directly. To do so, you must complete a round of online training, after which you will be granted edit permissions.

Office 365 Groups #

Make sure you are in the following Office365 / email groups (check with IT):

  • Research engineering
  • Business team (for non-Research Associate staff)
  • Research staff
  • All Staff
  • If you are a senior member of staff, ask a principal to get you added to the REG-senior-staff email list.
  • End-of-month all business team meetings (Turing Catch-ups). These are sent out as recurring calendar events. You can either email governance to forward you the invite or find a member of the REG team that is invited and ask them to forward the invite.
  • Turing Bulletin: This internal newsletter is sent out every Thursday evening. If you don’t receive it, you can sign up manually via Turing Complete.

GitHub Pro and Professional IDEs #

Turing employees can apply for free GitHub Pro accounts, and use these to get free educational licences for professional versions of many JetBrains products (e.g., PyCharm, IntelliJ, …)

  1. Go to education.github.com and apply for the GitHub Teacher Toolbox
  2. GitHub will ask you to verify your affiliation with an academic institution. The Turing is not on their list, but you can still use it. You will need proof of employment - a screenshot of Cezanne or the top of your Turing contract (including start date) have worked for people in the past.
  3. Once GitHub have approved your Pro account, go to the JetBrains website and create an account there (sign in via GitHub)
  4. You can now apply for a free educational licence (“Apply for a free student or teacher license”) for professional versions of various IDEs.
There is no obligation to use these IDEs, this is just an FYI in case you are interested.

OneDrive #

Sync the Research Engineering documents: From SharePoint, under “Research Engineering” private group, go to “Documents”, then “Sync”.

Please avoid locally editing files that are common and might be edited concurrently. In that case, opt to use the online version through Office 365.

HackMD #

We sometimes use HackMD for shared documents. If you don’t have an account, signup for a free account here. We do not have a paid account for HackMD.

Skype for business #

We don’t use skype that often, but this can be installed through the Self Service application. You will need an application-specific password.

If you want a phone number ask IT.

Mathison #

Mathison is the Institute’s intranet. You should have access to this on your first day. A few things still need to be done on the old intranet, Turing Complete.

Gray Dawes #

Gray Dawes is the Turing’s system for booking travel and accommodation. Instructions on how to get set up can be found on Mathison.

When making bookings on Gray Dawes, you will have to additionally submit an Excel approval form (available at the right-hand sidebar of the same Mathison page). This form should be filled in and sent to the Principal you have a direct link to in the line management chain for approval.

Certify #

Other work-related expenses can be reimbursed via Certify: see the Mathison page for more information on how to get set up. Briefly, you will have to fill in a Travel and Expenses Policy Compliance Form and email it to Finance. On this form, the ‘approver’ should be the REG Director.

The REG Wiki contains more information on the reimbursement process, including information about the specific department and project codes you should be using. When you get access to Certify, it’s a good idea to check that you’ve been set up with the correct codes.

If you applied for a visa to work at the Turing, you are also allowed to claim up to £4000 back. More details on this can be found in Mathison as well as the REG Wiki.

Reference #

Take a look at the following sections: