Whenever asking for help, here or elsewhere, think “How can I help the helper help me?”
Below is a checklist that helps us better assist you with your issue and get to a resolution sooner. Please make sure to:
include your username on the cluster (e.g. “My user
name is alice.”).
specify what machine the problem occurs on (e.g. “I
tried this on dev1 and dev3.”).
if you get an error, cut-and-paste the full error
message (e.g. R: command not found).
for failing jobs, specify the job ID of the job that
has issues (e.g. “Jobs that failed are 9702394 and
9709933, but it worked for 9704439.”).
for failing jobs, specify how you submit the job and
what your script is (e.g. “I submit using qsub -cwd -j y -l
mem_free=500M my_script.sh. My script is
/wynton/home/boblab/alice/my_script.sh.”). If the script is
not too long, consider pasting it in your message.
cut-and-paste text from the console. By including also
the prompt (e.g. [alice@dev1 ~]$ somecmd
input.txt), you convey useful information, such as your
username, current machine, and current working directory, and
possibly more.
If using Slack, please format code and output as a “Code Block” (there’s a button for it too); it makes it much easier to read. Avoid screenshot images.
use ‘Reply All’ in all your email correspondence. That way others in the team can pitch with additional knowledge and suggestions.
never include PHI, or other sensitive, data in unencrypted emails or Slack channels. If you need to include sensitive data, use the UCSF encrypted email system (invoke by including “Secure:” at the start of the email subject line.) Do not include sensitive data in your Slack posts.
If you have questions which require Wynton staff assistance, please don’t hesitate to drop us a Wynton HPC Support email at:
For questions, discussion, and feature requests, please use our Slack workspace:
If you prefer in-person support, please visit our Office Hours: