Registration of a Group / Virtual Organisation (VO) via Plony¶

Log in to our Service database ‘Plony‘. After the successful login you will get to the Plony landing page. On the top right-hand, hover over ‘VO Registration’ and click ‘New VO Application’. This will lead you to the VO Application Form.

Plony landing page

What if the VO Registration button is not displayed?

For registrating a new VO you have to be an employee in Helmholtz. As a non-Helmholtz employee it is not possible to be the manager of the VO.

2. VO Application Form¶

When clicking on ‘New VO Application’ you get to the ready-to-fill VO Application Form. The form consists auf two pages: the first page contains fields for compliance and general information. The second page contains a template for the VOs Acceptable Use Policy.

Compliance and General Information¶

VO Application form

First you have to accept the Terms of Use of the Helmholtz Cloud and the Helmholtz AAI Policies.
After that you have to fill out the general information fields for the VO. (All fields on the first page of the form are mandatory. The information requested in the form and required for the VO is taken from the Virtual Organisation (VO) Life Cycle Management, that is in line with the AARC Guidelines.)
To save your VO Application (draft) you have to at least fill out the field ‘VO Name’.

Please note

When naming your VO, there are a few guidelines to keep in mind. The name of the VO can only have alphanumeric characters, hyphens, and underscores. Also, certain prefixes aren’t allowed.

The fields ‘VO Manager - Firstname’, ‘VO Manager - Lastname’ and ‘VO Manager - Email’ are prefilled with your information from Helmholtz ID Login.
After you have set a name for your VO you are able to save your VO Application by clicking the ‘Save’ button at the bottom of the form. You can save your VO Application at any time and come back later to continue.
Once you have filled in all the fields of the first page, you can click on the button ‘Next Page’ to move to the second page of the form.

Acceptable Use Policy¶

VO Application AUP

The second page of the form is a template for the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for your VO. Essentially, the directive contains a reference to the Helmholtz AAI Policies and the Helmholtz AAI Acceptable Use Policy. Later every user joining your VO will have to read and accept this AUP before being able to join. The mandatory fields of the AUP are prefilled with the input from the first page. You can add additional information in the optional fields.

3. Validation¶

Once you have completed the form (or at any other time), you can validate your entries by clicking on the button ‘Validate’ at the bottom of the form. A message will then appear indicating whether the validation was successful or whether any entries are still missing (message has red background colour in this case). If validation fails, corresponding messages are displayed in the affected fields:

VO Application validation failed

Successful validation is confirmed with a corresponding message (with green background colour):

VO Application validation succesful

4. Saving Your Application¶

You can then save or temporarily store your VO Application at any time by clicking the ‘Save’ button which is also located at the bottom of the form.

5. Sending Your Application¶

After saving your VO Application, you will be redirected to an overview page (‘My VOs’) displaying all your VO Applications and their current status:

My VOs

Application in Draft¶

Lists all your VO Applications, which were saved but not sent (and submit) yet. By clicking on the VO Application you get an overview of your VO Application.

VO view

In this state the VO Application can be edited, sent or withdrawn. If you would like to change the details or have to add information click the ‘Edit’ button. You will then be redirected to the VO Application form.
You can also validate your draft by clicking the ‘Validate’ button. Corresponding error messages are displayed in the fields if your entries are incorrect or incomplete. Successful validation is confirmed with a message coloured in green.
Once you have completed your VO Application and wish to submit it, press the ‘Send’ button. The system will then validate your entries. If the validation is successful, your VO Application will be sent and you will be redirected to the overview page ‘My VOs’. Your VO Application will then switch to the status ‘Application Received’. If the validation is not successful, your VO Application cannot be sent. In this case, please check the error messages displayed.
If you want to withdraw your VO Application click the ‘Withdraw Application’ button. Your application will not be deleted, but will be set to the status ‘Application Withdrawn’.

Application Received¶

After sending your VO Application is sent to HIFIS and will be reviewed. You will get a copy of your VO Application via email. The VO Application can no longer be edited in this status.
VO Applications are currently being reviewed via the HIFIS ticket system. Any questions regarding your VO Application will be sent via this system. Once your VO Application has been approved and the VO has been registered, you will receive a confirmation in the ticket.

Application Withdrawn¶

The list shows all withdrawned VO Applications. By clicking on the VO Application you will be redirected to an overview page of the VO Application. If you want to reactivate this VO Application, press the button ‘Back to draft’. The VO Application will then return to ‘Application in draft’ status and can be edited as described in point Application in Draft.