Getting Help

Slack User Group

Join the HAL Slack user group to connect with HAL admins and users.

General Support

Go to the NCSA Help Portal for assistance with questions or issues not answered by the documentation. Powered by Jira Service Manager (JSM), in this new tool you can:

  • Submit support request tickets.

  • Search knowledge base articles to resolve common issues faster.

  • Monitor the status of your tickets.

  • Respond to NCSA staff as they work to resolve your tickets.

Refer to the JSM User Job Aid for information on how to navigate the portal.

The NCSA Help Portal is the preferred method to submit requests. However, if you run into problems using it, you can still email [email protected] for support. Expand the following section for guidelines on sending email requests so that NCSA staff can efficiently address them.

Email Support Request Guidelines

Email support request guidelines (click to expand/collapse)

To help NCSA staff efficiently address your request, in your initial email, please include:

  • A descriptive subject line starting with HAL.

  • In the email body, include:

    • The username you use to log into the system.

    • Approximately when (date/time) the issue occurred.

    • What you were trying to do and how you tried to do it.

    • Why you think it isn’t working.

    • Commands or scripts you ran, in enough detail to reproduce the problem (text files are preferred).

    • The output and/or error messages you got (text files are preferred).

    • Did you install any modules? If so, which ones?

    • If your command or script worked in the past, when did it stop working?

    • Any other approaches you’ve tried.

    • Any other information you think might be relevant.

If you have multiple, unrelated issues, please create a separate ticket for each by sending separate emails.

You will receive email correspondence as your ticket is worked on, please respond to any questions that are asked.


Consulting Services

Illinois researchers can request research consulting services from NCSA experts through the Illinois Computes program. These services can help with things like optimizing and modernizing existing code, visual data analysis, finding research solutions to complex questions, and much more! For more details, visit Illinois Computes - Find Support.

Illinois Computes requests are submitted through the NCSA XRAS portal. After you log in with your NCSA username and password, select Start a New Illinois Computes Program Submission and then select NCSA Consulting Services as the resource in the form.