dCache has all the functionality of an LCG Storage Element (SE). To make dCache available as an SE, simply configure it to publish into the LCG information system. From version 1.6.6 release 2 of dCache on, this can be done with the new Info Provider as follows.

We assume that a running Globus MDS system is installed as provided by the generic installation procedure of the LCG software (see http://lcg.web.cern.ch/LCG/Sites/releases.html).

The actual compilation of static and dynamic information and publication into the LCG information system is done by the generic information provider (GIP). The new dCache info provider requires version 1.0.22 of GIP. You will need the GIP RPM and the found at template RPM. There is also a tutorial that describes how to configure GIP, though most people will use the LCG generic installation method YAIM for that.

If you want to do it manually, though, you have to create the static file in /opt/lcg/var/gip/ldif/ as described on that page (and below for your convenence) and issue

[root] # ln -s /opt/d-cache/jobs/infoDynamicSE-plugin-dcache /opt/lcg/var/gip/plugin/
[root] # ln -s /opt/d-cache/jobs/infoDynamicSE-provider-dcache /opt/lcg/var/gip/provider/

The new info provider associates to each VO (as given in the static file) a pool group with the same name. The values for available and used space per VO are determined by the values for these pool groups. To create a pool group <voName> and add a pool <voPool> to it, use the admin interface and issue the following commands in the pool manager:

(PoolManager) admin > psu create pgroup <voName>
(PoolManager) admin > psu addto pgroup <voName> <voPool>

The actual usage of the pools might differ according to the configuration of the pool selection unit (see the section called “The Pool Selection Mechanism” for details on that).

The static ldif file may be generated by editing /opt/lcg/share/doc/lcg-info-templates/lcg-info-static-se.conf according to your needs and running

[root] # /opt/lcg/sbin/lcg-info-static-create -c /opt/lcg/share/doc/lcg-info-templates/lcg-info-static-se.conf \
-t /opt/lcg/etc/GlueSE.template > /opt/lcg/var/gip/ldif/lcg-info-static-se.ldif

Globus MDS is configured to use the new GIP by changing /opt/lcg/libexec/lcg-info-wrapper to read

#!/bin/sh
export LANG=C
/opt/lcg/bin/lcg-info-generic /opt/lcg/etc/lcg-info-generic.conf