The ALICE Configuration Tool

ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the heavy-ion detector designed to study the physics of strongly interacting matter and the quark-gluon plasma at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It includes 18 different sub-detectors and 5 online systems, each one made of many different components and developed by different teams inside the collaboration. The operation of a large experiment over several years to collect billions of events acquired in well defined conditions requires predictability and repeatability of the experiment configuration. The logistics of the operation is also a major issue and it is mandatory to reduce the size of the shift crew needed to operate the experiment. Appropriate software tools are therefore needed to automate daily operations. This ensures minimizing human errors and maximizing the data taking time. The ALICE Configuration Tool (ACT) is ALICE first step to achieve a high level of automation, implementing automatic configuration and calibration of the sub-detectors and online systems. This presentation describes the goals and architecture of the ACT, the web-based Human Interface and the commissioning performed before the start of the collisions. It also reports on the first experiences with real use in daily operations, and finally it presents the road-map for future developments.