The Laser Guide Star Facility (LGSF) is installed on the UT4 (Yepun) telescope at Paranal Observatory in Chile. On thesame telescope, two instruments are equipped with adaptive optics: an infrared spectro imager (CONICA) below theadaptive optics module NAOS; and an integral field spectrograph (SINFONI). The LGSF is tuned to the sodium D2 lineto generate an artificial reference star, for both CONICA and SINFONI.Although the LGSF is a complex laser system, rather different from the other instruments at Paranal, it has beendesigned to run remotely without any hand-on tuning for a period of one week. The LGSF system has now been inoperation for several months, in conjunction with the Aircraft camera Avoidance System (AAS).In this article, we report on the technical performance achieved by the LGSF in operational conditions. We also providea summary of the technical problems and operational constraints we have faced so far. We present the current operationsand maintenance procedures implemented at Paranal.We also present the evolution of the human resources needed to operate and maintain the LGSF operational fromcommissioning to routine operations.Finally, we discuss possible improvements to reduce the workload to maintain and operate the LGSF.
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