Globus: Difference between revisions

[https://www.globus.org/ Globus] is a service for fast, reliable, secure transfer of files. Designed specifically for researchers, Globus has an easy-to-use interface with background monitoring features that automate the management of file transfers between any two resources, whether they are at an Alliance cluster, another supercomputing facility, a campus cluster, lab server, desktop or laptop.

Go to [https://globus.alliancecan.ca/ https://globus.alliancecan.ca/]. Your "existing organizational login" is your CCDB account. Ensure that "Compute Canada" is selected in the drop-down, then click Continue. Supply your CCDB username (not your e-mail address or other identifier) and password on the Compute Canada MyProxy page which appears. This takes you to the web portal for Globus.

[[File:1st-panel.png|400px|thumb|none| CC Globus Authentication page. (Click for larger image.)]]

Globus transfers happen between collections (formerly known as <i>endpoints</i> in previous Globus versions).  Most Alliance clusters have some standard collections set up for you to use.  To transfer files to and from your computer, you need to create a collection for it. This requires a bit of set up initially, but once it has been done, transfers via Globus require little more than making sure the Globus Connect Personal software is running on your machine. More on this below under [[#Personal computers|Personal computers]].

On the top right of the page, there are three buttons labelled "Panels". Select the second button (this will allow you to see two collections at the same time).

Find collections by clicking where the page says "Search" and entering a collection name.  

You can start typing a collection name to select it. For example, if you want to transfer data to or from the Béluga cluster, type "beluga", wait two seconds for a list of matching sites to appear, and select <code>computecanada#beluga-dtn</code>.  

All resources have names prefixed with <code>computecanada#</code>. For example, [https://globus.alliancecan.ca/file-manager?origin_id=278b9bfe-24da-11e9-9fa2-0a06afd4a22e <code>computecanada#beluga-dtn</code>], [https://globus.alliancecan.ca/file-manager?origin_id=c99fd40c-5545-11e7-beb6-22000b9a448b <code>computecanada#cedar-dtn</code>],  [https://globus.alliancecan.ca/file-manager?origin_id=07baf15f-d7fd-4b6a-bf8a-5b5ef2e229d3 <code>computecanada#graham-globus</code>] or [https://globus.alliancecan.ca/file-manager?origin_id=77506016-4a51-11e8-8f88-0a6d4e044368 <code>computecanada#niagara</code>] (note that 'dtn' stands for 'data transfer node').

You may be prompted to authenticate to access the collection, depending on which site is hosting the collection. For example, if you are activating a collection hosted on Graham, you will be asked for your Alliance username and password.  The authentication of a collection remains valid for some time - typically one week for CC collections while personal collections do not expire.

Once a collection has been activated, you should see a list of directories and files. You can navigate these by double-clicking on directories and using the ''up one folder'' button. Highlight a file or directory that you want to transfer by single-clicking on it. Control-click to highlight multiple things. Then click on one of the big blue buttons with white arrowheads to initiate the transfer. The transfer job will be given a unique ID and will begin right away. You will receive an email when the transfer is complete. You can also monitor in-progress transfers and view details of completed transfers by clicking on the [https://globus.alliancecan.ca/activity ''Activity'' button] on the left-hand side.

[[File:Globus-Initiate-Transfer.png|400px|thumb|none| Initiating a transfer.  Note the highlighted file in the left hand pane. (Click for larger image.)]]