Globus
- Overview of Globus
- Globus Connect Personal
- Using the Globus Web Application to transfer files
Overview
Globus is a cloud-based software-as-a-service providing file transfer,
sharing, and data publication functionality. It is supported by most
High Performance Computing clusters in the world and is designed for
efficiently moving very large (many TBs) of data. Globus has automatic
support for using multiple streams (thereby speeding up transfers) as well
as restarting failed transfers without manual intervention.
Globus allows for transferring files and data between any pair of
"end points". As stated earlier, most HPC clusters have Globus "end points",
allowing you to transfer data efficiently between HPC clusters. Also,
you can use a web application to temporarily make your desktop/workstation into
an "end point" so that you can transfer files to and from it as well.
Globus Connect Personal
Globus Connect Personal allows you to set up your workstation as a
Globus endpoint which you can later use to transfer files to and from.
If you are only interested in using Globus to transfer files between
existing endpoints (e.g. HPC clusters), you will not need to use this.
To setup your workstation as an endpoint, you will need to install
Globus Connect Personal on it. This needs only be done once. To do this,
open a web browser on your workstation and:
- Visit
https://www.globus.org/globus-connect-personal.
- There should be a blue shaded region to the right with links to
instructions for installing
Globus Connect Personal on various common operations systems. Click on
the apprpriate link and follow the instructions.
- During the installation process, the installation script will prompt
for where Globus should be installed. The default location usually requires
administrative access to the workstation; if you do not have such you can
install to a location where you have write access (e.g. beneath your home
directory).
- You will need to configure Globus Connect Personal before using. This
is covered in detail in the aforementioned installation instructions as well.
In particular:
- Under the "Access" tab you can add folders which you want
to give Globus access to. The
"Writable" checkbox means that Globus will be able to transfer files
into the folder. The "Shareable" checkbox means that Globus can
transfer files out of the folder. It is strongly
recommended that you leave the "Shareable" checkbox unchecked for
security reasons. (Note that the "Shareable" box requires you to
be a Globus Plus user, and that at this time the University does not
provide such).
- Under the "General" tab, there are also checkboxes related to
"Run when Windows starts" and "Automatically check for updates".
It is recommended to leave the first ("Run when Windows starts")
unchecked, and the latter ("Automatically check for updates") checked.
Using the Globus Web Application to transfer files
This section discusses how to transfer files with the Globus Web
Application. If you wish to transfer files to or from you workstation,
you will need to configure Globus Connect Personal
first; that is not needed if you just wish to transfer between existing
endpoints (e.g. most HPC clusters).
- Open a web browser on your workstation and go to
https://globus.org/login
- You will be requested to log in. There will be a dropdown listing
various organizations. There are multiple ways UMD users might log into
Globus:
- Select
University of Maryland College Park
from the
dropdown, you will be redirected to the campus login page, where you
can use your UMD directory ID and password to log in. Most users
will likely want to use this option --- it should work for faculty,
staff, and graduate research assistants.
- Select
Google
from the dropdown list, and enter your
@umd.edu
or @terpmail.umd.edu
email address
and corresponding password. Since those email addresses use GMail as
an underlying service, this should work, even for students without
research assistanceships.
- Select
Google
from the dropdown list, and login using
your personal GMail email address and password. While this
should work, we strongly recommend using one of the above two
mechanisms if possible.
- If you are a student who needs/wishes to log in directly using
your UMD directory ID and password, but cannot do so because you are
currently not in a research assistanceship position, you can ask your
faculty advisor request that the campus data stewards release your
specific account for direct authentication to Globus. Please see:
- After logging in, you should reach the file transfer page. On this page
you will get two file browser windows, one on the left and one on the right.
Each window will have an "Endpoint" field and represent the two systems
between which you wish to transfer files (once set up, you can transfer files
in either direction). Select your endpoints (you can generally just starting typing in any part of the name to search, e.g. "Deepthought" for Deepthought2 or "MARCC" for bluecrab):
- For the Deepthought2 cluster, choose
University of Maryland - Deepthought2
- For MARCC and/or the Bluecrab cluster, choose
marcc#dtn
- If you want to transfer data to/from your workstation, you
will need to have previously configured your workstation for
Globus Connect Personal. The Globus Connect Personal application will
also need to be running on your workstation.
Enter the name you gave your personal endpoint
when you set it up. You should also be able to find it under the
"Administered by Me" tab.
Most endpoints will request an username and password for you to access
them. Login in, and you should get a list of files and directories on that
system.
- Once you have selected and logged into both endpoints, the file browser
screens will display the filesystems on the two endpoints. You can then
select files and/or directories by selecting on one system and then selecting
the appropriate arrow to initiate the transfer.
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