Globus for UAB Research Organizations

This guide is intended for UAB research managers such as Lab PIs, Core Directors, and their administrative staff. It provides instructions on how to create and search collections and securely share data with collaborators in compliance with security and policy requirements for file sharing.

If you are new to Globus, we recommend starting with our Getting Started and Globus for Individual Researchers pages first to familiarize yourself with how Globus is used. When those are complete, we then recommend following the guide on this page in order from start to finish, as each guide assume that the previous ones have been completed.

Topics covered:

1. Why Globus?
2. How Does Globus Work?
3. Prerequisites
4. How Do I Get onto the Globus Web App?
5. How Do I Find Collections I Created or Own?
6. How Do I Enable Sharing for My Globus Account?
7. How Do I Create a Collection?
8. How Do I Share a Collection with Others?
9. How Do I Share Data with a Research Core Customer?

Why Globus?

Globus is a data transfer ecosystem that simplifies the process of transferring, sharing, and managing large datasets. It is used by research institutions around the world to move research data between different storage devices, computer systems, and institutions. Globus has many research data oriented features, making it ideal for many research data transfer scenarios. Below is a list of features.

• Straight-forward, browser-based interface.
• Compatible with Long-Term Storage.
• Can be used to share data with Research Core customers.
• Can be used to transfer data between lab workstations, servers, and Cheaha.
• Transfers are automatically retried in the event of network or computer system outages.
• Transfers are encrypted end-to-end. Globus never sees your data.
• Suitable for transferring PHI and HIPAA data. Note: a UAB Enterprise IT risk assessment is required.

How Does Globus Work?

Globus is an ecosystem of software intended to make research data transfer simpler. The Globus Web Application (Web App) at https://app.globus.org allows you to initiate transfers between any two Collections you have authorization to access. The Globus Connect Personal (GCP) and Globus Connect Server (GCS) software let you turn any computer into a Globus Collection. At no point do Globus servers touch your research data. Instead, when you initiate a transfer between two Collections, the Globus application tells the two Collections that they need to talk to each other and data is sent directly between them. The Collections update the application with information you may need to know, such as how much data has transferred so far, how fast the transfer is proceeding, and any errors that occur. If the connection between Collections is interrupted for any reason, the Globus application will attempt to restart the transfer from where it left off.

Prerequisites

For these guides, you will need your BlazerID or XIAS ID and password to authenticate using UAB Single Sign-On (SSO).

How Do I Get Onto the Globus Web App?

To learn how to get onto the Globus Web App Getting Started. Please visit that link and then return here when you have finished.

How Do I Find Collections I Created or Own?

To find a Collection you own, use the following steps.

1. Navigate to the Globus Web App using your browser. You should be at the File Manager page.

   

2. Click either of the Collection Search bar at the top of the File Manager page. This will take you to the Collection Search page.

   

3. Click the Your Collections tab to display a list of Collections you have created or own.

   

4. From here there are two options:

   1. Click the name of the Collection to select it for a file transfer and be taken back to the File Manager page.

      

   2. Click the three dots icon at the right side of the entry to be taken to the Collection details page.

      

How Do I Enable Collection Sharing for My Globus Account?

Before you can share Collections from your Globus Connect Personal (GCP) Collection with others, you must do a one-time setup for your account. You will need to join the "University of Alabama at Birmingham (HA)" (UAB HA) subscription group. Sharing any Collection requires a paid subscription with Globus. UAB Research Computing has a subscription, but Globus does not know your BlazerID is part of our subscription until you join the subscription group. So, Globus also does not know the GCP Collection you created is part of our subscription. By joining our UAB HA group, you and your GCP Collection are confirmed to be part of our subscription, and you can share Collections from the GCP Collection.

To join the UAB HA group, we need to receive both a UAB support request, and a request to join the UAB HA group within the Globus Web App. We need both because we sometimes get spam applications through Globus. Having a Support Request helps us filter the spam. Please use the following steps to join.

1. Submit a Support Request. In the request please include the following.

   • Your BlazerID.
   • The text "Please add me to the Globus UAB HA subscription group."
   • The reason you need to be able to share a Collection in Globus. For Research Cores, this would be to share data with your customers.

2. In your browser get onto the Globus Web App.

3. In the left hand navigation panel click "Groups" to be taken to the Groups page.

   

4. Ensure the "MY GROUPS" box is unchecked. In the "Filter groups" search bar enter "University of Alabama at Birmingham" to locate the "University of Alabama at Birmingham (HA)" (UAB HA) group.

   

5. Click on the UAB HA group name to be taken to the group details page. The Overview tab should be selected.

   

6. Click on the "Join this Subscription" button to be taken to the form to submit a request to join.

   

7. Fill in the form fields and click the "Submit Application" button when completed. This will send you to a page notifying you that your membership is pending. A request has been sent to Research Computing, so please wait until you see a reply in the support request.

   

8. When your membership has been accepted, you can verify by returning to the Globus Web App and navigating to the Groups page. Check the "MY GROUPS". You should see "University of Alabama at Birmingham (HA)" listed with a green, circled checkmark and the word "ACTIVE".

   

When you have completed the steps in this section, proceed to creating a Collection.

How Do I Create a Collection?

There are three ways to create a Collection.

• Start from an existing Collection you created or own.
• Install Globus Connect Personal and share a folder to create a Collection.
• Install and configure one or more Collections with Globus Connect Server. To do this, please Contact Support to start a discussion.

The instructions below assume you are starting from an existing Collection. The instructions will work to create a subset of your Globus Connect Personal Collection.

1. Get onto the Globus Web App.
2. Find the existing Collection and access its details page.

3. Click the "Collection" tab.

   

4. Click the "+ Add Guest Collection" button to be taken to a form to create the new Collection.

   

5. Fill out the form.

   • (1) You Are Sharing: Shows which Collection you will be sharing all or part of. Helpful to verify you are sharing the right Collection
   • (2) Path: Which path you wish to share. By default, the "/" path is the root of the original Collection. This may not be appropriate for your use case. Generally, when creating one Collection from another, you will want to pick a subfolder of the original Collection. Do this with the "Browse" button.
   • (3) Display Name: The name people will see when accessing this Collection, and what they will search for when looking for the Collection.
   • (4) Description: An optional description for the Collection.
   • (5) Keywords: Optional keywords to help locating the Collection. May be useful for broadly or publicly shared data.

   

6. Click the "Create Guest Collection" button to create the Collection. You will be taken to the details page of the new Collection, on the Permissions tab.

   

When you have created a Collection, you are ready to share the Collection with others.

How Do I Share a Collection With Others?

Before sharing a Collection with others, you will need to first create a Collection you administer. If the Collection is a Globus Connect Personal Collection, then you will also need to enable Collection sharing for your Globus account. If these prerequisites have been met, then you are ready to setup a Collection to be shared with others. Please follow the instructions below.

1. Get onto the Globus Web App.
2. Find the Collection you wish to share. In this case we are looking for the "customer-share" Collection.

3. On the "customer-share" Collection details page, click the Permissions tab.

   

4. Click the "Add Permissions – Share With" button.

   

5. Fill in the form.

   • Path defaults to the root of the Collection. This may or may not be acceptable for your use case. Be sure to limit access to only the data that needs to be shared. Use the file browser available in the form to find the correct level of access. For now grant permission to the default.
   • Share With: radio buttons to provide control over who to share with. In almost all cases, you will want to share with a single user, which is what we will show here.
     • User: Use the "User" search bar to find the specific user you wish to share with. If they have never accessed Globus before, they will not appear in the search results. You can safely enter their email address to add them anyway. For now grant permission to yourself for the purposes of experimenting.
   • Email Notification checkbox. We recommend sending an email notification as a convenience.
     • To entry field: who to send the email to. We recommend the same person as the "User" selected earlier. There may be future cases where you want to notify others, such as a supervisor, as well.
     • Message text entry field: the optional content to send in the email message.
   • Permissions The "read" permission must be granted, as that is the point of sharing the Collection. You may additionally give "write" permission to create a two-way collaboration. We recommend Research Cores not grant "write" permission. If you are using a Globus Connect Personal Collection, then "write" permission requires you to correctly configure your Collection to make your shared folder writable.

   

6. Click the "Add Permission" button to grant permission. You should see a notification confirming the permissions granted. At this point permissions have been granted and the Collection is shared with another person. If you need to add more people, click the "Add another Permision" button and repeat the process. Otherwise click "Done". For now click "Done".

   

7. When you click "Done" you should be taken back to the Permissions tab of the Customer Share page. You should see a new entry with "Path: /". If you click the drop-down arrow you will see yourself listed with "Read" permission. If you need to revoke permissions, return to this page and click the icon that looks like a trash can.

   

How Do I Share Data With a Research Core Customer?

If you manage data for a Research Core, please Contact Support to start a conversation. The answer to this question is currently being developed, so we will need to work together to find the ideal solution.

Managing Guest Collections From a Globus Endpoint

It is NOT RECOMMENDED to make Globus Connect Personal Guest Collections public as this is insecure. It is more difficult to manage access controls for the entire Globus Connect Personal Collection than for a Guest Collection. Guest collections make it simpler to share different data with distinct collaborators, and to manage who has access to what data. Be secure, use Guest Collections!

Creating a Guest Collection

1. Click "Collections" in the left-hand navigation pane.

2. Click the "Administered By You" tab (or) you can search for the collections in search.

   

3. In the table, find the collections you wish to share data from and click its name. You will be taken to the page for that collection.

4. Click the "Collections" tab.

   

5. Click the "Add a Guest Collection" button.

6. Fill out the form.

   

   1. Manually enter a path or click the Browse button to select a folder.
   2. Give a short but memorable name for your Guest Collection. This information will be useful for your collaborators.
   3. Optionally fill in a more detailed description of the Guest Collection for your records.
   4. Optionally fill in searchable keywords.
   5. Other additional options include, information link, contact email, organization/department.
   6. Default directory, if left empty, is equivalent to the first field "Directory".

7. Click "Create Collection" to move to the next step. You will be taken to the page for the newly created collection, which is now a full-fledged Guest Collection. Any further references to "an endpoint" will be about the newly created, Guest Collection.

8. Make sure you are on the "Permissions" tab. You should see a permissions table with your name in it.

   

9. Click "Add Permissions -- Share With" to share your Guest Collection with other users.

10. Fill out the form.

    

    1. Optionally enter a path within the shared endpoint or use the Browse button. If you leave the path as just a slash, the entire shared endpoint will be shared with the permitted users.

    2. Select who to share with.

       1. User - One or more users.
       2. Group - All members of a group.
       3. All Users - All globus users.

       4. Public - Makes data accessible to everyone.

          Danger

          It is important to note that options (iii) and (iv) poses a high risk in terms of security. Therefore, we strongly advise against this practice.This will expose information to everyone on Globus!

    3. Search for users to add, or a group, depending on your choice above. You should be able to find any globus user using the search box.

       Warning

       Be certain of which user you are selecting! Check the email address domain.

    4. If adding users, optionally enter a message so they know why they are being added.

    5. Select permissions. Read is automatically selected and cannot be changed. Write permissions are optional.

11. Click "Add Permission" to add permissions for these users or groups. You will be returned to the page for the Guest Collection and should be on the "Permissions" tab and should see the user or group in the table.

Deleting a Guest Collection

1. Click "Collections" in the left-hand navigation pane, then

2. Click the "Administered By You" tab.

   

3. Click the right caret ">" icon at the right side of the row with the collection you wish to delete. You will be taken to the information page for that collection.

   

4. Click "X Delete Collection" and a confirmation dialog will open at the top of the page. Respond to the dialog to delete the Guest Collection, or to cancel.