FAQs: Subscriptions
How much does Globus cost?
Globus is free for researchers at non-profit institutions to use for file transfer, thanks to the generous support of institutions that pay an annual subscription.
As a non-profit institution, our goal from day one has been to make Globus a self-sustaining service, so that we can continue to serve the needs of academic and non-profit research organizations for many years to come. Most of our funding is intended for research and early software development, not to cover operation, support, and ongoing evolutionary improvement of the service. As usage grows, our costs have grown and we decided that charging a usage-based subscription fee for additional features that go beyond file transfer is the best way to ensure that we can continue to provide a high-quality research data management service.
To this end, certain Globus features are available only by subscribing to a Globus subscription. Such features include the ability to share files directly from existing storage and performing various administrative tasks for Globus endpoints at your institution. Globus subscription plans also offer higher levels of support from the Globus team, with priority response times.
If you are a commercial user, you may use Globus by signing up for a commercial subscription. We are unable to offer the service free of charge to commercial users, but believe that you will find Globus provides valuable capabilities at a reasonable price. Thanks!
How do I convert an existing endpoint into a managed endpoint?
To make your endpoint managed, contact a Globus subscription manager at your institution and ask them to set the endpoint as managed under your organization’s standard subscription or High Assurance subscription, as appropriate. If you need help identifying subscription managers for your institution, please submit a support request to Globus. (Instructions for the subscription manager are provided below.) When you contact your subscription manager, include the following information in your request.
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State that you are requesting designation of a new managed Globus Connect Server endpoint.
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If your organization has a High Assurance subscription, indicate if this endpoint will be using High Assurance features.
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Include the UUID of your endpoint.
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This will be shown in the globus-connect-server-setup command output for Globus Connect Server 5 installs.
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For Globus Connect Server 4 installs, the endpoint UUID can be found by looking the endpoint up in the Endpoints page of the Globus web app, and then checking the "Endpoint UUID" field in the endpoint’s Overview tab.
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After submitting the request, you’ll need to wait for a response that your endpoint has been made managed before proceeding.
The subscription manager at your institution can go to the Console section of the Globus web app and search for the UUID you provided. When the endpoint is found, click the "Update Managed Status" button to set the endpoint managed with the standard subscription ID or the High Assurance subscription ID, as appropriate.
You can also convert an existing endpoint into a managed endpoint via the Globus CLI by running the following command:
$ globus endpoint update --managed ENDPOINT_UUID
For example, if user <username>
wishes to flag the endpoint with a UUID of 11111111-2222-3333-4444-555555555555 as a managed endpoint then the user must run:
$ globus endpoint update --managed 11111111-2222-3333-4444-555555555555
If you don’t know the UUID of your endpoint, but you do know its display name, then you can find the UUID like this:
$ globus endpoint search --filter-scope my-endpoints "My Endpoint Display Name"
Please ensure that <username>
has subscription management rights, otherwise the command will fail. Note that a subscription manager can only create endpoints under their own account.
You must have a current Globus subscription to be granted subscription management rights. If your Globus account does not have subscription management rights, please contact support@globus.org so that we may enable your account. If you do not have a Globus subscription please contact us to sign up.
What is Globus Plus and How do I get Globus Plus?
Globus Plus enables you to transfer files between two personal Globus endpoints, i.e. computers on which you have installed Globus Connect Personal, such as your laptop and a desktop personal computer. Globus Plus also allows you to share files from personal Globus endpoints.
Your Globus account may be upgraded to Globus Plus by associating it with your organization’s Globus subscription. Go to: the settings page, select your organization from the list and follow the instructions. Depending on your organization’s policy, you may be directed to complete a request form or send email to an administrator. Once you have Globus Plus, visiting the above link will show your institution as in the example below.

What information does the Globus Usage Transfer Detail file contain?
The Globus Usage Transfer Detail file is included as part of subscriber usage reporting and provides a record of all Globus transfer task requests made to or from endpoints managed under your subscription. It is rich in information and can be used as the foundation for subscriber to create custom usage reports and dashboards.
The file is a CSV formatted file, with each row representing a unique transfer request. Globus deletion task requests and HTTPS transfer requests are not included in the file.
Column headers use Globus Connect Server version 5 terminology. Please refer to the tables below for a description of the file contents. In the tables below, all source information has analogous destination information.
Column Values by Collection Type
source_collection refers to | source_mapped_collection refers to | source_endpoint refers to | |
---|---|---|---|
If source is a GCSv5 mapped collection, |
GCSv5 mapped collection |
GCSv5 mapped collection |
GCSv5 endpoint |
If source is a GCSv5 guest collection, |
GCSv5 guest collection |
GCSv5 mapped collection |
GCSv5 endpoint |
If source is a GCSv4 host endpoint |
GCSv4 host endpoint |
GCSv4 host endpoint |
GCSv4 host endpoint |
If source is a GCSv4 shared endpoint, |
GCSv4 shared endpoint |
GCSv4 host endpoint |
GCSv4 host endpoint |
If source is a GCP mapped collection, |
GCP mapped collection |
GCP mapped collection |
GCP mapped collection |
If source is a GCP guest collection, |
GCP guest collection |
GCP mapped collection |
GCP mapped collection |
Globus Usage Transfer Detail Columns
All source specific columns have matching destination specific columns in the Globus Usage Transfer Details csv file.
Column Header | Description |
---|---|
owner_identity_name |
The identity of the task owner. Former column label was 'user_name'. |
request_time |
The date and time the task was created, in ISO 8601 format. |
completion_time |
The date and time the task ended, in ISO 8601 format. |
source_collection_owner |
The identity of the source owner. |
source_collection_advertised_owner |
The identity of the advertised owner of the source. |
source_collection_name |
The name of the source at time the transfer request was submitted. |
source_collection_id |
The globally unique uuid of the source. |
source_mapped_collection_owner |
The identity of the owner of the source mapped collection (or GCSv4 host). |
source_mapped_collection_advertised_owner |
The advertised identity of the owner of the source mapped collection (or GCSv4 host). |
source_mapped_collection_name |
The name of the source mapped collection (or GCSv4 host) at time the transfer request was submitted. |
source_mapped_collection_id |
The unique identifier of the source mapped collection (or GCSv4 host). |
source_endpoint_owner |
The identity of the owner of the source endpoint (or GCP mapped collection). |
source_endpoint_advertised_owner |
The advertised identity of the owner of the source endpoint (or GCP mapped collection). |
source_endpoint_name |
The name of the source endpoint (or GCP mapped collection) at time the transfer request was submitted. |
source_endpoint_id |
The unique identifier of the source endpoint (or GCP mapped collection). |
source_endpoint_is_managed |
A flag that indicates whether the source endpoint (or GCP mapped collection) is managed. |
status |
A flag that indicates whether the transfer completed successfully (SUCCEEDED) or whether one of the transfer subtasks failed, expired, or was canceled (FAILED). |
bytes_transferred |
The number of bytes transferred. |
files_transferred |
The number of files transferred. Data is not available for transfers requested before October 16, 2015. |
files_processed |
The total number of files evaluated in a transfer. Skipped files are included in this number. |
directories_processed |
The total number of directories evaluated in a transfer task. Skipped directories are included in this number. |
subtasks_succeeded |
Number of subtasks which have completed successfully. This number includes file transfer subtasks and helper subtasks such as directory expansion. It is not the number of files transferred. Former column label was 'succeeded'. |
subtasks_failed |
Number of subtasks which failed for reasons other than expiring or being canceled. Former column label was 'failed'. |
subtasks_expired |
Number of subtasks which expired and were not completed. Former column label was 'expired'. |
subtasks_canceled |
Number of subtasks which were canceled. Former column label was 'canceled'. |
files_skipped |
The number of files skipped because no changes were detected. This will always be zero for transfer tasks with a null sync_level. Former column label was 'skipped'. |
bytes_checksummed |
If sync level 3 is used, the number of bytes checksummed while determining which files need to be transferred. |
faults |
The number of errors the transfer task encountered. Note that certain types of faults are not fatal (for example, network communication errors) and can be successfully retried. A CANCELED or EXPIRED event is not included in this fault count. |
checksum_faults |
The number of errors the transfer task encountered due to checksum errors. |
subtasks_skipped_errors |
The number of subtasks that were skipped due to skip_source_errors being set on the transfer task. This will equal the total number of discovered files and directories skipped from the source endpoint. Note that if a directory is skipped then the files and directories under it will not be discovered and not included in this count. Former column label was 'skipped_errors'. |
directory_expansions |
The number transfer items that are directories. |
taskid |
The globally unique uuid for this task. |
duration_secs |
The difference in seconds between the task request and complete times. |
sync_level |
If not null, the level at which checks are performed to determine if a file should be copied. Higher levels include the checks from lower levels. Level 0 copies files that do not exist at the destination. Level 1 copies files if the size of the destination does not match the size of the source. Level 2 copies files if the timestamp of the destination is older than the timestamp of the source. Level 3 copies files if checksums of the source and destination do not match. |
encrypt_data |
A flag that indicates whether the data channel is encrypted. |
verify_checksum |
A flag that indicates whether the verify_checksum option was used for the transfer |
preserve_modification_time |
A flag that indicates whether the preserve_timestamp option was used for the transfer. |
skip_source_errors |
A flag that indicates whether the skip_source_errors option was used for the transfer. |
fail_on_quota_errors |
A flag that indicates whether the fail_on_quota_errors option was used for the transfer. |
delete_destination_extra |
A flag that indicates whether to delete files, directories, and symlinks on the destination collection that don’t exist on the source collection or are a different type. Only applies to recursive directory transfers. Former column label was 'is_sync_delete'. |
delete_destination_items |
If is_sync_delete is TRUE, the number of transfer items that were directories and thus were traversed and compared to the source. Former column label was 'sync_deletes'. |
filter_rules |
The list of filter rules applied on the transfer task during recursive expansion. |