Globus Connect Server

Last Updated: May 2, 2022

Globus delivers advanced file transfer and sharing capabilities to researchers no matter where their data live. Globus Connect Server makes it easy to add your lab cluster, campus research computing system, or other multiuser HPC facility to the Globus ecosystem. Globus Connect Server is designed for multi-user systems, and will typically be installed by a system administrator. These guides are written primarily for system administrators of multi-user storage systems who want to take full advantage of Globus capabilities and optimize the connection of their resources to the Globus service. If you would like to use your personal laptop or desktop computer with Globus, please install Globus Connect Personal for Linux, Mac or Windows.

Globus Connect Server version 5

Globus Connect Server version 5 is the next evolution of the server software. It provides new capabilities and enhancements for both administrators and users, and platform features to build interesting solutions for data management.

The latest release is Globus Connect Server version 5.4, and offers the following features:

  • Deployments with multiple data transfer nodes

  • Guest collections (data sharing with collaborators)

  • Mapped collections (access for users with local accounts)

  • HTTPS access to data - for direct access from browsers and other HTTPS clients

  • GridFTP access to data - for reliable, bulk data transfer via the Globus transfer service

  • High assurance features for management of protected data

  • Support for the following storage systems: ActiveScale, Azure Blob Storage, S3, Box, Ceph, Dropbox, Google Drive, Google Cloud Storage, HPSS, iRODS, OneDrive, POSIX, POSIX with file staging, SpectraLogic BlackPearl

  • An integrated OIDC server for authentication using any service configured via PAM

Quickstart Guide

Basic setup of Globus Connect Server on a single node providing access to a POSIX filesystem.

Installation Guide

Overview of Globus Connect Server version 5 and detailed installation instructions.

Data Access Admin Guide

Common tasks a Globus administrator would need to do to manage storage gateways and collections.

Domain Guide

Using custom domains for a Globus Connect Server endpoint or collection.

HTTPS Access to Collections

How to access collection data using the HTTPS interface to a collection.

Identity Mapping Admin Guide

Overview of mapping user identity information in Globus to the local account needed to access data.

Globus OIDC Installation Guide

Manage a Globus OIDC server for the endpoint.

Troubleshooting Guide

Common problems and solutions.

Command-Line Reference

Reference material for the Globus Connect Server v5.4 management command-line interface.

Globus Connect Server Manager API

API interface for managing endpoints, storage gateways, collections and user credentials.

API Access for Portals

Instructions on how to access collection data using non-user credentials.

Automated Endpoint Deployment

Overview of non-interactive GCSv5.4 endpoint deployment.

Data Access Application Guide

Overview of what an application will need to access data on Globus Connect Server v5 collections.

Application Migration Guide

Changes needed to support Globus Connect Server v5.4 endpoints for applications that already support Globus Connect Server v4 endpoints.

Changelog

Features and fixes provided by each GCS release.

Globus Connect Server version 4

Important

Globus Connect Server version 4 was deprecated on July 31, 2023. Therefore, support will be limited to security patches only. All support for Globus Connect Server version 4 will be discontinued on December 18, 2023.

Globus Connect Server version 4 is the previous fully featured version of the server. Detailed installation and update instructions for this version are available in the Globus Connect Server v4 Installation Guide. Version 4 endpoints are encouraged to update to Globus Connect Server version 5. See the Version 4 Migration Guide for details.