How to Access Ceph with Globus

Globus can be used to access and share content from Ceph. This document describes how to establish and use Globus to access and share data you have access to on Ceph.

You will use a Globus Connect Server with the Ceph Connector run by your institution, which acts as the gateway between the Globus ecosystem of endpoints and the Ceph Service. Such servers are referred to as "GCSv5 Connector".

Note
To connect Ceph, you need access to a Globus Connect Server endpoint that supports the Ceph connector. This type of endpoint must be installed and configured by a system administrator and requires an active subscription. If your institution does not have such an endpoint, please contact us to discuss your requirements.

By following the steps in this document, you will create a Globus guest collection that can access Ceph files, called "Ceph Share", so that Globus capabilities can be used with Ceph storage. By default, the content on the "Ceph Share" collection will only be accessible to you. You can, if you choose, explicitly set permissions to grant others access via Globus to the content after you have created the "Ceph Share" collection.

The following is a summary of steps needed to create your Ceph Share:

  1. Find your institution’s Globus Connect Server with Ceph enabled (GCSv5 Connector) and open the Collection Creation app. You can get the URL to the registration app from your institution, or search for it in the endpoints page. See section 1 for details.

  2. Using the app, register your Ceph username with the GCSv5 Connector. This registration is associated with one of your identities in a Globus account for security purposes, so that only you can come back to access and manage that registration. See section 2 for details.

  3. Create one or more Ceph Guest Collections using that registered Ceph username. See section 3 for details.

1. Find a Globus Connect Server that supports the Ceph connector

To begin, you must find your institution’s Globus Connect Server that supports the Ceph connector (GCSv5 Connector). You can get that information from your institution or search for such endpoints on the Globus Endpoints page.

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Choose the "Shares" tab on the endpoint and click on the "Add a Shared Endpoint".

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Select which Storage Gateway that you wish to use to create the Guest Collection. The Ceph Storage Gateways will have (Ceph) appended to their names.

2. Register your Ceph Username with a Globus Connect Server

The first time you use the registration app for a Globus Connect Server, a consent screen will be presented for you to allow the app to register your Ceph username with the Globus Connect Server.

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The registration app prompts you to choose a Ceph username. The Ceph username must match the base name of one of your linked identities within the required domain. If you’ve already completed this step, you will not be prompted to create a credential, but you may click on "manage these credentials" to delete or create a new credential.

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3. Create your Ceph Guest Collection

To create the Ceph Guest Collection, chose the folder you want accessible via the collection. In the "Globus Endpoint Information" section, enter information that makes your Ceph Guest Collection easy to identify and find with the Globus search features. You can choose the directory to open by default when the endpoint is accessed.

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Your Ceph Guest Collection has now been created and you can use it to access the contents of your Ceph Buckets.

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At this point, only you can access the contents of the Ceph Buckets via the new guest collection. If desired, you can share content with others via Globus by selecting "Share data on this new endpoint with others" and setting the appropriate permissions.