SpectraLogic BlackPearl Connector

Last Updated: September 4, 2019

Note: Globus is now certified with BlackPearl 5.x

This connector enables use of a Globus data access interface on a SpectraLogic BlackPearl storage system. This requires the installation of Globus Connect Server and an additional package that is specific to the BlackPearl storage system called the BlackPearl DSI.

This connector is a premium feature available only to Globus subscribers, and is thus only available for Managed Endpoints.

Prerequisites

A functional Globus Connect Server installation is required for installation and use of the BlackPearl connector. The Globus Connect Server Installation Guide provides detailed documentation on the steps for installing and configuring a server endpoint.

Supported Linux Distributions

The BlackPearl DSI supports all Linux distributions supported by Globus Connect Server v4 except variants of enterprise linux version 6 (Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Scientific Linux, CentOS). See the GCS v4 supported Linux distributions for more information.

Supported BlackPearl versions

The BlackPearl DSI works with the following versions of the BlackPearl software:

  • 3.0

  • 4.0

  • 5.0

Supported Globus Connect Server versions

The BlackPearl DSI should be used with the latest version of Globus Connect Server 4.x. Once a valid Globus Connect Server installation is in place, the BlackPearl DSI can be installed by following these steps.

Installation

Install the package specific for your platform and BlackPearl version:

If you are using BlackPearl version 5 or newer:

RHEL/CentOS:

yum install globus-gridftp-server-blackpearl

Ubuntu/Debian:

apt-get install globus-gridftp-server-blackpearl

If you are using BlackPearl version 4 or older:

RHEL/CentOS:

yum install gridftp-blackpearl-dsi

Ubuntu/Debian:

apt-get install gridftp-blackpearl-dsi

Create a service user account

Since users need not have user accounts on the local endpoint, transfers will be configured to run under a local service user account. Create a user named globus-blackpearl. This account name will be used below as the value of the process_user configuration option.

Configuration

Configure the BlackPearl DSI

You must now configure the BlackPearl DSI by creating two files. The first file will be /etc/blackpearl/GridFTPConfig and it must contain only the following:

EndPoint           https://<blackpearl_data_port_address>
AccessIDFile       /etc/blackpearl/AccessIDFile

EndPoint is the location of the BlackPearl’s data port. If your BlackPearl does not have TLS enabled, you may use an IP address and port (ex. http://10.0.1.2:8000) or hostname with optional port (ex. http://blackpearl:8000). However, if you are using TLS with BlackPearl, you must specificy a fully qualified domain name (fqdn), for example https://bp.example.com, and the fqdn must match the BlackPearl’s TLS certificate DN. Do not use a trailing / on the EndPoint value; doing so will cause requests to BlackPearl to fail.

The second file will be /etc/blackpearl/AccessIDFile and it will contain mappings, one per line, that will provide a mapping from a local user on the system where the GridFTP server is running to a user on the BlackPearl system. Below is an example /etc/blackpearl/AccessIDFile file:

local_user1 black_pearl_S3_Access_ID_01 black_pearl_S3_Secret_Key_01
local_user2 black_pearl_S3_Access_ID_02 black_pearl_S3_Secret_Key_02
local_user3 black_pearl_S3_Access_ID_03 black_pearl_S3_Secret_Key_03
Note
This file contains access keys for the BlackPearl service. Make sure to limit the file’s permissions to the globus-blackpearl user created above.

When a user activates an endpoint, the GridFTP server will map those activation credentials to a local user. That local user will then be mapped to a BlackPearl user via the /etc/blackpearl/AccessIDFile, and the user will have access to the BlackPearl per those mapped credentials. After installing the BlackPearl packages and configuring the BlackPearl DSI per the instructions above, the GridFTP service needs to be restarted.

Enable the BlackPearl DSI

This will configure the GridFTP service to use the BlackPearl DSI. Create the file /etc/gridftp.d/blackpearl containing the following:

threads 1
load_dsi_module blackpearl
process_user globus-blackpearl

Basic Endpoint Functionality Test

After completing the installation, you should do some basic transfer tests with your endpoint to ensure that it is working. We document a process for basic endpoint functionality testing here.