We are currently maintaining 2.0 and 2.2 versions of globus on the lab machines. Most, GRAM and GridFTP installations are 2.0 and all MDS installation are 2.2 (see below for exact details). This is due to a CoG 0.9.13 incompatibility problems with GRAM and GridFTP from 2.2.

Our GIIS server is running on rainier.extreme.indiana.edu and its Mds-Vo-name is 'extreme'. It reports to the CS department's GIIS running on sawtooth.cs.indiana.edu whose Mds-vo-name is 'cs' (contact Akshay Sharma <asharma@cs.indiana.edu> for further details).

Globus deploy status on lab machines

Getting Started

Setting up your environment:
To use the globus tools, the following environment variable needs to be set to the location of the globus installation:
- 1.1.3: GLOBUS_INSTALL_PATH /l/local/packages/globus/1.1.3
- 2.0beta: GLOBUS_LOCATION /l/local/packages/globus/2.0beta
- 2.0: GLOBUS_LOCATION /l/local/packages/globus/2.0
- 2.0-callback_spaces: GLOBUS_LOCATION /l/local/packages/globus/2.0-callback_spaces
- 2.2: GLOBUS_LOCATION /l/local/packages/globus/2.2
To get the tools in your path and to set some more variables, source the following file:
- 1.1.3: ${GLOBUS_INSTALL_PATH}/etc/globus-user-setup.csh
- 2.x: ${GLOBUS_LOCATION}/etc/globus-user-env.csh
Obtaining a certificate:
1. Obtain a certificate by first executing grid-cert-request. This will create a .globus directory within your home directory. It will also place your certificate request (userrequest.pem) and key (userkey.pem) in there as well.
  Don't forget your passphrase! If you forget it, not only will you have to redo this step, but the Globus CA emails a handful of your colleagues to verify that you lost the passphrase. Once one of them confirms you, then you'll get the new certificate...in short, it's an embarrassing process...so treat it like you would a password on your account.
2. Send your certificate request to the Globus CA, ca@globus.org. For example,
  cat ~/.globus/usercert_request.pem | mail ca@globus.org
  Make sure you send it from a machine that you can receive email from. The Globus CA sends certificates back rather quickly (often the same day but it could take longer).
3. Once you receive your certificate, move it to your $(HOME)/.globus directory under the name usercert.pem.
4. Email globus@extreme.indiana.edu your globus dn and ask to be added to the grid-mapfile. You can find your globus dn by running:
  grid-cert-info -subject
Testing your globus credentials:
Once you receive confirmation that you are in the grid-mapfile, you can test your setup by running:

grid-proxy-init
This will create a temporary proxy which will act on your behalf to authenticate you to globus services. To test the gatekeeper service on rainier, run:
globusrun -o -r rainier '&(executable=/bin/date)'
This remotely executes the date program on rainier and returns the output to you.

Tips

Hanging job?

If a Globus job submission ever seems to hang for no good reason, it might be good to check your gass cache directory for lock files. Sometimes when a job is killed or terminates in a wierd way, Globus isn't able to clean up all the way. In this case, lock files relating to gass are left in the .gass_cache directory underneath your .globus directory causing the job to hang. Clear everything in the .gass_cache directory and try again.

Looking for Globus code examples?

Here are some places you may want to look:

The Globus tutorial page has a tar file of example programs.
The Globus distribution comes with a directory of example programs. For the 1.1.3 version, take a look at /l/local/../../build/noarch/globus/1.1.3/Examples. (The tutorial examples are also available here.)
Test programs are usually coupled with the source code of each Globus module (within the Globus distribution). So for example, for 1.1.3 if I want to see a test program for the gram modules, I would go to <Globus source distribution>/ResourceManagement/gram/tests.

Expired Certificate?

Your globus certificate is valid for one year. Run the following to find out the expiration date of your certificate:

grid-cert-info -enddate

About a month before your certificate expires, you should receive a renewal notice from the Globus CA (usually these notices are sent by Douglas Engert). The renewal notice will contain a challenge string. To renew your certificate, run

grid-cert-renew <challenge string>

This will generate a new key (newkey.pem) and certificate request (renewalrequest.pem)in your .globus directory. Send the renewal request to the ca@globus.org. Upon receipt of your certificate, place it in usercert.pem. Also, move the newkey.pem file to userkey.pem.

Last updated 31 Mar 2006 by machrist@cs.indiana.edu