Data Sharing from DataVault with Globus

Globus is a tool for reliably transferring large amounts of data. This guide details how to share the DataVault research storage with collaborators via the "DataVault - Wisconsin Institute for Discovery" collection

Logging in and linking your DiscoverIT account

1. Connect to https://app.globus.org/, select University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Organizational Login dropdown, and press Continue.
2. Sign in with your UW NetID.
3. In File Manager, enter "DataVault - Wisconsin Institute for Discovery" in the Search bar next to Collection.
   

If you have not authenticated with your DiscoverIT account yet, you'll see the following (else skip to Sharing the Data section):

Click Continue to authenticate.

 

Click "Link an identity from Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery (globus.discovery.wisc.edu)"

   

Login with your DiscoverIT credentials.

Click Continue and Select the identity, in this case your <username>@globus.discovery.wisc.edu.

You might get prompted again to login with your DiscoverIT account, if so, login in and you will be redirected to the globus file navigation page.

If you can't see the data you're looking for: you're probably looking at your home folder rather than the datavault. Make sure to set the path to /mnt to find the datavaults.

Sharing the Data

Now that you are logged in, navigate to the location where you can see the directory you want to share. Click that directory and enter into it.

Click the Share icon located on the right menu bar, it will open the "Guest Collections" page:

In Globus terminology, a shared folder is called a guest collection. Next, click the Add a Guest Collection button, it will present a form to create a new guest collection:

  • In the Directory entry, confirm that the full path corresponds to the path of the directory you want to be shared.
  • In the Display Name, enter a name of this collection. This name will be visible on the Globus system (although people won't be able to see what's inside the collection unless they have been given acess to it).
  • Put a meaningful description in the Description box that will help people understand what this collection is all about.

Directory and Display Name are mandatory. Additional fields can be set, in particular:

  • You can add contact information (e.g. Contact Email. Organization, etc.) to let other people contact you regarding the shared data.
  • You can check the Force encryption on transfers to and from this collection, if you want the data to be encrypted while being transferred.

After finishing the settings, press the Create Collection button. Once completed, the data is ready to share via Globus, but there is one more step to perform before the data is truly sharedL You have to specify the recipients of the data share.

Note: Once a collection is created, you can still add and delete files from the shared-directory as needed. These changes will also be reflected in real-time on therecipient's side.

Adding Sharing Recipients

Once the collection is created, you will be directed to the "Permissions" tab of this collection. By default, the collection is not shared with anyone until you add a permission to a person or a group.

To add a collaborator (i.e. a recipient of the data sharing), please click the Add Permissions - Share With button.

Once the sharing form is opened, you can specify the specifics of the sharing:

  •  Path: Refers the subdirectory relative to shared-directory. In the illustration above, / refers to the shared-directory's root, i.e. /mnt/dv/wid/projects2/test_projects/data01/ in the example above. Specifying a subdirectory name here will grant the recipient access only to that subdirectory inside the real data01 directory.
  •  Share With: You can share with an individual person, a group of users, or all Globus users. (Editor's note: we do not fully understand the "public (anoymous)" option. Apparently, even if the sharing level is set to "public", the recipient still has to log in to Globus.)
  •  Username or Email: A person is identified by the email address associated with with his/her Globus account. Please contact the recipient to get the correct email address to use. Alternatively, a Globus user name can be used.
  •  An email can be sent to the recipient (recommended), containing the sharing link and an optional message from you.


Keywords:
Globus, data, transfer, guest collection 
Doc ID:
133601
Owned by:
Emile T. in DiscoverIT
Created:
2023-12-14
Updated:
2024-04-24
Sites:
Discovery Building IT