Integrating SyncGTS Into the Globus Runtime Environment

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Overview

This guide provides a step by step process for syncing with the trust fabric by integrating SyncGTS into the Globus runtime environment. The approach is intended to be used with service container environments or environments running grid services with the trust fabric. In this approach, SyncGTS is deployed to a service container ensuring that the server environment is automatically updated to be in sync with the most up to date trust fabric. SyncGTS can be deployed in this manner to Tomcat, JBoss, and Globus containers.

The caGrid installer will automatically deploy SyncGTS in this manner if you use the installer to configure a container (Tomcat or JBoss) and you have selected a Target Grid. If you have already used the caGrid Installer to configure a container and you have selected a target Grid, you have already successfully installed and configured SyncGTS. This guide will provide complete details on installing SyncGTS by hand from a base caGrid installation.

Prerequisites

In order to install and run the GTS, the following prerequisite software must be installed:

Step 1: Installing SyncGTS

In this step you will download and install SyncGTS using the caGrid Installer. If you already have caGrid 1.4 installed on your machine, you may proceed to the next step. To install caGrid/SyncGTS, please complete the following steps:

Installer Prerequisites

The caGrid Installer installs all prerequisites except for Java and MySQL.

Java 6 JDK
- Make sure the JAVA_HOME environment variable is set and points to the location where the JDK has been installed.
(Optional) If you are deploying caGrid core services locally, you may also need a MySQL database.
Note
MySQL is only required for the security services and GME. You can use 4.x (with transaction enabled; i.e., use InnoDB engine) or 5.x.

Installing caGrid 1.4 Using the Installer

Internet Resources Required by the Installer
Unless you are using a customized installer, the installer will need to be able to access these internet resources:

http://gforge.nci.nih.gov to download caGrid and Globus
http://archive.apache.org to download ant and tomcat (if you create a tomcat container)
http://downloads.sourceforge.net to download JBoss if you create a JBoss container.
https://ncisvn.nci.nih.gov to download the default installer properties and configuration file

Download the caGrid 1.4 Installer, unless you have a customized installer that you have been instructed to use for your grid. The downloaded installer should be contained in the file caGrid-installer-1.4.zip. If you are using a customized installer the name may vary.
Unzip the file caGrid-installer-1.4.zip. This creates the directory caGrid-installer-1.4. This documentation refers to this directory as CAGRID_INSTALLER_LOCATION.
From a command prompt, launch the installer using the following command:
Do not launch the installer by double-clicking the jar file
```
 > cd *CAGRID_INSTALLER_LOCATION*

> java -jar caGrid-installer-1.4.jar 
```

Select the I agree to this license checkbox and then click Next.

Select the Install/Configure caGrid Software checkbox and then click Next.

The installer detects whether or not you have already installed Ant. It installs or reinstalls it, depending on your installation status. In either case, you must specify the location where you want to install Ant.
The installer detects whether or not you have already installed Globus. It installs or reinstalls it, depending on your installation status. In either case, you must specify the location where you want to install Globus.

The installer asks you for a location on your local file system to install caGrid. Specify a location to install caGrid and click Next.

To select a file location that is not in the User's Home directory, Click the Look In: drop down list and select a new starting location.

The installer displays a list of tasks that the installer will perform. Click Next to begin the installation process. At this time the installer downloads, builds, and installs several components. This process takes several minutes.
Once the installer has completed installing all the components, click Next.

The installer prompts you to specify which Grid you want to configure your installation to use. The installer supports configuring caGrid to work out of the box with many community Grid environments. For testing and development purposes, we recommend selecting the Training Grid. If you do not want to configure caGrid to work with an existing Grid you may select that as well. The installer can also be modified to support additional Grids.

The installer shows a summary of the tasks to be completed. Click Next to configure caGrid to use the selected target Grids. This process takes several minutes.
Once the installer has finished configuring caGrid to use the target Grid, click Next. The final screen reminds you to set your ANT_HOME and GLOBUS_LOCATION environment variables. Set these variables immediately and click Finish.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed caGrid.

Add ANT_HOME/bin to PATH
You will be running the ant program from the command line so add ANT_HOME/bin to PATH.

The installer will install caGrid to the directory you specified during installation. From this point forward we will refer to this directory as CAGRID_HOME. SyncGTS can be found in the directory CAGRID_HOME/projects/syncgts. From this point forward we will refer to this directory as SYNC_GTS_HOME.

Step 2: Configuring SyncGTS (Optional)

SyncGTS is configured through an XML configuration file herein referred to as the Sync Description. The default Sync Description file can be found in SYNC_GTS_HOME/ext/resource/sync-description.xml. SyncGTS is pre-configured to work with the Target Grid you specified during installation and in most cases does not need to be modified.

Step 3: Configure Trust Roots (Optional)

In order for SyncGTS to sync with a GTS service, it is required that the local environment trust the GTS service with which it is being synced. In other words, the local environment must trust the certificate authority that issued the GTS Service's credentials. SyncGTS is pre-configured to trust the Trust Fabric Certificate Authority of the Target Grid you specified during installation and in most cases no further configuration is required. If further configuration is required, SyncGTS can easily be configured to trust other certificate authorities by placing a copy of the CA's certificate in the directory SYNC_GTS_HOME/ext/resources/certificates. The CA certificate must be contained in PEM format and must be given a digit (0-9) extension. For example, to configure SyncGTS to trust a CA whose certificate is contained in the file cacert.pem, the file should be renamed to cacert.0 and copied to the directory SYNC_GTS_HOME/ext/resources/certificates. You will also need to add an entry to the excluded CA list in SyncGTS's configuration.

Step 4: Deploying SyncGTS

At this point we have completed configuring SyncGTS. We will also assume that you have configured a container, either by using the caGrid Installer without a target grid or by hand. We are now ready to deploy SyncGTS to the container. This can be done, as follows, from a command prompt:

 > cd SYNC_GTS_HOME
 > ant deployTomcat

If you chose to use a JBoss container, SyncGTS can easily be deployed by typing the following at a command prompt:

 > cd SYNC_GTS_HOME
 > ant deployJBoss

Although the installer does not support configuring a secure Globus container, SyncGTS can be deployed to a secure Globus container by typing the following at the command prompt:

 > cd SYNC_GTS_HOME
 > ant deployGlobus

No matter which container you choose, you should see a significant amount of output to the screen. If the deployment is successful, you should see the words "BUILD SUCCESSFUL" outputted to the screen.

Congratulations you have successfully integrated SyncGTS into the Globus Runtime Environment!!!