Handle System - Globus Toolkit Integration Project

Overview

The goal of this "Handle System – Globus Toolkit Integration Project" is to leverage CNRI's Handle System® technology through GT's Web services' protocols. Many Grid deployments need ways to securely publish and find metadata about things like capabilities, policies, keys and other resources. These resources themselves have to be "identified." The attributes bound to the identifier have to be securely administered, so that anyone who knows the identity of the resource should be able to find its associated attributes; wherever possible, it may be desirable to access the resource itself.

The Handle System is a global identifier and resolution system that, while resembling the DNS in certain ways, departs from that system in several important aspects. It provides a means for uniquely identifying structured data and other resources that can be used to store and retrieve state information about them. It also includes features for the secure administration of the bindings between the identifiers and certain associated metadata. Generally, the Handle System® software is an implementation of these binding services. A global resolution service, called the Global Handle Registry, that is currently maintained by CNRI provides the glue that maintains the administrative integrity of the system.

The integration project will produce code and tools that will allow us to leverage the Handle System technology through proxy-service interfaces that implement a Web services' front-end while hiding the native Handle System protocols. Through those proxy-services we plan to provide the implementation of the endpoints for protocols like the SAML attribute query exchange, the WSRF Service Group properties, XKMS, or a Renewable Endpoint Reference. All those protocols require a server implementation at the service's endpoint, and in many cases, the Handle System technology could provide a very compelling solution. Note that this project has only just started, and we are actively working on better documentation to clarify the use cases where such a deployment makes sense.

Downloads

Hdl-Enabled Grid Service Component – Software that interfaces between Globus Toolkit version 4 and the Handle System to provide identifier and/or resolution services using the handle system technology. This download also includes a demo application to illustrate the potential of the integrated system.

HANDLE.NET (version 6.1) software – To access CNRI's Handle System software. Java 1.4.2 or later is required to run this software.

Demo Application

This demo application is included with the download of the Hdl-Enable Grid Service Component. It is developed to show how the Handle System technology can provide hdl-enabled identifier and/or resolution services through a Web services' interface. This basic mechanism leverages the Handle System software behind a lookup protocol endpoint.

The client demo-code uses only Web services protocols; and the Handle System software is hidden behind a Grid service acting as a proxy-server. In other words, we are able to leverage the Handle System to maintain the metadata so that it can be resolved using its identifer, while only exposing the client and server code to plain-vanilla Web services protocols.

Prerequisite

Hdl-Enabled Grid Service component is an add-on service to the Globus Toolkit service container. Before installing the HDL-Enabled Grid Service Component and the Grid-Handle System Demo Application, make sure that Globus Toolkit Java WS Core service container is up and running and the environment variable GLOBUS_LOCATION is also set to the location of the Grid service container. Java runtime 1.4.2 or later is required to run the demo application.

Installation Instructions

Install the HDL-Enabled Grid Service Component

  1. Acquire GT4.0 from here and start the GT4.0 service.
  2. Acquire the Hdl-Enabled Grid Service Component software package from here.
  3. Deploy the Hdl-Enabled Grid Service Component, the gar-file 'org_globus_progtutorial_services_wsrf_core_hdl.gar' included in the package, to the GT4.0 service container, by running the script "tutorial_build.sh" hdl deploy" provided by the package, under Cygwin runtime environment.
  4. Copy the '.handle' directory provided in the package to the home directory, which will be your '.handle' configuration directory.
  5. Install the HANDLE.NET software (ver. 6.1) and follow the instructions to start your hdl-enabled services.
  6. Edit the 'config.grid' file under your ".handle" configuration directory to reflect the correct handle prefix and the reference for your server adminstrator.
  7. Edit the 'local_nas" file under your ".handle" configuration directory to reflect the correct handle prefix allotted to your hdl-enabled services.
  8. Copy the file 'siteinfo.bin' under your hdl-enabled services installation directory to the '.handle' configuration directory and rename the file as 'resolver_site'.
  9. Edit the enclosed screipt 'hdl-service-container.bat' to reflect the correct server address and port number of your Hdl-Enabled Grid Service Component.
  10. Start the Hdl-Enabled Grid Service Component by running the script 'hdl-service-container.bat' provided in the package.

Install the Grid-Handle System Demo Application Server Component

  1. Deploy the Tutorial Grid math service, the gar-file 'org_globus_progtutorial_services_wsrf_core_first.gar' included in the package, to the GT4.0 service container, by running the script "tutorial_build.sh hdl deploy" provided by the package, under Cygwin runtime environment.
  2. Start the demo application server component according to instructions in the 'demo.html' file provided in the package

Start the Grid-Handle System Demo Application Client Component

  1. Start the demo application GUI client 'Walking Math Resurce' by running the script 'runDemo.bat' provided in the package.
  2. Start the demo application GUI client 'Migrate Math Resource' by running the script 'runMigrate.bat' provided in the package.

Documentation and related links

The Handle System Specification
The Globus Toolkit 4.0
User's Guide: The Grid-Handle System Demo Application

Mailing List and Contact Information

Frank Siebenlist franks@mcs.anl.gov
Sam X. Sun ssun@cnri.reston.va.us

General Discussion: handle-globus@cnri.reston.va.us
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