Quickstart

Globus Compute client and endpoint software releases are available on PyPI.

You can try Globus Compute on a hosted Jupyter notebook

Installation

Globus Compute comes with two components: the endpoint, a user-managed software agent that must be deployed on a compute resource to make it accessible for function execution; and the Globus Compute client, which provides a Python API for registration, execution, and management of functions across endpoints.

The pre-requisites for the Globus Compute endpoint and the Globus Compute client are

  1. Python3.8+

  2. The machine must have outbound network access

The -V or --version arguments to the Python executable will return the version on the local system. An example system:

$ python3 --version
Python 3.10.12

Use curl to verify that the host of the endpoint or client has network access and can connect to the Globus Compute service:

$ curl https://compute.api.globus.org/v2/version
"1.0.30"

This should return a version string, for example: "1.0.30"

Note

The Globus Compute client is supported on MacOS, Linux, and Windows. The globus-compute-endpoint is only supported on Linux.

Installing Globus Compute in a Virtual Environment

While pip and pip3 can be used to install Globus Compute we suggest the following approach for reliable installation to avoid python package dependency conflicts.

Install the Globus Compute client in its own venv environment

$ python3 -m venv path/to/globus_compute_venv
$ source path/to/globus_compute_venv/bin/activate
(globus_compute_venv) $ python3 -m pip install globus-compute-sdk

To update a previously installed Globus Compute to a newer version in the virtual environment, use:

(globus_compute_venv) $ python3 -m pip install -U globus-compute-sdk

Installing the Globus Compute Endpoint (Optional)

The Globus Compute endpoint can be installed using Pipx or using pip in the venv:

$ python3 -m pipx install globus-compute-endpoint

or

(globus_compute_venv) $ python3 -m pip install globus-compute-endpoint

Installing Jupyter for Tutorial notebooks (Optional)

Install Jupyter for Tutorial notebooks in the venv:

(globus_compute_venv) $ python3 -m pip install jupyter

Note

For more detailed info on setting up Jupyter with Python3.5 go here

First Run

The Globus Compute SDK makes use of the Globus Compute web services, most of which restrict use to Globus authenticated users. Consequently, if you have not previously used Globus Compute from your workstation, or have otherwise not authenticated with Globus, then the Client will present a one-time URL. The one-time URL workflow will culminate in a token code to be pasted back into the terminal. The easiest approach is typically from the command line:

>>> from globus_compute_sdk import Client
>>> Client()
Please authenticate with Globus here:
------------------------------------
https://auth.globus.org/v2/oauth2/authorize?[...very...long...url]&prompt=login
------------------------------------

Enter the resulting Authorization Code here:

Globus Compute will then cache the credentials for future invocations, so this workflow will only be initiated once.

Running a function

After installing the Globus Compute SDK, you can define a function and submit it for execution to available endpoints. For most use-cases that will use the Executor:

from globus_compute_sdk import Executor

# First, define the function ...
def add_func(a, b):
    return a + b

tutorial_endpoint_id = '4b116d3c-1703-4f8f-9f6f-39921e5864df' # Public tutorial endpoint
# ... then create the executor, ...
with Executor(endpoint_id=tutorial_endpoint_id) as gce:
    # ... then submit for execution, ...
    future = gce.submit(add_func, 5, 10)

    # ... and finally, wait for the result
    print(future.result())

Note

Like most FaaS platforms, the function must be registered with the upstream web services before it can be executed on a remote endopint. While one can manually register a function (see the Client or Executor API documentation), the above workflow will automatically handle registration.

A word on the above example: while the tutorial endpoint is open for anyone to use, it is hosted on a small Kubernetes cluster – somewhat intentionally underpowered. As it is a shared (and tiny) resource, please be conscientious with the size and number of functions you send to this endpoint.

Deploying an endpoint

You can deploy an endpoint on your laptop, cluster, or cloud by downloading and installing the Globus Compute endpoint software. The Globus Compute endpoint software is available on PyPI and a default endpoint can be configured and started as follows. During the configuration process you will be prompted to authenticate following the same process as using the SDK. For more advanced deployments (e.g., on clouds and clusters) please refer to the endpoints documentation.

$ python3 -m pip install globus-compute-endpoint

$ globus-compute-endpoint configure

$ globus-compute-endpoint start <ENDPOINT_NAME>