GEF

The EUDAT Generic Execution Framework.

Server Deployment

• Get the latest GEF binary release from https://github.com/EUDAT-GEF/GEF/releases
• Unpack the tar file in a dedicated folder, and set it as the current directory
• Inspect and change the default server configuration in the ./config.json file
• Create a new self-signed certificate for the GEF server (with make certificate) or edit config.json to use your own
• Define the GEF_SECRET_KEY environment variable (a random string is preferred, remember it and keep it in a safe location): e.g. export GEF_SECRET_KEY="E60su8IL6VY6Ca2"
• Define the GEF_B2ACCESS_CONSUMER_KEY and GEF_B2ACCESS_SECRET_KEY environment variables for connection to the B2ACCESS service.
• Run ./gefserver

Installation for development

• Make sure you have the following tools installed on your machine:

  • the go 1.8 language tools: https://golang.org. (For MacOS it is recommended to have at least go 1.8.1)
  • the glide tool for go: https://github.com/Masterminds/glide
  • docker: https://www.docker.com
  • npm: https://www.npmjs.com

• Set a GOPATH, e.g.: export GOPATH=/Users/myself/Projects/Go.

• Use go get to clone the GEF repository: go get -u github.com/EUDAT-GEF/GEF.

• Go to the downloaded repository location: cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/EUDAT-GEF/GEF.

• Build the project: make build.

• Create a new self-signed certificate for the GEF server (with make certificate) or edit config.json to use your own

• Define the GEF_SECRET_KEY environment variable (a random string is preferred, remember it and keep it in a safe location): e.g. export GEF_SECRET_KEY="E60su8IL6VY6Ca2"

• Define the GEF_B2ACCESS_CONSUMER_KEY and GEF_B2ACCESS_SECRET_KEY environment variables for connection to the B2ACCESS service.

• Start the system: make run_gef.

• Go to https://localhost:8443. The GEF UI should be online.

Internal Docker Images

When GEF connects to a Docker server it builds several custom images. These are necessary for the system to function properly, please do not remove them.

GEF Demo Services

In the root of the repository there is a folder called services: it contains GEF demo services. They are not essential for the system and therefore are not available by default (after the installation process). However, they can help to better understand how to build your own GEF services and how they work. If you want to use those services, you can build them through the web interface (by uploading corresponding Dockerfiles and image-related files).

Database

The GEF is using an SQLite database to store the data. Using a different SQL database is possible.

Docker Swarm Mode

If you want to run GEF services on a Docker Swarm, you will need to create and configure it first. There is no need to install anything else, as long as you have Docker installed. To active the Swarm mode on a local machine run docker swarm init --advertise-addr 127.0.0.1. Executing docker swarm leave -f will turn it off. config.json file has to be modified accordingly: endpoint should be changed to tcp://[IP_ADDRESS_OF_THE_MANAGER_MACHINE]:[PORT_WHERE_DOCKER_IS_RUNNING] and TLSVerify, CertPath, KeyPath, CAPath should be set in the Docker section of the config file.

• This tutorial explains how to create a swarm: https://rominirani.com/docker-swarm-tutorial-b67470cf8872
• Follow the instructions at: https://docs.docker.com/engine/security/https/ to create certificates or use the existing tls.sh script (which is much more convenient). If you create a virtual machine in VirtualBox, you should configure the network properly:
• Open VirtualBox Manager
• Right click on a virtual machine and select Settings
• Go to Network tab
• First network adapter should be attached to NAT, the second one - to Host-only adapter (with the name vboxnet1)
• Configure port forwarding for the first adapter similar to the following table:

Name	Protocol	Host IP	Host Port	Guest IP	Guest Port
Daemon	TCP	127.0.0.1	59047	10.0.2.15	2376
swarm	TCP	127.0.0.1	59046	10.0.2.15	3024
ssh	TCP	127.0.0.1	59045		22

Packaging For Deployment

For the packaging procedure you will only need to have the GEF source code and docker to be installed on your machine. You can build a linux binary by running make pack command. The command will create an archive which you can unpack on a server. After that do cd build/bin and run ./gefserver. The GEF server should be running now.

Apache Configuration

If you are using Apache, you may want to use a configuration similar to the one below:

Listen 443
NameVirtualHost *:443
<VirtualHost *:443>
    SSLEngine on
    SSLProxyEngine on
    SSLProxyVerify none
    SSLProxyCheckPeerCN off
    SSLProxyCheckPeerName off
    SSLProxyCheckPeerExpire off
    ProxyRequests off
    SSLCertificateFile /etc/apache2/ssl/ssl.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/apache2/ssl/ssl.key
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    ProxyPass / https://127.0.0.1:8443/
    ProxyPassReverse / https://127.0.0.1:8443/
</VirtualHost>