This article walks through the setup process for running a workflow in Terra on Azure when using inputs (data samples) from a data table. Please note that this document only includes functionality available for public preview.
Overview: Workflows in public preview (current functionality)
For the public preview, you can try out running a workflow by creating a workspace and importing a workflow from GitHub, Dockstore, or a list of featured workflows.
Step 1: Create a workspace and data tables infrastructure
1.1. Go to Your Workspaces (select from the main navigation menu at the top left of any page).
1.2. Create a workspace by clicking on the Create Workspace button at the top of the page.
What to expect
Once you create a new workspace, Terra will automatically launch the cloud infrastructure to power data tables.
When data tables are ready
Once data tables are launched, you’ll see the active import data button in the top left section of the Data page.
Step 2: Launch Cromwell (the workflows application)
Workflows are orchestrated in Terra by the workflows application - Cromwell. When you are in a new workspace, you will need to launch Cromwell.
2.1. Go to the Workflows page and click the blue Launch Workflows App button.
It may take a few minutes to complete.
When workflows are ready
After a few minutes, you will see the little pig icon for Cromwell in the right-hand sidebar with a little green dot that shows it’s ready to use.
It may take several minutes to requisition and set up the cloud infrastructureBoth data tables and Cromwell must be ready before you can move on to the next step. See Data tables: Additional resources for more details about the Workspace Data Services that power data tables.
Step 3: Upload data table (optional)
Terra workflows are set up to pull inputs (URIs for data files in open-access Azure blob storage containers) from the data table. If you cloned a workspace that already had a table in it and used a billing project created after August 2nd, 2023, you should see the table as soon as your Workspace Data Services infrastructure loads.
If you don't have a table, you will first need to generate the input data table by uploading a pre-staged TSV. You can create a TSV from scratch in a spreadsheet, or download one from an existing Terra on Azure workspace, following the directions below.
3.1. Click on the three-dot action icon beside the table you want to add to your own workspace and select Download TSV.
3.3. Click the save button to download the TSV to local storage.
3.4. Navigate back to the Data page of your own workspace.
3.5. Click the Import Data button (left side near the top) and select the Upload TSV option to create and populate the data table.
3.6. In the Import Table Data popup, fill in the table name and select the TSV you just downloaded.
3.7. Click the Start Import Job button.
What to expect
You should see your data is now visible in the tables section of the Data page.
Step 4: Add workflow to the workspace
4.1. In the Workflows tab, click Find and add workflows in the left column to expand the menu.
4.2. You can choose to browse selected featured workflows or import from GitHub or Dockstore.
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4.3. Click on Featured workflows to select from five commonly used, standard workflows.
4.4. Click the Add to workflow button at the right.
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4.2. Select the Import a Workflow option in the left column.
4.3.Fill in the GitHub link and workflow name in the blank fields and click the Add to Workspace button (the button will be disabled if every field is not filled in).
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4.3. Click the Dockstore option in the left column.
4.4. Search and filter to find your workflow in Dockstore.
4.5. Click on the workflow name and choose Terra under Launch with on the right side.
4.6. Give the workflow a name and choose the destination workspace. Then click the blue Import button.
What to expect
When you go to the Workflows tab, you will see the new workflow(s) in the list.
Step 5: Select data and set up the workflow
Click on the blue configure button in the workflow card to access the submission configuration form.
What to expect
The configuration form includes useful information like the workflow version and source URL link. It is also where you will set up the workflow to run on specific data from the input table.
Select the input data table
5.1. Choose the table with the input data files from the dropdown.
Select data rows to run on
5.3. Navigate to Select Data at the bottom of the form to see the data table.
5.3. Select the rows to analyze by clicking the checkbox at the left of the row.
Specify input variable attributes
5.4. Go to the Inputs tab to specify data table columns (attributes) for each variable.
5.5. Choose Fetch from Data Table as the Input source and select each variable's attribute from the dropdown.
Configuring inputs options
- Type value manually
- Fetch from data table
Note you can select input sources (hard coded or from the data table) for each variable. If you choose to Fetch from the table, the attribute column dropdown will display all columns in the data table.
Write outputs to the data table
5.5. Click Outputs to configure the workflow to write a new column to the data table for each output variable.
5.6. You can enter a new name in the attribute column to make a new column or select an existing column (not that this will overwrite the data in the existing column).
Where is generated data stored?
Generated files will be stored in the workspace cloud storage by default.
What is in the data table?
When the output attribute is filled in, Terra will write the file locations (URIs) of generated files in a new column in the input data table.
Step 6: Submit the workflow
6.1. When ready, select Submit to open a popup window where you can name and enter comments about the submission.
Your submission has a pre-populated name that includes the workflow name, input data table, and date and time of submission. You can change this to be meaningful to you.
The popup includes how many workflows will be submitted in this submission.
6.2. To confirm and launch the workflow submission, click the Submit button again.
What to expect
Once you submit, Terra will get to work setting up and deploying the cloud resources to run your workflow. You will automatically be directed to the submission details page.
Next steps: Monitor workflow submission status
Once you submit your workflow, you can find the submission details on the lefthand side of the Workflows page. Details include the workflow name, submission date, and duration.
To see the status of a workflow, its start and end time, and sub-workflow and task failures, click on an individual workflow ID to view the workflow details page.
Use the breadcrumb on top of the page (circled in the screenshot below) to navigate back and forth between the submission history (lists of previous submissions), submission details page, and workflow details page.
What to expect (completed workflows)
When the workflows are done, and you see a green check in the Job History, you can verify that the generated output files are in your workspace blob storage container by clicking on the Files icon in the right sidebar. This will open the directory of your workspace storage.
To access the generated data files
Click in the left-hand column to open the subdirectories cromwell-executions > workflow-name > submission-ID > taskname > execution > output file. You will see a list of all the generated files.
Note that you may need to go down several levels in the file directory to find the data files.
