To use controlled-access data on Terra, you will need to link your Terra user ID to your authorization account (such as a dbGaP account). Linking to external servers will allow Terra to automatically determine if you can access controlled datasets hosted in Terra (ex. TCGA, TOPMed, etc.) based on your valid dbGaP applications. This article includes step-by-step instructions for how to do this, including project-specific screenshots and directions. 

Contents

• Access Gen3 data files by linking your Terra account to external servers
• Link to external servers: Step-by-step instructions
• Warning: Pay attention to expiration deadlines!!
• Unlinking your account

Access Gen3 data files by linking your Terra account to external servers 

If you are an NIH, BioData Catalyst researcher with a dbGaP account, you can link your Terra user ID to your eRA Commons ID. BioData Catalyst researchers must link Terra accounts in order to access and import Gen3 data files (i.e. CRAMS and VCFs).  

You must log into Gen3 first Before following the steps below, you must log into your Gen3 account. You can use either your NIH login or your Google login. When you link your account to Terra, Terra will know to use the same login.

Link to external servers: Step-by-step Instructions

1. Go to the main navigation menu by selecting the three horizontal lines at the top left of any page in Terra

2. Click on your name to expand and then on "Profile"

Expand for screenshots - Terra | BioData Catalyst | AnVIL

Terra platform	BioData Catalyst on Terra platform	AnVIL on Terra platform

3. On the right hand side of your profile page under "Identity & External Services", link to the relevant external servers:

When you select a link, you'll be taken to an external authentication webpage. The authentication will match the way you authenticated on the Gen3 platform (Google versus NIH versus RAS, for example). Follow the instructions to link your accounts.

Google login screenshot (AnVIL instance)

NIH authentication screenshot (AnVIL example)

4. Once you're linked, you'll see a link expiration deadline for each external service 
Links will expire after 30 days and you will need to renew your link to access data.

	Warning: Pay attention to the expiration deadlines!
	If you are not linked any attempt to access/import data/or manipulate files from the Terra platform will result in an error indicating a user is not authorized to access data.
	If your link expires while you are running a multi-day workflow on imported data, the workflow will fail. Please ensure all workflows on imported data can finish before the expiration deadline.

To renew links, select the "Log-in to Framework services..." link and follow instructions. You can re-link your account at any time. See a BioData Catalyst example in the screenshot above.

Unlinking your account

If you don’t renew your account linkages after a long enough period, you will get a notification that they have expired and that you'll have to remove those linkages and then re-link them. You can also do this proactively by clicking "Unlink" at the end of your session and/or "Renew" when starting your work.