Getting Started

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you must satisfy the following prerequisites in order to use Workbench. These steps are typically performed by IT administrators.

• Have computational resources already deployed and provisioned (as applicable)

• Have a workflow execution engine configured and runnning in a supported compute environment

For more detailed information about the engines and cloud backends, please see the engine deployment documentation.

Supported cloud backends

Workbench currently supports running workflows on Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Microsoft Azure, using the following backend services:

• On GCP: Google’s Life Sciences API or DNAstack WES

• On AWS: Amazon’s AWS HealthOmics

• On Azure: Microsoft’s Cromwell on Azure or DNAstack WES

• On-Premisises: DNAstack WES

DNAstack WES is a workflow execution service developed by DNAstack as an alternative to the backend services provided natively by the cloud providers. It implements the Workflow Execution Service (WES) standard developed by the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH). DNAstack WES can also be used for on-premises workflow execution.

Main steps involved

Typical use of Workbench involves performing the following steps:

• Access Workbench at https://workbench.omics.ai

• Connect Workbench to one or more workflow execution engines (one-time configuration step per engine)

• Find or import a WDL workflow

• Configure workflow inputs

• Submit and monitor the workflow

• Locate workflow outputs

You can find detailed instructions on how to perform each of these steps in the corresponding documentation, listed above and in the left-hand menu in the Workbench User Guide.