cwltool is compatible with Windows. This means that you can create and run CWL
workflows on Windows. On Windows, all workflows and tools are executed in
Docker Containers. The default
Docker Container is
Alpine with Bash support. You can
specify other Docker Containers for your tools and workflows using hints,
requirements),
or the --default-container
cwltool option.
- Windows 10 with native Docker for Windows.
- Windows 8.1 with Docker ToolBox.
- Windows 7 & 8 with Docker ToolBox may work (Not tested, please let us know!).
You can install cwltool using pip or directly from source code.
Before installing cwltool, please install:
- Python 2 or 3
- Docker
- Node.js (optional, please install if your workflows or tools contain Javascript Expressions)
pip install cwltool
git clone https://github.com/common-workflow-language/cwltool.git
cd cwltool
pip install .
Note: In order to test if cwltool has been successfully installed on your
Windows system, run cwltool
in cmd
. If you see help instructions, cwltool was successfully installed.
CWL document required, no input file was provided
usage: cwltool [-h] [--basedir BASEDIR] [--outdir OUTDIR] [--no-container]
[--preserve-environment ENVVAR] [--preserve-entire-environment]
[--rm-container | --leave-container]
[--tmpdir-prefix TMPDIR_PREFIX]
.......................
There are two types of tests available for cwltool: unit tests and conformance tests.
To run cwltool's unit tests, go to the cwltool repository on your system and run:
python setup.py test
To run the conformance tests, follow these instructions:
pip install cwltest
git clone https://github.com/common-workflow-language/common-workflow-language.git
cd common-workflow-language/v1.0
cwltest --test conformance_test_v1.0.yaml -j 4 --tool cwltool
The -j
options is used to run multiple tests in parallel.
You may encounter some problems with Docker on Windows.
Make sure you followed all instructions carefully while installing Docker. Please check the Environment variables. If the problem persists, we recommend consulting the online Docker Community.
-
On native Docker for Windows (supported by Windows 10):
On your tray, next to your clock, right-click on Docker, then click on Settings,
there you'll find the shared rdives: Here you can share your drives with Docker.
If you encounter a problem with your firewall, please refer this to post. -
On Docker Toolbox:
Docker Toolbox uses Virtualbox to create a linux base on which Docker machine runs.
Your Docker Container will be created inside Virtualbox. To share drives
in virtualbox, go to Virtualbox->settings->shared folders->Machine Folders Here Map the drives you want to share with your Docker Container.
If you want to keep these settings permanent (Recommended!), You should mark the
make permanent
checkbox or else these settings will be erased every time your
virtualbox closes.
This means your drives/folders are not shared properly. Docker uses caching, which may result in not all files and folders being listed on ls. In order to solve this problem, make your drive mapping settings permanent (see previous question).
When folders are shared with Docker Container, they inherit their current file access permissions. If you can write to a folder (with your current privileges) on your local machine, you should be able to write to that folder inside Docker Container also (provided same user initiated Docker). In all it is a file permission issue.
To evaluate Javascript Expressions, cwltool looks for Nodejs on your system.
In case Nodejs isn't installed, JS expressions are executed in a Docker Container.
In order to avoid waiting forever in case error occurs, cwltool times out js
expression evaluation after a timeout period (by default 20 seconds). You can
provide a custom timeout period using --eval-timeout
argument. So if you face
this error, the best option is to install Nodejs on your local system. If you
can't then use the --eval-timeout
argument and set a higher timeout value.
If you still have problems with setting up and using Docker on Windows, please consult the online Docker Community. If the problem is specific to cwltool, create an issue on cwltool.