Archivematica 1.9.3 is a legacy release, and these documents are no longer being maintained.

Dashboard administration tab

This page describes dashboard user administration in Archivematica via the dashboard. For higher level, technical administrative documentation, please see Administrator manual.

The Archivematica administration pages, under the Administration tab of the dashboard, allows you to configure various parts of the application and manage integrations and users.

On this page:

Processing configuration

The processing configuration administration page of the dashboard allows users to configure the job decision points presented by Archivematica during transfer and ingest. There are two processing configurations available on installation:

  • Default, which is used for any transfer started manually from the Transfer tab, automatically via the automation tools, or in any other context where no other processing configuration is specified.
  • Automated, which is used for transfers automatically started from Jisc RDSS environments (if you are not a Jisc user, feel free to delete this configuration).
Processing configuration screen, showing two configurations: default and automated

To edit an existing processing configuration file, click on the Edit button to the right of the processing configuration name.

Multiple processing configurations can be created using the Add button on the Processing Configuration screen. Often, users create multiple configurations for different types of content - one for audio-visual material, one for images, one for textual records, etc.

You can also revert the default and automated processing configurations to their pre-sets by clicking on Reset. Please note that the pre-sets for the default processing configuration are noted in the Processing configuration fields section below.

Note that alternate processing configurations (i.e. anything other than default) are used in two ways:

  1. When you reingest an AIP, you are given the opportunity to select which processing configuration you’d like to use.
  2. You can download the processingMCP.xml file by clicking Download. Then, rename the file processingMCP.xml and include it at the top level of your transfer. Archivematica will then use this to automate your transfer selections, rather than the default configuration. For more information on the processingMCP.xml file, see Creating a custom config with processingMCP.xml.

All other transfers will use the default processing configuration.

In order to edit any of the selections, select a choice from the drop-down menu to the right of the job name. Once you’ve made all of your selections, save the processing configuration. The fields are described in the next section.

Processing configuration screen in the dashboard

Processing configuration fields

Many jobs in the Archivematica transfer and ingest tabs have configurable decision points. Automating these decisions can make the transfer and ingest process substantially quicker, especially if you find yourself selecting the same decisions over and over. Below is a list of the processing configuration form fields with a short description about how they work and the drop-down options for each.

The option marked by an asterisk is the pre-set value for the default processing configuration. If you change the default configuration, you can click on Reset to revert all changes back to the installation pre-sets.

Name

The name of the processingMCP.xml that you are editing.

Assign UUIDs to directories

Directories are given an entry in the fileSec and assigned a unique universal identifier (UUID). Note that the digital objects in the transfer are always assigned a UUID.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.
  2. Yes - UUIDs are assigned.
  3. No - UUIDs are not assigned.*

Send transfer to quarantine

Transfers are sequestered until virus definitions can be updated.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.
  2. Yes - transfers are automatically quarantined.
  3. No - transfers are not sent to quarantine.*

Remove from quarantine after (days)

Transfers are automatically removed from quarantine after a defined number of days and made available for further processing.

Enter the number of days that transfers should remain in quarantine (i.e. 5).

The default value for this field is 28 days.

Generate transfer structure report

A text file is generated showing a directory tree of the original transfer structure.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.
  2. Yes - structure report is created.*
  3. No - structure report is not created.

Perform file identification (Transfer)

Choose whether or not to identify the format of the files in your transfer.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.*
  2. Yes - use the enabled file identification command. See Identification for more information.
  3. No - files will not be identified.

Extract packages

Packages (such as .zip files) are unzipped and extracted into a directory.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.*
  2. Yes - the contents of the package are extracted.
  3. No - package is left as-is.

Delete packages after extraction

Packages that have been extracted in the previous step can be deleted after extraction.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.*
  2. Yes - the package is deleted.
  3. No - the package is preserved along with the extracted content.

Note

If you are processing a Dataverse transfer, you must select “No”. The Dataverse transfer will fail if packages are deleted.

Perform policy checks on originals

If you have created policies using MediaConch, Archivematica runs the original transfer materials against the policies to assess conformance.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.
  2. Yes - the transfer is checked against any policies.
  3. No - policies are ignored.*

Examine contents

Run Bulk Extractor, a forensics tool that can recognize credit card numbers, social security numbers, and other patterns in data. For more information on reviewing Bulk Extractor logs, see the Analysis pane on the Appraisal tab.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.*
  2. Skip examine contents - Bulk Extractor does not run.
  3. Yes - Bulk Extractor scans content and creates log outputs of recognized patterns for review.

Create SIP(s)

Create a formal SIP out of the transfer or send it to the backlog.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.*
  2. Send to backlog - transfer is sent to a backlog storage space for temporary storage or appraisal.
  3. Create single SIP and continue processing - transfer becomes a SIP and is made available for further processing on the ingest tab.

Note

If you are running Archivematica in indexless mode (without Elasticsearch), the backlog will be unavailable and the Send to backlog option will not be present in this dropdown.

Select file format identification command (Ingest)

Choose to identify the format of files in your SIP.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.
  2. Yes - use the enabled file identification command. See Identification for more information.
  3. No, use existing data - re-uses file identification data from the transfer tab.*

Normalize

Convert ingested digital objects to preservation and/or access formats. See Normalize for more information.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.*
  2. Normalize for preservation and access - creates preservation copies of the objects plus access copies which will be used to generate the DIP.
  3. Normalize for preservation - creates preservation copies only. No access copies are created and no DIP will be generated.
  4. Normalize manually - see Manual Normalization for more information.
  5. Do not normalize - the AIP will contain originals only. No preservation or access copies are generated and no DIP will be generated.
  6. Normalize service files for access - see Transferring material with service (mezzanine) files for more information.
  7. Normalize for access - the AIP will contain originals only. No preservation copies will be generated. Access copies will be created which will be used to generate the DIP.

Approve normalization

The dashboard allows users to review the normalization output and the normalization report.

Options:

  1. None - the user has a chance to review and approve normalization.*
  2. Yes - skip the review step and automatically continue processing.

Generate thumbnails

This gives the option of generating thumbnails for use in the AIP and DIP.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.
  2. Yes, without default - thumbnails will be produced for any format which has a normalize for thumbnails rule in the FPR. Formats which do not have a rule will not have a thumbnail generated.
  3. No - thumbnails will not be generated.
  4. Yes - thumbnails will be generated according to the format rules in the FPR. Formats which do not have a rule will have a default thumbnail generated (grey document icon).*

Perform policy checks on preservation derivatives

If you create policies using MediaConch, run the policies against the newly-created preservation derivatives to ensure conformation.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.
  2. Yes - the normalized files are checked against any policies.
  3. No - policies are ignored.*

Perform policy checks on access derivatives

If you create policies using MediaConch, run the policies against the newly-created preservation derivatives to ensure conformation.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.
  2. Yes - the normalized files are checked against any policies.
  3. No - policies are ignored.*

Bind PIDs

Assign persistent identifiers and send the information to a Handle Server (must be configured).

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.
  2. Yes - PIDs are created and a API call posts the PIDs to the Handle Server.
  3. No - PIDs are not created.*

Document empty directories

By default, Archivematica removes empty directories and does not document that they existed.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.
  2. Yes - an entry for the directory is created in the structmap.
  3. No - the directory is not documented.*

Reminder: add metadata if desired

Archivematica allows users to see add metadata to a SIP through the user interface. This reminder occurs at the last moment that it is possible to add metadata; once the ingest proceeds past this point, it is no longer possible to add metadata to the SIP.

Options:

  1. None - the user has a chance to add metadata.*
  2. Continue - skip the reminder and automatically continue processing.

Transcribe files (OCR)

Users can elect to run Tesseract, an OCR tool that is included in Archivematica, to produce text files containing file transcripts. For more information, see (see Transcribe SIP contents).

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.*
  2. Yes - Tesseract runs on all OCR-able files.
  3. No - Tesseract does not run.

Select file format identification command (Submission documentation & metadata)

Choose a tool to identify the format of any submission documentation and/or metadata files that were included in your transfer.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.
  2. Yes - use the enabled file identification command. See Identification for more information.*
  3. No - files will not be identified.

Select compression algorithm

AIPs created by Archivematica can be stored as compressed packages or uncompressed, depending on your storage requirements.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.
  2. 7z using bzip2 - a 7Zip file is created using the tool bzip2.*
  3. 7z using LZMA - a 7Zip file is created using the tool LZMA.
  4. Uncompressed - the AIP is not compressed.
  5. 7z without compression - a 7Zip file is created but the contents are not compressed.
  6. Parallel bzip2 - a 7Zip file is created using the tool Parallel bzip2 (pbzip2).

Select compression level

If you selected a compression choice in the step above, you can determine how compressed you would like your AIP to be. Selecting a higher compression level means that the resulting AIP is smaller, but compression also takes longer. Lower compression levels mean quicker compression, but a larger AIP.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.
  2. 5 - normal compression mode - the compression tool will strike a balance between speed and compression to make a moderately-sized, moderately- compressed AIP.*
  3. 7 - maximum compression - a smaller AIP that takes longer to compress.
  4. 9 - ultra compression - the smallest possible AIP.
  5. 3 - fast compression mode - a larger AIP that will be compressed quickly.
  6. 1 - fastest mode - the AIP will be compressed as quickly as possible.

Note

If you chose Uncompressed or 7z without compression in the previous step, the compression level will have no effect on your package.

Store AIP

Pausing at the Store AIP microservice allows users to review the AIP contents prior to storage. If you do not want to manually review AIPs prior to storage, this can be set to bypass that review step.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.*
  2. Yes - the AIP is marked for storage automatically.

Store AIP location

Once the previous step is approved, the AIP can be automatically sent to a specified storage location by setting the preferred location.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.*
  2. Default location - the AIP is stored in the AIP storage location that has been defined as the default in the Storage Service.
  3. [Other storage locations] - any other AIP storage locations that are available will also appear on this list.

Upload DIP

If a DIP was created, it can be automatically sent to an access system for which there is an Archivematica integration.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.*
  2. Upload DIP to CONTENTdm - see CONTENTdm DIP upload documentation.
  3. Upload DIP to Archivists Toolkit - see Archivists Toolkit DIP upload documentation.
  4. Upload DIP to AtoM - see AtoM DIP upload documentation.
  5. Do not upload - the DIP will not be uploaded to an access system.
  6. Upload DIP to ArchivesSpace - see ArchivesSpace DIP upload documentation.

Store DIP

If a DIP was created, it can be stored without interrupting the workflow in the dashboard. Note that DIP storage is not required, and that DIPs can be created on demand by reingesting the AIP.

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.*
  2. Yes - the DIP is marked for storage automatically.

Store DIP location

If the previous step and this step are configured, all DIPs will be sent to the selected storage location (unless you have included a custom processing configuration with the transfer that defines another location).

Options:

  1. None - the user is prompted for a decision.*
  2. Default location - the DIP is stored in the DIP storage location that has been defined as the default in the Storage Service.
  3. [Other storage locations] - any other DIP storage locations that are available will also appear on this list.

General

In this section, you can configure the following for your Archivematica client:

  • Storage Service options
  • Checksum algorithm
  • Elasticsearch indexing
General configuration options in Administration tab of the dashboard

General configuration options in Administration tab of the dashboard

Storage Service options

This is where you’ll find the complete URL for the Storage Service, along with a username and API key. See the Storage Service documentation for more information about this feature.

Checksum algorithm

You can select which checksum algorithm Archivematica will use during the Assign UUIDs and checksums microservice in Transfer. Choose between MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256 and SHA-512.

Elasticsearch indexing

As of Archivematica 1.7, Elasticsearch is optional. Installing Archivematica without Elasticsearch or with limited Elasticsearch functionality means reduced consumption of compute resources and lower operational complexity. Fully or partially disabling Elasticsearch means that the Backlog, Appraisal, and Archival Storage tabs may not appear and their functionality is not available.

This section in the General configuration shows the Elasticsearch configuration.

Failures

This page displays packages that failed during processing.

Failures report in the dashboard

Failures report in the dashboard

Clicking the date, name or UUID will display a report of the failure:

Failure report for a failed transfer

The failure report can be removed from the Dashboard by clicking Delete.

Transfer source location

Archivematica allows you to start transfers using the operating system’s file browser or via a web interface. Source files for transfers, however, cannot be uploaded using the web interface; they must exist on volumes accessible to the Archivematica MCP server and configured via the Storage Service.

When starting a transfer you are required to select one or more directories of files to add to the transfer.

AIP storage locations

AIP storage directories are directories in which completed AIPs are stored. Storage directories can be specified in a manner similar to transfer source directories using the Storage Service.

You can view your transfer source directories in the Administrative tab of the dashboard under “AIP storage locations”.

Processing storage usage

This section of the Administration page displays various processing locations with their current usage of available space.

Processing storage usage area of Administration page

Administrators can use the “clear” buttons to delete the contents of these processing locations to make more room on their server.

DIP upload

Archivematica has access integrations with three access platforms: AtoM, ArchivesSpace, and Archivists’ Toolkit. For more information on Archivematica integrations, please see the Integrations page.

AtoM/Binder DIP upload

Archivematica can upload DIPs directly to an AtoM website so that the contents can be accessed online. Using the same configuration screen, you can also configure Archivematica to upload DIPs to Binder, which is built off the AtoM framework.

For more information on configuring the AtoM/Binder DIP upload parameters and the servers, please see the AtoM/Binder DIP upload configuration instructions.

Levels of description

You can fetch levels of description from AtoM so that they can be used in SIP arrange. Click on Levels of Description, then Fetch from AtoM to get an updated list from the AtoM levels of description taxonomy.

Levels of description from AtoM shown in Archivematica administration screen

If there are levels of description in the AtoM taxonomy that you prefer not to use in Archivematica SIP arrange, you can remove them using the red delete button. You can change the order that they appear in SIP arrange by using the up/down arrows in this screen.

Note

You may need an administrator to configure AtoM for DIP uploads from Archivematica. For administrator instructions, see AtoM DIP upload in the Administrator manual

ArchivesSpace DIP upload

Before ingesting digital objects destined for ArchivesSpace, ensure that the ArchivesSpace DIP upload settings in the administration tab of the dashboard have been set.

For more information on configuring the ArchivesSpace DIP upload parameters, please see the Admin Manual ArchivesSpace DIP upload configuration instructions.

Archivists Toolkit DIP upload

Before ingesting digital objects destined for Archivists’ Toolkit, ensure that the Achivists’ Toolkit DIP upload settings in the administration tab of the dashboard have been set.

Should you wish to enable the PREMIS-based restrictions functionality, choose base on PREMIS under Restrictions Apply. To add PREMIS rights, please see Add PREMIS rights and restrictions.

For more information on configuring the Archivists’ Toolkit DIP upload parameters, please see the Admin Manual Archivists’ Toolkit DIP upload configuration instructions.

See also

Important

We no longer actively test DIP uploads to Archivists’ Toolkit.

PREMIS agent

The PREMIS agent name and code can be set via the administration interface.

PREMIS agent settings in Administration tab

The PREMIS agent information is used in the METS files created by Archivematica to identify the agency performing the digital preservation events.

REST API

Archivematica includes a REST API for automating transfer approval. Artefactual recommends that a technical administrator configure the options for this feature.

To configure Archivematica to use the REST API for automation, see Administrator manual - REST API.

Users

The dashboard provides a simple cookie-based user authentication system using the Django authentication framework. Access to the dashboard is limited only to logged-in users and a login page will be shown when the user is not recognized. If the application can’t find any user in the database, the user creation page will be shown instead, allowing the creation of an administrator account.

Users can be also created, modified and deleted from the Administration tab. Only users who are administrators can create and edit user accounts.

You can add a new user to the system by clicking the “Add new” button on the user administration page. By adding a user you provide a way to access Archivematica using a username/password combination. Should you need to change a user’s username or password, you can do so by clicking the “Edit” button, corresponding to the user, on the administration page. Should you need to revoke a user’s access, you can click the corresponding “Delete” button.

For more information about user creation, deletion, and security, please see the Users section in the Admin Manual.

Handle Server config

Archivematica can to be configured to make requests to a Handle System HTTP API so that files, directories and entire AIPs can be assigned persistent identifiers (PIDS) and derived persistent URLs (PURLs).

Language

The language menu allows you to choose from select languages.

Archivematica is translated by volunteers through Transifex. The completeness of a language is dependent on how many strings have been translated in Transifex. For information about contributing translations to the Archivematica project, see Translations.

Version

This tab displays the version of Archivematica you’re using.

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Archivematica 1.9.3

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