Usage

This documentation is a work in progress. Since a3m is a derivative of Archivematica, you can refer to the Archivematica documentation for much more detailed explanations of specific facets of the system.

Configuring preservation actions

Similar to Archivematica, a3m consists of a series of processing tasks (called preservation actions) that can be configured to suit a variety of preservation needs. However, it is not currently possible to set these configurations in the user interface. Instead, preservation actions can be configured by editing a config file.

Prepare digital objects

Digital objects and their metadata can be packaged in a few different ways for upload to the system. a3m is format-agnostic, meaning that it can accept any file that you pass to the system for processing. A single transfer can be homogenous or it can be a mix of many different formats. In all cases, the digital objects must be packaged together as either a .zip, .tgz, or .tar.gz.

a3m reuses two of the transfer types from Archivematica - zipped directory and zipped bag. a3m will automatically recognize the transfer type and adjust its processing workflow accordingly.

  • Zipped directory: digital objects that have been packaged together using the .zip, .tgz, or .tar.gz packaging format. When a zipped directory transfer starts, the zip will be unpacked. The internal structure of a zipped directory transfer can either be a loose collection of files, or it can include structures like a metadata directory.

  • Zipped bags: digital objects that have been packaged according to the BagIt File Packaging Format, colloquially known as bags. Bags must be packaged together using the .zip, .tgz, or .tar.gz packaging format. Archivematica will verify the bag early on in the transfer process, looking at manifest information created during the bagging process such as checksums and the payload oxum.

For more information on how a3m/Archivematica implement the BagIt specification, please see Unzipped and zipped bags in the Archivematica documentation.

Upload to MinIO

  1. In MinIO, navigate to the Object Browser and select your upload bucket. In this example, the upload bucket is called sips.

    The Object Browser page in MinIO. The body of the page shows four buckets: aips, perma-aips1, perma-aips2, and sips.

  2. Click on Upload and then select Upload file. This will open a file browser.

    The sips bucket page in MinIO, with the Upload button circled in red. The bucket contains two transfers already.

  3. In the file browser, locate your transfer package and upload it to MinIO. Once the progress bar has completed, Enduro will begin processing the transfer.

View tasks in Enduro

  1. In Enduro, navigate to the Packages tab. The list of packages will show the most recent package first. You will also see the UUID of the package, when processing started, and the UUID of the location where the package is stored. The Status column will display one of five possible statuses:

    • Done: The current workflow or task has completed without errors.
    • Error: The current workflow has encountered an error it could not resolve and failed.
    • In Progress: The current workflow is still processing.
    • Queued: The current workflow is waiting for an available worker to begin.
    • Pending: The current workflow is awaiting a user decision.

    The Packages tab in Enduro. The body of the screen shows a table that lists all of the packages that have been processed by the Enduro instance.

  2. For more information about the package, click on the name of the package to access the package detail page.

    The package detail page in Enduro. The body of the screen shows a table that lists all of the packages that have been processed by the Enduro instance.

  3. At the bottom of the package detail page, there is a list of Preservation actions undertaken on each package. Clicking on the arrow will open a list showing all the tasks that comprise the preservation action.

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Preservation actions

a3m performs the following actions, amongst others, to transform your digital material into an AIP:

  • Remove hidden files and directories / Remove unneeded files: removes hidden files as well as unneeded files. This includes system files like Thumbs.db, Icon, Icon\r, and .DS_Store.
  • Verify transfer compliance: verifies that the transfer is properly structured according to the requirements of the transfer type.
  • Assign UUIDs: assigns a unique universal identifier to each digital object and metadata file.
  • Assign checksums and file sizes: computes the checksum and file size of each digital object and metadata file.
  • Change object and directory filenames: removes prohibited characters from folder and filenames, such as ampersands.
  • Identify file format: Identifies the format of all digital objects and metadata files. See Identification in the Archivematica documentation for more information.
  • Characterize and extract metadata: extracts technical metadata embedded in the digital objects. See Characterization in the Archivematica documentation for more information.
  • Validate formats: validates file formats against the format’s specification. See Validation in the Archivematica documentation for more information.
  • Examine contents: runs Bulk Extractor
  • Normalize: converts a digital object to a preferred preservation and/or access format. See Normalization in the Archivematica documentation for more information.
  • Transcribe: transcribes the relevant text from digital objects using Tesseract. See Transcribe SIP contents in the Archivematica documentation for more information.
  • Generate METS.xml document: creates the AIP's METS file. For more information about the purpose and contents of the METS file, see AIP METS file in the Archivematica documentation.
  • Prepare AIP: rearranges the content to be consistent with the AIP specification and bags the content according to the BagIt File Packaging Format. See AIP contents in the Archivematica documentation for more information.
  • Store AIP: stores the AIP in the configured storage location.

Download AIP

  1. If your AIP has been successfully processed, the workflow status for the Create AIP Preservation Action should be set to Done. This is shown in two different places on the page - in the AIP creation details section of the main body of the page as well as under Preservation actions at the bottom.

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  2. You can download the AIP by clicking on Download in the Package details section.

Move AIP

You can move packages to other storage locations that have been connected to the Enduro instance. In this example, all of the storage locations are configured through MinIO.

  1. On the package detail page in Enduro, select Choose storage location.

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  2. All storage locations will be displayed in the pop-up window. Storage locations that are available will have a Move button to the right of the location name. If there is no Move button, the package is either already stored in that location or the location is available for some other reason. Select Move to move the package to your preferred location.

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  3. An admonition will appear indicating that the package is being moved. You may need to refresh the page to see that the package has been successfully moved.

  4. A new Preservation Action called Move package will appear at the bottom of the page. You can click on the arrow to see more information about the move.

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Troubleshooting

If there is an error in any preservation action, the outcome will be listed as "Error" or (another status? TBC). Currently, the easiest way to analyze an error as a front-end user is to look at the list of jobs in Temporal, Enduro's workflow engine, and read the job output.