Managing MetaLib Version 3

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Managing MetaLib Version 3

• Debbie Shalit
• Yale
• September 22nd 23rd, 2004

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New Tools for Managing MetaLib

• New concept of Groups to manage consortia
• New authentication module (PDS)
• Changes to VIR00 tables
• New installation path location of some log
  files
• Utilities moved to the Management interface

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MetaLib Version 3 Installation Path

• MetaLib version 3 path
• MetaLib version 2 path

/exlibris/metalib/m3_1
/exlibris/m2_1
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MetaLib Version 3 Login Menu

• Version 3 installed as separate installation
• Ports will be switched to make version 3 the
  live installation when you are ready

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Changes to MetaLibs Directory Tree
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KnowledgeBase Directory Changes

• KB programs, Z39 Gate, and Z39 Server moved to
  DAT01 directory

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Introducing Groups

• Allow institutions to be grouped together to ease
  workflow in consortia
• A group owner would be allowed to manage the
  resources of the institutions in the group
• Groups are setup and maintained in tab_groups
• Located in /dat01/tab/ directory
• MetaLib implemented as Single Site or
  Enterprise installations
• Enterprise installations can be Centralized or
  De-Centralized

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Tab_groups Single Site model

• Each institution is listed as belonging to a
  group of the same name
• Group codes are listed with the institution codes
  that belong to the group

Col. 1 Group code
Col. 2 Institution codes
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Tab_groups Centralized Consortia

• A Central institution is created to manage CKB
  resources
• A group named Central is also created to manage
  the resources of other institutions
• Local institutions may not have administrative
  rights

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Tab_groups De-Centralized Consortia

• Each institution manages local KB resources and
  has administrative rights to the /M
• No Central institution is created
• No Central Group owner each institution is
  independent

Col. 1 Group code
Col. 2 Institution codes
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Tab_groups Hybrid Consortia

• Its possible to mix consortial models within the
  same installation if needed
• Some institutions would have access to /M, some
  may not depending on group ownership

Col. 1 Group code
Col. 2 Institution codes
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Changes to tab_management

• Column 4 of tab_management now refers to Group
  instead of institution
• Allows creation and setup of Group owner

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Introducing the PDS Module

• PDS stands for Patron Directory Services
• Separate module that manages authentication of
  users
• Allows for Single Sign-On/Sign-Off for Ex Libris
  products
• Replaces authentication programs in MetaLib
  Version 2
• Can still use same authentication methods (Aleph,
  CGI, LDAP, etc.)

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What can PDS do?

• Work with institutions existing authentication
  server patron database
• Can be separate applications on separate servers
• Work in a consortium of several institutions each
  with its own authentication and patron databases
• Present the PDS login page, or redirect the user
  to an external login page

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PDS Architecture

• The PDS is installed within MetaLib application
• Also installed with other Ex Libris applications
  - you decide which one to use

m3_1/pds
install_component
service_proc
conf_table
html_form
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Accessing PDS via MetaLib

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What happens when a user logs in
User accesses MetaLib as guest user
User initiates login
Login request sent to PDS
tab_service
PDS displays login page
PDS redirects to login page
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PDS Login The Flow
MetaLib sends request to PDS
user enters credentials
PDS checks tab_service for AUTHENTICATE
program and sends authentication request to
remote server
Remote authentication server sends Y or N
flag
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PDS Login The Flow
PDS creates PDS session, installs cookie in
users browser sends MetaLib backlink URL

PDS validates handler fetches bor_info to
update MetaLib
MetaLib requests validation of PDS handle
requests user details with bor_info as defined in
tab_service
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Remote Login
PDS
PDS redirects login request
Remote server authenticates user and sends
details to PDS
User is directed back to MetaLib
PDS accepts parameters, creates session, and sets
cookie for SSO
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Important Config files in conf_table

• Three important files in conf_table control how
  PDS and MetaLib interact
• tab_service defines services required from PDS
• sso_conf defines login/logout flags
• heading_error.lng defines error messages

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The tab_service file

• Defines the authentication method and server
  location
• Defined with a section for each service each
  section has at least 4 sections

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The tab_service file
Authentication program and server address
How to get Patron ID
Location for patron information
Display name for institution in pull-down menu
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Authentication Programs in PDS

• ldap.pl
• metalib_x_server.pl
• remote_cgi_hook.pl
• remote_cgi_hook_ssl.pl
• aleph_141.pl
• aleph_142.pl
• aleph_152.pl
• aleph_16.pl

LDAP authentication
MetaLibs patron file
Remote authentication using CGI scripts
For use with Aleph catalogs
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Using sso_conf

• Enables single sign-on and sign-off
• Logon and Logoff defined seperately
• Type 0 Logon/logoff MetaLib only
• Type 1 Logon/logoff listed applications

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PDS Login Screen

• List of institutions is defined in tab_service
• HTML pages are in the /html_form directory under
  /pds

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New PDS user in tab_management

• A pds user was added to tab_management at
  installation to allow the PDS to use MetaLib
• User must not be removed, or the PDS will fail

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PDS Cookie

• At login, PDS sets a cookie on users machine to
  enable later SSO
• The cookie is deleted
• When the user logs off
• When the user closes the browser
• When the timeout has elapsed
• Timeout is set in www_server.conf
• Default is 30 minutes
• Setenv pds_cookie_exp 30M

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PDS logs

• PDS Log is kept in MetaLibs LOGDIR
• File is called pds_server.log

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Changes to VIR00 tables

• The table tab_institute_division has been removed
• Divisions have been removed, user groups remain
• Functions of tab_institute_division that have
  moved
• User interface instance is now defined in
  tab_institute
• Logo at top of page now in html file banner-1
• Table or Citation format for results now defined
  as users personal preferences

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Changes to tab_institute, line 1

• User interface instance now defined in first line
  of tab_institute table
• Authentication has been removed from line 2
  replaced by PDS

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Changes to tab_institute, line 2

• CKB updates now pulled to the server at your
  own intervals (separate from software upgrades)
• Line 2 defines if the CKB update should be
  automatically loaded to DAT01 after download

Line 3 Proxy server method Line 4 SFX instance
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Changes to Log File Locations

• Z39_gate log is now in the /log directory
• Moved from /tmp directory
• PDS logs are also located in the /log directory

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New Parameters in www_server.conf

• MetaLib system parameters are set in
  www_server.conf found in the metalib_conf
  directory

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MetaLib Search limit

• Defines the maximum number of databases that can
  be searched at once
• If raised from default of 8, we recommend no
  higher than 10

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Pre-Select Limit Parameter

• Determines if resources will be pre-selected in
  MetaSearch
• If database list contains more than limit, no
  databases are selected

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QuickSet Threshold

• Determines lock threshold for Quick Sets
• Defined as percentage
• The number of resources in a Set available to a
  user, must be equal to or less than the
  percentage
• If 0.8 is set, 80 of the resources must be
  available to the user to remove the lock

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Quick Set Threshold, contd.
80 must be free
75 are free so Set is locked
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Show Locked Resources

• By default all resources are displayed even if
  user does not have access to them (Version 3)
• Can choose to display only resources a user can
  use (the Version 2 model)
• Change www_quick_show_locked to N to hide
  restricted resources

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Default Result Display in MetaSearch

• In MetaSearch, users can be presented with a
  merged result list or a target-by-target list
• Set www_v_combine_first to Y to display a
  merged list to the user by default

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Database Display Limit

• Defines the maximum number of databases to
  display on a page in the Find Databases
  MetaSearch modules
• Default is 10 per page

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E-Journal Display Limit

• Defines the maximum number of e-journals to
  display on a page in the Find e-Journals module
• Default is 10

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Number of Refresh Cycles

• Defines amount of time MetaLib waits before
  displaying results page
• One cycle is a refresh of the Search Hits page,
  about 8 seconds (set in meta-tags)

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MetaLib Timeout

• Amount of time before a users session expires
• Use in conjunction with browser timeout defined
  in meta-tags file (
• Default value is 900 seconds (15 minutes)
• Minimum value is 300 seconds (5 minutes)

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Changes to Utilities Menu

• Several utilities have been replaced by
  functionality in the /M interface
• Util L Update procedures
• Replaced by Global Update functions in the /M
• Util U MetaLib Setup Internal
• Replaced by Setup interface
• Util M KB Export-Import Procedures
• Replaced by Export-Import Procedures and new CKB
  Pull functionality

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MetaLib Maintenance

• V2 Required maintenance unchanged in V3
• Clear VIR01 library nightly (Util X-8 or X-9)
• Backup scripts have same name and functionality
• Clean Apache logs regularly

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New Reports Statistics in 3.11

• New Statistics
• Quick Sets counts usage of QuickSearch module
• User Records counts registered users who have
  used personalization options
• Links to Native counts usage of Link to Native
  Interface
• Updated options to other Statistics
• Included ability to limit statistics by /V
  module, including History and Alerts where
  appropriate