External Export

External Export

Introduction

This option in SFX allows you to initiate from an external application, for example MetaLib version 3, an export of data from your SFX database to the external application. This feature is not available in MetaLib version 4 or later.

Setup

In the SFX server, set up the following files to enable external export.

reverse_proxy_httpd.config__

  1. Type the following as the sfxglb41 user.

    cn

    vi reverse_proxy_httpd.config__

  2. Add the following line for each instance (if it does not already exist):

    export.cgiProxyPass /external_export/<instance> http://localhost:<local_apache_port>/<instance>/sfxadmin/external_export.cgi

  3. Restart the Apache server for the instance, using the Server Admin Utility.
    1. Type da to move to the admin directory.
    2. Type ./server_admin_util
    3. Type 1 Stop/Start services.
    4. Type 2 Proxy Apache stop, and after a few seconds type 1 Proxy Apache start.

local_httpd.conf

  1. Telnet to the SFX server and type the following as the instance user (for example, sfxlcl41)
cd /exlibris/sfx_ver/sfx4_1/<instance>/config (or use the shortcut cn)

vi local_httpd.config

  1. Add the following script alias on one line to the local_httpd.config file. Replace <instance> with the actual instance name.

ScriptAlias /external_export/<instance> "/exlibris/sfx_ver/sfx4_1/<instance>/sfxadmin/external_export.cgi"

  1. Restart the Apache server for the instance, using the Server Admin Utility.
    1. Type da to move to the admin directory.
    2. Type ./server_admin_util
    3. Type 1 Stop/Start services.
    4. Type 7 Instance Apache stop and and after a few seconds type 6 Instance Apache start.

external_export.config

Specify the information about the external application initiating the export of the SFX data in a configuration file of your SFX instance.
The location and name of file is:
/exlibris/sfx_ver/sfx4_1/<instance>/config/external_export.config
The configuration file contains the following information:

#Section "<hostname>"

# username "<user>"

# password "<password>"

# type "<secureinsecure>"

# export "<yn>"

#EndSection

  1. Remove all # from the configuration file.
  2. Fill in the MetaLib server address, MetaLib FTP username, and password.
  3. Select the FTP method: secure (SFTP) or insecure (FTP).
  4. Choose Y to allow external export.
The password stored in the configuration file needs to be in an encrypted format. Use the Server Admin Utility tool to encrypt your password before you store it in this file.
  1. Type da to move to the admin directory for the instance.
  2. Type: ./server_admin_util
  3. Type: 3 Change passwords then 4 Generate encrypted password for use in configuration files
The following is an example input:

Section "1.111.11.1"

username "metalib_ftp"

password "b616d7c7d65633535303236303"

type "secure"

export "Y"

EndSection

Toubleshooting

Use this option to troubleshoot problems with the External Export tool.
To troubleshoot problems with the External Export tool:
  1. Set up the external_export.config file on the SFX server to test an external export from the SFX server to the SFX server itself.

    The file is located at: /exlibris/sfx_ver/sfx4_1/<instance_name>/config/external_export.config

    1. Remove the comment marks from each line.
    2. Fill in information about the SFX server and instance where you want to perform the test.

    For example:

    #Section "metalib.uni.edu"
    # username "metalib_ftp"
    # password "xxxxxx"
    # type "secure"
    # export "Y"
    #EndSection
    Section "sfx.uni.edu"
    username "sfxlcl41"
    password "xxxxxxx"
    type "secure"
    export "Y"
    EndSection
  2. Run the Check External Export tool:
    1. Log on to the SFX server as an instance user.
    2. Type da.
    3. Type ./server_admin_util and select 6 Diagnostics and 4 Check External Export.
    4. Specify the base URL of the instance that you are testing.

The following is displayed:

Diagnostics
1 Check for e-mail capabilities
2 Check for secure FTP capabilities
3 Check IP address
4 Check external export
5 Check Z3950 capabilities
Please select [1-5,q,m]: 4
Please enter the SFX Instance Base URL: http://sfx.uni.edu:9003/sfxlcl41
Making request. This may take a few moments...
External Export succeeded! The file that was created:
e-collection.03312004135818.xml-marc.gz
Target location of output file: HOME directory of 'sfxlcl41' at 'sfx.uni.edu'
The following table describes possible error messages and the problems to which they correspond:
Check External Export Error Messages
Error Message Problem
Failed to contact the SFX Instance: Not Found (404)
  • External_export alias is missing from local_httpd.config.
  • Apache has not been restarted after an alias was added.
External Export failed! The error that was returned: 10.1.2.231 not authorized to use external_export (Check external_export.config for a section named '10.1.2.231') This message occurs if no information is specified in external_export.config.
External Export failed! The error that was returned: Could not instantiate Net::SFTP or could not establish secure connection to '10.1.2.231' with <user>. You should check the user's credentials or that the server's signature has not changed.
  • Incorrect password in external_export.config.
  • Problem with SFTP (if one of the Perl libraries required for SFTP is missing)
The file permissions in the scratch or scratch/e_collection_update directory are too restricted External Export failed! The error that was returned: Cannot open ../dbs/scratch/e-collection for writing This message occurs in case the file permissions in the scratch or scratch/e_collection_update directory are too restricted.
External Export failed! The error that was returned: Could not upload../dbs/scratch/e-collection.03252004141754.xml-marc.gz into e-collection.03252004141754.xml-marc.gz. This message occurs if the file permissions for the destination directory are too restricted.