Dspace 1.4.2 - host of issues

[Deborah]

Hello,

At our very small university library we are at the very beginning stages of trying to fix, upgrade, change our situation with our Institutional Repository.  I’m the head of the library here, but unfamiliar with the technology requirements to fix, or even have a constructive conversation to unravel the issues.  Our contracted tech team have asked me to seek some initial guidance on their behalf. 

Here’s the situation so far.  In 2020,  Dspace 1.4.2 was installed on server that was, as I understand, cobbled together, and data input began later that year.

In Fall 2023, the message on our browsers indicated an expired certificate.  Currently the expiration is almost 9 months old.  We’ve had discussions with our contracted technology support specialists who began just last year and can’t find any documentation from the previous tech specialist to guide them to the next step. 

In my small amount of research, I’ve found that we sorely need to update the software, but my understanding is that we need to do this is in steps with 5.0 first and then 7.x.  Is that correct?

Secondly, we’re wondering if the server is long in the tooth, and needs replacement. There is an idea to split out to virtual servers that might be purchased for another couple of departments. And lastly, maybe it’s just a new certificate we need, then the software update. 

Have any of you had a similar situation with such old and unsupported software?  Would you care to share how you resolved this? What would be the most basic construction/upgrade?  What is the licensing cost of a certificate? Would it be advantageous to start again from scratch and reenter the data? 

Any assistance you can provide will be enormously appreciated.

 

All my best,

Deborah

[Edmund Balnaves]

Given you are how many versions behind I suggest you would be best to export your data and bring that into an new server.  The export/import functions are fortunately pretty consistent over time.

* export your collection using the item exporter in your current system

      [dspace]/bin/export --type=COLLECTION --id=collID --dest=dest_dir --number=seq_num

* set up an entirely new DSpace server on V7 ( you will need a beefier server with at least 16gb memory 4 cpu min)

* restore your items

* configure the UI with your branding.

There is pretty good documentation for V7 installation, but it is a quite a technical task.

Edmund Balnaves

Prosentient Systems

[Deborah]

Thank you, Edmund!

[DSpace Technical Support]

Hi Deborah,

We also do have a Migration guide which you may wish to be aware of.  This guide should walk you through the basic steps of migrating content from any older version of DSpace into a fresh install of DSpace 7.

https://wiki.lyrasis.org/display/DSDOC7x/Migrating+DSpace+to+a+new+server

Tim

[Deborah]

Thank you, Tim!