Issue with Restricted Bitstream Collections After Migration to DSpace 8.1

[bhave...@gmail.com]

Dear All,

We have successfully migrated our DSpace instance from version 6.1 to 8.1. Below is a summary of the steps we followed during the migration:

1. Fresh Installation: Performed a clean installation of DSpace 8.1 (both back end and front end). The platform is functioning correctly post-installation.

2. Metadata Migration: Successfully imported the metadata (SQL) file, re-indexed the content, and verified that all functionalities are operating as expected.

3. Assetstore Migration: Transferred the entire assetstore directory to the DSpace 8.1 instance, followed by a full reindex and execution of the media filter for thumbnails. Everything appears to be working properly like opening files and others working fine.

However, we have encountered an issue related to access permissions:

• Problem: Collections with restricted access (BITSTREAM_DEFAULT_READ) are not displaying bitstreams in DSpace 8.1 for front side for any users (in 6.1 it's showing with lock and request form), and the bitstreams become visible only after logging in.

• We tried to modify the permissions of those restricted collections to "Open Access," but the issue persists.

Has anyone experienced a similar issue post-migration? Any guidance or suggestions to resolve this would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

Bhavesh Patel

[DSpace Technical Support]

Hi Bhavesh Patel,

The "BITSTREAM_DEFAULT_READ" permission will *only apply to any future bitstreams* added to that Collection.  So, if you modified that, then it won't change the permissions of existing bitstreams.

The behavior you describe is unclear to me because bitstreams should appear with a lock icon (on the Item page) if they are access restricted.   So, you may want to check the permissions that are on one of the bitstreams (Login as an Admin -> Edit an Item -> Bitstreams Tab -> Edit Bitstream -> click "Edit bitstream's Policies").  If you want the bitstream to be available to download for anyone, then it should have a policy for group "Anonymous".  If you want it to be access restricted, then it should have a policy which lists a different Group (possible "Administrator" or some other group you are using for restrictions).

If the permissions are somehow wrong, then you might want to use the Bulk Access Management tool to correct the permissions in bulk. https://wiki.lyrasis.org/display/DSDOC8x/Bulk+Access+Management   This tool can be accessed from the Admin sidebar, but if an entire Collection is having issues then it may be easier to use it from the Collection.  Go to that Collection -> Edit Collection -> Access Control Tab.

Using that tool, you should be able to bulk change all the access permissions in your collection.  It's also possible to customize the default values of that tool (see the docs) to add a new custom access control option.

Hopefully that helps,

Tim