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Description

The Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network (CKAN) is an open source web-based system for the storage, management and distribution of open data. From the CKAN User Guide:

"CKAN is a tool for making open data websites. (Think of a content management system like WordPress - but for data, instead of pages and blog posts.) It helps you manage and publish collections of data. It is used by national and local governments, research institutions, and other organizations who collect a lot of data."

Demonstration video

This video demonstrates how to start CKAN in Labs Workbench, register for a CKAN account, and add an account as a sysadmin user.

Getting started with CKAN

  • Select the "Register" link and enter the required information. Select "Create Account"
  • By default, new CKAN users cannot create new datasets or upload data.  You will first need to add your account as a sysadmin user.
  • To add yourself as a syadmin user, you'll use the CKAN command-line interface
    • First, in Labs Workbench open the Console for the CKAN application

    • Next, run the following commands:

      . /usr/lib/ckan/default/bin/activate
cd /usr/lib/ckan/default/src/ckan
      paster sysadmin add <your-ckan-username> -c /etc/ckan/default/ckan.ini
  • At this point, your user is now an administrator. You can create organizations, upload datasets, and manage users.
  • As a sysadmin, you can also customize the UI via the /ckan-admin/config page.

Note:

  • If you're trying to use the Explore/preview feature on a dataset, it must be public.  This appears to be a bug in CKAN (the interface "spins" but never loads).

Customizing ckan.ini

This is an advanced feature of Labs Workbench.  In Labs Workbench, every application runs as a Docker container, which is similar to a very light-weight virtual machine. One of the features of Docker is to map folders (or volumes) into the container (similar to mounting a drive on your computer).  

To customize the ckan.ini:

  • In a running instance of CKAN, open the console
  • cd /home/<username>
  • mkdir ckan
  • cp /etc/ckan/default/ckan.ini /home/<workbench-username>/ckan/
  • This copies the pre-configured ckan.ini to your Workbench home directory.
  • Stop the CKAN instance
  • You can now edit the copied file using the built in File Manager or a command line editor.  For testing, open your copy of the ckan.ini and change the default locale from English "en" to French "fr".
  • To map this file into your CKAN instance, select the "Edit" button for CKAN
  • On the "Data" tab add a new folder mapping from your local "ckan/ckan.ini" to "/etc/ckan/default/ckan.ini". Select the "plus" button to add it, then save.
  • Start your CKAN instance.
  • Once started, you should see the interface in French.

See also

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