Basic DSpace Import Process

Once you have your data in Simple Archive Format, you can do with it whatever you like. I frequently then import it into DSpace, and here is an example command of how I do that.

First, make your dspace-user or tomcat-user the owner of the content.

sudo chown -R tomcat:tomcat /home/peterdietz/Desktop/MelanieSeedsBAtch/SimpleArchiveFormat

Its usually best to import as your dspace-user or tomcat-user.

sudo su tomcat

Then run DSpace Import.

/dspace/bin/dspace import -a 
    -e [email protected] 
    -c 1811/49710 
    -s /home/peterdietz/Desktop/MelanieSeedsBatch/SimpleArchiveFormat/ 
    -m /home/peterdietz/Desktop/MelanieSeedsBatch/seedsbatch1.map

Here's the full syntax of DSpace's ItemImport

usage: ItemImport
       
 -t,--test          test run - do not actually import items
 -R,--resume        resume a failed import (add only)
 -a,--add           add items to DSpace
 -c,--collection    destination collection(s) Handle or database ID
 -d,--delete        delete items listed in mapfile
 -e,--eperson       email of eperson doing importing
 -h,--help          help
 -m,--mapfile       mapfile items in mapfile
 -n,--notify        if sending submissions through the workflow, send
                    notification emails
 -p,--template      apply template
 -q,--quiet         don't display metadata
 -r,--replace       replace items in mapfile
 -s,--source        source of items (directory)
 -w,--workflow      send submission through collection's workflow
 -z,--zip           name of zip file

adding items:    ItemImport -a -e eperson -c collection -s sourcedir -m mapfile

adding items from zip file:    ItemImport -a -e eperson -c collection -s sourcedir -z filename.zip -m mapfile
replacing items: ItemImport -r -e eperson -c collection -s sourcedir -m mapfile
deleting items:  ItemImport -d -e eperson -m mapfile
If multiple collections are specified, the first collection will be the one that owns the item.

Finally, once the import has completed, you can always manually run the Media Filter, to generate thumbnails of images, and make the new content searchable.

/dspace/bin/dspace filter-media -i 1811/49710 

Where -i is the identifier for the collection that you just imported into in the previous import step. This might not be needed, since people typically have a cron job that runs nightly to run the media-filter, but manually running it over the new content, ensures that the thumbnails are available.