A customized CKAN data catalog for the Climate-ecological Observatory for Arctic Tundra (COAT) project, developed by NINA (Norwegian Institute for Nature Research).

This repository contains a complete, production-ready deployment of CKAN tailored for managing ecological and climate monitoring data from Arctic tundra research. The portal enables researchers to publish, discover, and share datasets with full DOI citation support and spatial search capabilities.

• 🗂️ Multi-type Dataset Management - Supports datasets, state variables, protocols, and data management plans
• 🔄 Dataset Versioning - Track and search different versions of datasets
• 🌍 Spatial Search - Find datasets by geographic location and extent
• 📑 DOI Integration - Automatic DOI minting via DataCite for published datasets
• 🔐 OAuth2 Authentication - Federated authentication via Dataporten
• 📦 Bulk Download - Download multiple resources as a single ZIP archive
• 🌐 CSW Support - PyCSW integration for OGC Catalogue Service for the Web
• 📊 DCAT Metadata - Export COAT-compliant DCAT metadata for interoperability

flowchart TB
    varnish["varnish"] --> nginx["nginx"]

    nginx --> ckan["CKAN"]
    nginx --> pycsw["pycsw"]
    nginx --> bulk["bulk-download"]

    pycsw --> ckan
    bulk --> ckan
    datapusher["datapusher"] <--> ckan

    ckan --> db[("PostgreSQL")]
    ckan --> solr[("Solr")]
    ckan --> redis[("Redis")]
    ckan --> storage[("File Storage")]

Operating System: GNU/Linux (tested on Debian-based distributions)

Dependencies:

• Docker 20.10+ with Compose V2
• Python 3.8+ (for scripts only)
• Git with submodule support

# Clone the repository with submodules
git clone --recursive https://gitlab.com/nina-data/nina-ckan-coat.git
cd nina-ckan-coat

# Or if already cloned, fetch submodules
git submodule update --init --recursive

# Copy and configure environment
cp template.env .env
# Edit .env - at minimum set DOI_* test variables

# Build and run in development mode
docker compose --profile dev build
docker compose --profile dev run --rm --service-ports ckan-dev

The development server supports:

• Hot reloading for CKAN extensions (via volume mounts)
• Interactive debugging with pdb
• DOI test mode enabled by default

# Configure environment
cp template.env .env
# Edit .env and set:
#   - DOI_PREFIX, DOI_ACCOUNT_NAME, DOI_ACCOUNT_PWD
#   - CKAN_OAUTH2_* variables for authentication
#   - CKAN_SITE_URL for your domain

# Build and start
docker compose --profile prod build
docker compose --profile prod up -d

# Run integration tests with Docker Compose
docker compose --profile test down -v  # Clean up previous runs
docker compose --profile test run --rm test

Tests use SeleniumBase for browser automation and include:

• Homepage accessibility
• Dataset listing pages
• PyCSW endpoint validation

# Create a sysadmin user
docker compose exec ckan ckan -c /etc/ckan/production.ini sysadmin add USERNAME

# Rebuild search index
docker compose exec ckan ckan -c /etc/ckan/production.ini search-index rebuild

# Access PostgreSQL
docker compose exec db psql -U ckan

# View CKAN logs
docker compose logs -f ckan

# Access Solr admin
# Open http://localhost:8983/solr/ in browser

├── ckanext/                 # CKAN extensions (git submodules)
│   ├── ckanext-coat/        # Core COAT extension
│   ├── ckanext-coatcustom/  # COAT customizations and schemas
│   ├── ckanext-*/           # Other extensions
├── custom/                  # Custom entrypoints and requirements
│   ├── coat-entrypoint.sh   # Production entrypoint
│   └── coat-entrypoint-dev.sh
├── services/                # Supporting services
│   ├── bulk-download/       # ZIP download service
│   ├── nginx/               # Reverse proxy
│   ├── pycsw/               # OGC CSW service
│   └── varnish/             # HTTP cache
├── scripts/                 # Utility scripts
├── tests/                   # Integration tests
├── docker-compose.yml       # Service orchestration
├── Dockerfile               # CKAN image build
└── template.env             # Environment template

The CKAN extensions are mounted as volumes in development mode, allowing live code changes:

# Edit extension code
vim ckanext/ckanext-coat/ckanext/coat/plugin.py

# Changes are reflected immediately (may need page refresh)

• ckanext-oauth2: Python 3/CKAN 2.9 support via a stale PR (#42)
• ckanext-scheming: Custom patch to skip validation on parent datasets (#331)