VuFind Z39.50/SRU Gateway

A Z39.50 and SRU gateway integration for VuFind using Metaproxy with Solr backend connectivity.

Overview

This project provides a bridge between Z39.50/SRU protocols and VuFind's Solr index, allowing other library systems to search VuFind using Z39.50/SRU protocols for copy cataloguing.

The metaproxy configuration is based on the example by Michael Lackhoff as discussed in VUFIND-1530.

Requirements

• Metaproxy 1.15.0 or higher
• YAZ toolkit (only for testing)
• Linux/Unix environment

Install Metaproxy and dependencies

For example, on Debian 12:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo wget https://ftp.indexdata.com/debian/indexdata.asc -O /etc/apt/keyrings/indexdata.asc
sudo echo 'deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/indexdata.asc] http://ftp.indexdata.dk/debian bookworm main' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/indexdata.list
apt update
sudo apt install metaproxy yaz

Configure VuFind and Solr

1. Edit [vufind]/import/marc_local.properties file before indexing:

   • Set fullrecord = FullRecordAsXML

2. Important: Ensure that default response format on biblio core of Solr is set to XML:

   • Edit [vufind]/solr/vufind/biblio/conf/solrconfig.xml
   • Look for <requestHandler name="standard" class="solr.SearchHandler" default="true">
   • Under <lst name="defaults"> add <str name="wt">xml</str>
   • Restart Solr

Download

git clone https://github.com/semanticlib/vufind-metaproxy.git

Optional: Edit [vufind-metaproxy]/vufind.xml:

• Update Port binding (if needed): <port>@:2100</port>
• Update ZURL (if needed): <zurl>localhost:8983/solr/biblio/select</zurl>

Test Run

To manually start the Metaproxy gateway, run:

cd vufind-metaproxy
metaproxy -c vufind.xml

Testing Z39.50 connection:

yaz-client localhost:2100/vufind
Z> find @attr 1=4 test
Z> show 1+1
Z> format xml
Z> show 1+1

Test SRU connection:

curl "http://localhost:2100/vufind?operation=explain"
curl "http://localhost:2100/vufind?operation=searchRetrieve&query=title=test"
curl "http://localhost:2100/vufind?operation=searchRetrieve&query=title=test&maximumRecords=1"

Install as a Systemd service

To install the Metaproxy gateway as a systemd service, run the following commands:

cd /path/to/vufind-metaproxy
sudo bash install_service.sh

The installation script will:

1. Copy the files into installation dir (default: /usr/local/vufind-metaproxy)
2. Update the service and logrotate files with the specified user and group.
3. Deploy the service and logrotate configuration files.
4. Start and enable the service.

After installation, vufind-metaproxy service will automatically start on system boot.

Logs

Logs are stored in /var/log/vufind-metaproxy.log. Log rotation is configured to keep it for 7 days.

Uninstall the service

To uninstall the service run this:

cd /path/to/vufind-metaproxy
sudo bash uninstall_service.sh

Important links

• VUFIND-1530 for example by Michael Lackhoff.
• https://github.com/subugoe/metaproxy-SUB

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome.