Aspera Integration Notes

XSync allows integration with an existing Aspera server

NOTE:  These notes assume XSync is installed and configured on the source XNAT.

1. Uses the "ascp" command line client on the server running XSync.  Normally use the latest client.
   1. https://www.ibm.com/aspera/connect/
2. The Aspera server version usually does not matter.
3. XSync utilizes the DICOM Inbox functionality of the destination XNAT.
   1. The DICOM Inbox location is configured in the destination XNAT.
      1. Administer→Site Administration → File System → Inbox Path
      2. e.g. /data/xnat/inbox
   2. The Inbox location should be mounted on the Aspera server, preferably at the same location (e.g. /data/xnat/inbox).
   3. The location of the inbox is configured in the XSync Aspera Configuration
      1. Project Settings → XSync Aspera Settings → Remote Destination Directory.
      2. e.g. /data/xnat/inbox 
         1. If Aspera server mount location differs from destination XNAT mount location, the Aspera configuration will use the Aspera server mount location.

Steps

1. Install the latest versions of XNAT and XSync on the source/client machine.
2. Verify that destnation server supports DICOM Inbox functionality.
3. Configure DICOM Inbox location on destination XNAT:
   1. Administer → Site Admininistration → File System → Inbox Path
4. Mount destination inbox path on Aspera server and configure Aspera server to be able to receive on that path.
   1. Consult Aspera server documentation.
5. Install Aspera Connect on the source/client machine.
   1. The "ascp" command line tool must be available on the path of the account Tomcat runs under.
6. Create an ssh key pair under the Tomcat user account and set up the public key in the Aspera server
   1. Consult Aspera server documentation for server ssh key installation.

   2. Example assumes /xnat/home as tomcat user home directory:

      Set up SSH keypair for user running tomcat (as root): # mkdir /xnat/home/.ssh # ssh-keygen -f /xnat/home/.ssh/id_rsa (no password, enter twice) # chown -R xnat:xnat /xnat/home/.ssh # chmod 700 /xnat/home/.ssh # cat /xnat/home/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

   3. Share/install id_rsa.pub key on the Aspera server in the account used for upload.
7. Configure XSync Aspera integration:
   
   NOTE:  This document assumes Aspera is already configured for the project.  Please consult XSync documentation.  This only covers post-configuration Aspera setup.
   
   
   1. OPTIONAL:  Configure site-level Aspera configuration, which will be a starting point for project-level configuration:
      

      

      
      
      
      

      

      
      
      
   2. Configure Aspera project-level configuration:
      

      

      
      
      

      

8. Test Aspera connection from the command line:
   1. ascp -v -l 10G -P 33001 -i /xnat/home/.ssh/id_rsa -L /tmp/ ./test_file.txt xnat@your-aspera-server.yourinstitution.edu:/data/xnat/inbox/xar/
   2. The above is an example only, some details will vary.
9. Once you're sending data, you may want to tail the xsync.log file in your XNAT home directory to make sure Aspera is getting used for transfers.
10. That's it!