What exactly is Goobi-to-go?
The two applications Goobi workflow and Goobi viewer are usually installed and operated on stand-alone machines. Often, Goobi workflow should only be accessible within the local network, while the Goobi viewer should be accessible to the public.
In order to be able to install Goobi workflow and Goobi viewer for testing, development or adaptation purposes without having to install two separate server systems, Goobi-to-go was developed. This combines the applications of Goobi workflow and Goobi viewer together with all associated components and usable demo content in one downloadable and easy to execute package.
Goobi-to-go can be easily downloaded and launched locally on different computers. This can be useful for conducting tests, for further development, for training or just for trying things out, and is also possible without involving an IT department.
After using Goobi-to-go, it can be easily deleted from the system and leaves no further files on the system where it was unpacked and started.
What can I do with Goobi-to-go?
Thanks to the plugins provided together with the sample data, Goobi-to-go can be used for many things. The most common purpose is certainly the quick testing of functionalities. But also for trainings, configuration tests, metadata mapping, creation of workflows, interface tests, administrative tests, automated software tests and many other purposes Goobi-to-go is now used. Last but not least, a complete end-to-end run of workflows is possible in which you can test with your own data how these behave in the workflow, how they can be enriched with metadata and how they can ultimately be published and displayed to the public in the Goobi viewer.
What is the technical basis of Goobi-to-go?
Goobi-to-go is an embedded Tomcat server that contains and starts the Goobi workkflow and Goobi viewer applications. In addition, all other required systems are also started in order to ensure complete operation. This includes the Apache Solr search index and a locally running database based on H2 instead of MySql/MariaDB.
Java 11 is required for operation, but this is also included in the download package for the most common operating systems. Thus, there are no external dependencies. In exceptional cases, depending on the operating system and special technical conditions, there may be a need for administrative rights on the system.
What are the limitations of Goobi-to-go?
Goobi-to-go is primarily used for testing purposes. Operation under production conditions is conceivable. However, as developers we cannot guarantee that operation with large amounts of data will be reliable and performant. The Goobi workflow and Goobi viewer applications are identical to those used under production conditions on servers. However, due to the use of a different database technology and local data storage, the behaviour with large amounts of data could be fundamentally different. Therefore, please carry out tests before using Goobi-to-go for a productive operation.
