Documentation/Labs/ExtensionsServer

Needs

We need to finalize the transition of slicer package manager server to Girder.

Tasks include:

• finalize design and implementation:
  • frontend (design, user-feedback)
  • backend: address issues (if any), update to follow latest Girder convention
• update download.slicer.org to use updated API
• work with sysadmin to setup server instance
• transition data from current system to new system
• update integration with Slicer app

Status

The current infrastructure is on "life-support":

• the operating system is out-dated, we are working with sysadmin to update it while keeping an older php version (which itself will go end-of-life by the end of the year)
• we are having more and more failed upload because the server require more and more memory.
  • For the past 5 years, we kept increasing the memory. The root cause is a design flow in Midas. See https://github.com/midasplatform/Midas/issues/69
  • Recent changes helped mitigate this. See Slicer/Midas@0d60946
• more and more user are reporting problems with failed upload and download.

During the past two years, we have been working toward phasing out the aging Midas based server used to host, serve and manage Slicer application and extension packages.

• (1) We now have a Girder plugin for the backend (meaning API endpoints and database interaction). See https://slicer-package-manager.readthedocs.io
• (2) We also experimented with few prototype regarding the extension manager but have nothing production ready.

(1) and (2) were done by one of our former intern Pierre Assemat and was funded by the D&A group.