[ome-users] suggestions for FS managed repository layout (omero.fs.repo.path)

[Mark Carroll]

Dear David,

A couple of cautionary notes:

> Our idea is that by having time at the root of the layout instead of  usernames we could have individual partitions for older years.

That is a good idea. Also note that we recently expanded the
documentation at
https://docs.openmicroscopy.org/latest/omero5.4/sysadmins/repository-move.html#extending-the-managed-repository
regarding adding new storage volumes to an existing repository.

> I'm hoping OMERO can handle it properly if a user tries to delete data from a read-only filesystem

I am afraid that my expectation is that the data /will/ seem to
disappear, and indeed will be deleted from the database, but I would
expect the files to remain on disk despite the lack of obvious delete
errors.

> Also, I understand that omero.fs.repo.path does not automatically move any files or changes their paths in the database.  Is there any "sanctioned" tool to perform this job?

https://docs.openmicroscopy.org/latest/omero5.4/sysadmins/cli/fs.html#renaming-filesets
may look tempting but be warned that the new template prefix for the
fileset is constructed according to /current/ context. This may seem
helpful for a group-based layout after data has been moved from OMERO
group to group but for your time-based example the data would be moved
into directories reflecting the time at which you ran the rename
operation. However, use of the rename_fileset method in fs.py may
inspire you to create some variant CLI plug-in that does something
better for you.

I am afraid that it is often worth being very aware of what can
invalidate interpretation of managed repository paths.

-- Mark

The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish Charity, No: SC015096