Syncing between XNATs

XSync copies data from a project on this XNAT to a project on another XNAT. Once it is configured, new sessions archived into the source project are transferred automatically, so collaborators on the other site see your data without anyone downloading and re-uploading it.

You configure XSync yourself from the project’s Manage tab. You need to be an Owner of the source project.

Before you start

You need two things:

• An account on the destination XNAT, with member access to the destination project.
• Owner access to the project on this XNAT that data will be sent from.

Check your de-identification first

Data leaving this XNAT is subject to the same obligations as data entering it. Confirm your ethics approval covers transfer to the destination site before you enable a sync.

Generate an alias token on the destination XNAT

XSync cannot use AAF to log in to the other site, so it authenticates with an alias token instead.

1. Log in to the destination XNAT.

2. Create an alias token there, following Alias tokens.

3. Copy the alias and the secret. The alias is the username and the secret is the password.

Alias tokens expire, so a sync will stop working when the token lapses. Note the expiry date and generate a replacement before then.

Open the XSync configuration

1. Open the source project on this XNAT and select the Manage tab.

2. Expand XSync Configuration.

   

Three buttons are available:

Button	What it does
Edit Configuration	Sets the destination and the sync behaviour
Remote Credentials	Stores the alias token used to authenticate to the destination
Configure Anonymization	Edits the anonymisation script applied to data as it is sent

Store the remote credentials

Select Remote Credentials and enter the alias as the username and the secret as the password, from the token you generated on the destination XNAT.

Do this before editing the configuration. Without valid credentials the sync has no way to reach the other site.

Edit the configuration

Select Edit Configuration. The project sync settings open in a dialog.

Field	What to enter
Enabled	Turns syncing on for this project.
New Data Only	Sends only sessions archived from now on. Clear it to also transfer everything already in the project.
Destination XNAT	The full base URL of the other site, including https://.
Destination Project	The project ID on the destination XNAT. The project must already exist there.
Sync Frequency	How often the transfer runs. On Demand means nothing is sent until you trigger it.
Identifiers	Local keeps this site’s subject and session labels. Custom remaps them on the destination.
Anonymize Images	Applies the anonymisation script from Configure Anonymization as data is sent.
Number Of Days For Retry	Sessions skipped by a filter are not retried by default. Set a number of days to retry them. 0 means no retry.
Notification Emails	Comma-separated addresses to notify in addition to the site administrator and the XSync user.

Select Submit to save.

Identifiers

Leave Identifiers on Local unless the destination project already uses a different labelling scheme. Remapping is harder to reverse than to set up, and mismatched labels between sites are difficult to reconcile later.

Getting help

If the destination site is not reachable, or you are unsure whether syncing is appropriate for your project, contact RCC support at rcc-support@uq.edu.au with your project ID and the destination XNAT.

Next steps

Project anonymiserCreate a DicomEdit script to modify data as it is archived or synced.