> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.aristotlemetadata.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.aristotlemetadata.com/special-features/harvester/creating-new-harvest-configurations.md).

# Creating new harvest configurations

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Harvest configurations can only be created by registry Administrators.
{% endhint %}

Harvester configurations are used to define the settings of recurrent OAI-PMH[^1] harvesting routines.

From [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/advice/3/what-benefits-challenges-oai-pmh-metadata-harvesting): *OAI-PMH is a set of standards and guidelines that define how metadata can be exchanged among different systems. OAI-PMH is based on the concept of data providers and service providers. Data providers are the systems that expose their metadata through OAI-PMH, while service providers are the systems that harvest and use the metadata from data providers. OAI-PMH uses HTTP and XML as the communication and data formats, and supports six basic requests: Identify, ListMetadataFormats, ListSets, ListIdentifiers, ListRecords, and GetRecord. These requests allow service providers to retrieve information about the data providers, their metadata formats, their collections, and their individual records.*

### Prerequisites

For a harvest configuration to be created, you will need:

* A compatible OAI-PMH provider's URL (e.g. <https://datacatalogue.cessda.eu/oai-pmh/v0/oai>)
* A custom transformation service to have been set in the 'Custom Transformation Service List' (see [Managing custom transformation services](/special-features/harvester/managing-custom-transformation-services.md)).

### How to create a new harvest configuration

1. Select 'Administrator  tools' from the dashboard side panel.

<figure><img src="/files/wTKV28KrdHiSJWRXO9mj" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

2. Select 'Manage Harvester Tasks'.

<figure><img src="/files/UC8ZlfE8Udub2WQ7AnUi" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

3. Select 'Add new harvest configuration'.

<figure><img src="/files/vgyfSxZ3jWwWlVrS10fO" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

4. Select 'Add new harvest configuration'.

<figure><img src="/files/wmRWWN28nW8ahfcH35nJ" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

5. Populate the 'URL' field with an appropriate OAI-PMH provider's URL address.

<figure><img src="/files/7ZpVJce29c8lnHsADj8B" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

6. **If you wish to add custom keys or values to the header of the http request**, select 'Show advanced options, populate the relevant fields and select the '+' to add however many you require.

<figure><img src="/files/y9CoicTEbLASrJeLuFLP" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

7. Select 'Validate'.

<figure><img src="/files/n7pUpGPlPGWb8nLxklWp" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

8. Select a metadata prefix from the 'Metadata Prefix' dropdown.

<figure><img src="/files/IUkKs39KeTtJPX7kMEyy" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

9. Select a custom transformation service from the 'Transformation Service' dropdown.

<figure><img src="/files/oo8wV26catDVAGnW4Wig" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

**Note:** See [Managing custom transformation services](/special-features/harvester/managing-custom-transformation-services.md) for instructions on creating new custom transformation services.

10. Select whether the configuration will be active, or paused upon creation using the 'Status' dropdown.

<figure><img src="/files/3YM2BDMgj4NFX6W4V2lZ" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

11. Populate the following fields as desired:
    * 'Set Spec': A set of items to be harvested from the registry can be specified in this field. **Note:** This field is non-editable after creation of the harvester configuration
    * 'Frequency': The frequency with which the configuration will harvest the specified items
    * 'Notifying Email': An email address can be entered here for its owner to be informed of the outcome of each of the configuration's harvests
    * 'Identifier': An identifier to harvest can be optionally specified in this field. **Note:** This field is non-editable after creation of the harvester configuration
    * 'Error Handling': This field is used to specify whether the harvest will be:
      * 'Atomic': Harvested items will only be saved if every item is successfully harvested
      * 'Non atomic': Harvested items will be saved as they are harvested, even if other items in the harvest are not successfully harvested
    * 'Assigned User': The user responsible for this harvest configuration
    * 'Workgroup': The workgroup optionally responsible for this harvest configuration.

<figure><img src="/files/3Vkz5KY6xordrPytg6Pl" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

12. Select 'Create'.

<figure><img src="/files/rrwNHQYu0OyrVAImnTZt" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

13. The configuration will now appear in the 'Harvester Configurations' list. From here it can be:
    * Manually run via 'Run Task'
    * Edited via 'Edit'
    * Deleted via 'Delete'.

<figure><img src="/files/eBtkrPELzyfzHA2kbLWb" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

**Note:** If a task is run manually, it cannot be cancelled or stopped until it has completed.

[^1]: Open Archive Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting