Extension Vocabulary Services


Extension Basics

Title
Vocabulary Services
Name
ckanext-vocabulary-services
Type
Public extension
Description
CKAN extension for managing externally linked vocabulary services, with support for secure encrypted CSV vocabularies, background refresh tasks, and database-backed vocabulary term management.
CKAN versions
Download-Url (zip)
Last commit
a month ago (2026-02-06 16:39:56)
Url to repo
Category
Standards Compliance


Background Infos

Description (long)
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ckanext-vocabulary-services

Setup

Add the extension to your CKAN .ini file:

ckan.plugins = ... vocabulary_services ...

Create the database tables:

ckan -c path/to/ckan.ini vocabulary-services-init-db

This will create the following two tables:

vocabulary_service
vocabulary_service_term

Update the database tables:

ckan db upgrade -p vocabulary_services

(NOT to be confused with the CKAN core vocabulary table)

Background tasks

A cron job needs to be set up to refresh the vocabulary services periodically based on each vocabulary_service.update_frequency setting.

ckan -c path/to/ckan.ini vocabulary-services-refresh

Secure Vocabularies

A secure vocabulary is an encrypted CSV that is not stored in the vocabulary_service or vocabulary_service_term database tables.

To enable secure vocabularies, enable the secure_vocabularies plugin in CKAN .ini file:

ckan.plugins = ... secure_vocabularies ...

You must also specify a path to a secure vocabulary configuration file:

ckan.vocabulary_services.configuration_file = /etc/ckan/default/secure_vocabularies.json
Version
4.2.0
Version release date
2025-11-10
Contact name
Salsa Digital
Contakt email
(not set)
Contact Url
(not set)


Installation Guide

Configuration hints

Requires database table creation via vocabulary-services-init-db CLI command. Set up cron job for vocabulary-services-refresh. For secure vocabularies, enable secure_vocabularies plugin and set ckan.vocabulary_services.configuration_file.

Plugins to configure (ckan.ini)
vocabulary_services
CKAN Settings (ckan.ini)
DB migration to be executed
vocabulary_services
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