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Julien A. Raemy edited this page Aug 11, 2025 · 1 revision

📢 Important Update: LINDAS is undergoing a major infrastructure migration to LINDASnext. The current Stardog-based system is being replaced with GraphDB EE. New contracts have been awarded in two lots for the period 2025-2034: Lot 1 (Infrastructure) to Cognizone and Lot 2 (Application Development) to Liip, Zazuko, and Adnovum with their respective partners. Services remain operational during transition. See LINDASnext for details.

LINDAS Technical Components

The LINDAS platform consists of core components operated by the Swiss Federal Archives (BAR) and peripheral components developed by partner organizations within the extended LINDAS ecosystem.

LINDASnext Contract Structure

New Contract Overview

Lot Prime Contractor Subcontractors Services
Lot 1 Cognizone Liip, Ontotext Infrastructure provision, migration, operations
Lot 2 Liip Interactive Things, Cognizone, MetaSolutions Application development (Cube Creator, Pipelines, I14Y)
Lot 2 Zazuko Puzzle ICT, bit42 Application development, opendata.swiss implementation
Lot 2 Adnovum Squirro Application development (Cube Creator, Pipelines, I14Y)

Core Infrastructure Components (Operated by SFA)

The Federal Archives is responsible for the operation and development of the central components of the LINDAS platform, which form the backbone of the system and ensure efficient storage, integration, and provision of Linked Data.

RDF Triplestore Infrastructure

Current Technology (During Migration)

Current Future (LINDASnext)
Stardog GraphDB EE
Named graph permissions Enhanced enterprise features
Kubernetes deployment Improved scalability

Note: The current Stardog-based infrastructure ended its operational contract in May 2025. Migration to GraphDB EE is underway as part of LINDASnext, which will impact satellite systems and partner applications dependent on LINDAS APIs.

Triplestore Components

Component Description Documentation Technology
Stardog The triplestore that effectively stores RDF data Stardog website | VSHN Stardog docs Graph Database
Kubernetes Container orchestration for triplestore cluster Kubernetes | VSHN K8s docs Container Orchestration
Trifid SPARQL endpoints and data serving Zazuko Trifid | VSHN Trifid docs API Gateway
Varnish Cache HTTP caching layer to speed up queries Varnish Cache | VSHN Varnish docs HTTP Cache
User Role Operator (URO 2.0) Manages Stardog users, roles, and permissions VSHN User management docs Access Control

Environment Deployments

Environment Stardog Cluster SPARQL Endpoint Usage
PROD https://stardog.cluster.ldbar.ch/ https://lindas.admin.ch/sparql/ Production
INT https://stardog-int.cluster.ldbar.ch/ https://int.lindas.admin.ch/sparql/ Integration testing
TEST https://stardog-test.cluster.ldbar.ch/ https://test.lindas.admin.ch/sparql/ Development testing

Management Tools

Tool Description URL
Stardog Studio IDE for managing Stardog instances https://studio.cluster.ldbar.ch/#/

Monitoring and Operations

Monitoring Components

Component Description URL Documentation
Platform Status Overall system status monitoring https://status.ldbar.ch/ VSHN Status docs
Grafana Metrics visualization and analysis https://grafana.cluster.ldbar.ch/?orgId=1 Grafana
Graylog Centralized logging and analysis https://logging.ldbar.ch/search VSHN Graylog docs | Graylog Guide

Data Hosting Infrastructure

File Storage for Pipelines

Service Description Usage Documentation
WebDAV Web-based file sharing for data providers Pipeline data ingestion WebDAV | VSHN WebDAV docs
S3 Bucket Object storage for data files Pipeline data storage Amazon S3 | Barnard59 S3 plugin

Data Processing Components

Cube Creator Platform

Primary tool for converting CSV files to RDF cubes with rich metadata management.

Core Features

  • CSV-RDF Conversion: Guided web interface for data mapping
  • Metadata Management: Rich metadata annotation and code lists
  • Shared Dimensions: Reusable dimensions across multiple cubes
  • Automated Publishing: Direct integration with triplestore

Deployments

Environment URL Access Requirements
PROD https://cube-creator.lindas.admin.ch/app/ CH-LOGIN required
INT https://int.cube-creator.lindas.admin.ch/app/ CH-LOGIN required
TEST https://test.cube-creator.lindas.admin.ch/app/ CH-LOGIN required
Zazuko Instance https://cube-creator.zazuko.com/app/cube-projects?creator=me External development

Documentation

Pipeline Infrastructure

GitLab Environment

Central repository for data pipeline management and CI/CD automation.

Component Description URL
Main Instance Pipeline hosting and execution https://gitlab.ldbar.ch/pipelines
CI/CD Pipelines Automated data transformation workflows Integrated in GitLab
Issue Management Dataset-specific tracking Per repository

Pipeline Monitoring

Tool Description URL
Pipelines Dashboard Production pipeline monitoring https://pipelines-dashboard.zazuko.net/

Data Schemas and Ontologies

Core Ontologies

Schema Description Documentation
Cube Schema RDF cube ontology for LINDAS GitHub | Documentation | Best Practices
Cube Meta Vocabulary Metadata extensions for shared dimensions https://cube.link/meta/
Visualize RDF Compatibility Cube requirements for Visualize integration https://visualize.admin.ch/docs/charts/rdf-to-visualize
version.link Identity versioning ontology https://version.link/

Data Validation Infrastructure

Validation Tools

Tool Description URL Usage
Cube Validator SHACL-based cube validation https://cube-validator.lindas.admin.ch Online validation
SHACL Playground Interactive SHACL testing https://shacl-playground.zazuko.com/ Development testing
Apache Jena SHACL Local validation toolkit https://jena.apache.org/documentation/shacl/ Command-line validation

SHACL Validation Profiles

Current validation profiles available:

  • standalone-cube-constraint: Standard cube with minimal metadata
  • profile-opendataswiss: OpenData.swiss handbook compliance
  • profile-visualize: Visualize platform compatibility
  • basic-cube-constraint: Minimum cube requirements

See Data Validation for detailed information.

Visualization Components

Visualize Platform

Primary visualization tool for creating interactive charts from RDF cube data.

Deployments

Environment URL Features
PROD https://visualize.admin.ch/fr Production visualizations
INT https://int.visualize.admin.ch/en?dataSource=Int Integration testing
TEST https://test.visualize.admin.ch/en?dataSource=Test Development (add &flag__debug=true for debug mode)

Technical Components

Component Description URL
Source Code Open source visualization tool https://github.com/visualize-admin/visualization-tool
Documentation User and developer guides https://visualize.admin.ch/docs
GraphQL API Query interface for RDF data https://visualize.admin.ch/api/graphql
Status Monitoring Service availability tracking https://visualization-tool.status.interactivethings.io/

Developer Tools and Utilities

Data Processing Tools

Tool Description URL Use Case
Barnard59 ETL toolkit for Linked Data GitHub | Documentation Pipeline automation
Expressive RDF Mapper (XRM) Human-friendly RDF mapping language https://zazuko.com/products/expressive-rdf-mapper/ Data transformation
CSV Validation Online CSV validation https://zazuko.com/csv-validate/ Data quality
Cube Viewer RDF cube visualization component GitHub | Demo Data exploration

Format-Specific Tools

Format Tool Repository
JSON/XML XRM XML Workflow https://github.com/zazuko/xrm-xml-workflow
CSV XRM CSVW Workflow https://github.com/zazuko/xrm-csvw-workflow
MySQL XRM R2RML Workflow https://github.com/zazuko/xrm-r2rml-workflow

Pipeline Templates

Template Description Repository
Python Cube Generation Working template for LINDAS cube creation https://gitlab.ldbar.ch/fabian.cretton/pipeline-template-cube-generation/

Exploration and Analysis Tools

Tool Description URL Purpose
Graph Explorer RDF knowledge graph visualization https://ld.admin.ch/graph-explorer/ | GitHub Data exploration
Blueprint Enterprise knowledge graph browser GitHub Data browsing
SPeX SPARQL endpoint introspection https://zazuko.com/tools/spex/ Schema analysis

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LINDASnext

Current Migration: Stardog → GraphDB EE

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