Preserving the old web:

Using Containers in Web Preservation

Ilya Kreymer

Webrecorder Lead Developer, Rhizome

What are Containers?

• Lightweight, reusable application units
• Fast start-up, connect services together
• Docker most popular framework, but not only one

oldweb.today

• Created in 2015, new version coming soon!
• Puts browsers in emulators in containers
• Connects browsers to existing web archives
• Can use old browsers to browser old web!
• New version uses:
• 1 container per browser
• 1 container for video/audio stream

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• Demo

Webrecorder.io

• High-fidelity web archiving
• Create your own web archives
• Uses containers for everything!
• Integrates the browser system

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• Demo!

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• (Workshop tomorrow)

What about the Web Server?

• Browser is in a container
• Web archive replay and data can be in a container
• Can we also put existing web servers in containers?

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Scalar Auto-Archiving System!

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• Automatically imports ANVC Scalar projects into a container
• Automatically crawls external links using browser containers
• Packages up Scalar installation + web archives (WARC) files
• https://scalar.webrecorder.net/
• More Details (Additional Slides)

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Scalar Auto-Archiving System

Video of archiving using https://scalar.webrecorder.net

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New Prototype: Wordpress Preservation

• Commit changes to a digital object over time
• Support revert to previous version
• Extract links for automatic archiving?

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• Beginning of a new prototype: Coming soon!

Open source tools

• Webrecorder - https://webrecorder.io/
• Code: https://github.com/webrecorder/webrecorder

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• Scalar AutoArchiver - https://scalar.webrecorder.net/
• Code: https://github.com/webrecorder/autoscalar

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• Oldweb.today - http://oldweb.today/
• Current Code: https://github.com/oldweb-today/netcapsule
• New version + code base coming soon!

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Thank you!

Questions?

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