Libraries locking up / iWork Pages locking Aperture ?

Question

Hi,
my company uses a shared AFP volume where multiple Aperture libraries are stored. For some time now, users report that they cannot open some libraries. They appear to be locked or corrupt.
Repairing permissions or rebuilding the database does not help. Sometimes it helps to restore a library from a backup, but this solution is not permanent.
I checked:
file permissions. They are correct, on both server and clients
file system. It's OK.
Aperture and OS X versions. Both up to date: Aperture 3.5.1 and Mavericks 10.9.2 13C64
Caches. Cleaning them does not help.
Aperture preferences. Resetting does not help.
When comparing  a locked library with a backup, all files and folders look OK. But there's a weird thing:
Inside the Database/apdb folder, there are hidden files with the suffix -conch. Am I right that they are some kind of SQLite lock files?
However, when I delete them, they get re-created instantly.
Each time I tried deleting them, I investigated the file owners of the re-created -conch files. Most of the users didn't have Aperture running, but all of them had an open instance of Pages.
What's the link between Pages and Aperture? And how can I prevent Pages to lock up Aperture libraries?
Any suggestions and comments are welcome.
Thank you
Fritjof

Answer 1

How are your users accessing the Aperture libraries?   From the same user account or from different accounts? Simultaniously?
Or only one user at a time?
Inside the Database/apdb folder, there are hidden files with the suffix -conch. Am I right that they are some kind of SQLite lock files?
The files don't have anything to do with Pages. I am seeing the same files inside a small test library on a server,  browsing from a Mac, where I don't even have Pages installed.
When an Aperture library is opened on a shared volume, a file "lockfile.pid" will be created in the apdb folder. This lock will be removed, when the library is closed again.
The problem appears to be your general set-up. Aperture is neither a network database nor a multi-user database application. If you access Aperture from different user accounts, the permissions inside the Aperture library will change and you have to run the Aperture Library First Aid tools "Repair Permissions", before another user can access it from a different account.
Also, an Aperture library on a shared volume is not supported. The Aperture library needs to be on a volume formatted MacOS  Extended (Journaled), or you are risking database curruption. And it should be locally connected. Network access is not supported.
See Apple's recommendations:
Use locally mounted Mac OS X Extended volumes for your Aperture library
To share a library see:  iPhoto: Sharing libraries among multiple users
The iPhoto recommentation will also work for Aperture.
Léonie