eLabFTW Documentation

• It's free and open source software
• It improves the value of your experiments by allowing you to keep a good track of it
• It makes searching your data as easy as a google search
• Everything can be organized in your lab
• It makes it easy to share information between co-workers or collaborators
• It is simple to install and to keep up to date
• It works for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, BSD, Solaris, etc…
• Protected access with login/password (password is very securely stored as salted SHA-512 sum)
• It can be used by multiple users at the same time
• It can be used by multiple teams
• You can have templates for experiments you do often
• You can export an experiment as a PDF
• You can timestamp an experiment so it is legally strong
• You can export one or several experiments as a ZIP archive
• You can duplicate experiments in one click
• There is advanced search capabilities
• You can write in Markdown
• The tagging system allows you to keep track of family of experiments
• Experiments can have color coded statuses (that you can edit at will)
• You can link an experiment with an item from the database to retrieve in a click the plasmid/sirna/antibody/chemical you used
• And it works the other way around, you can find all experiments done with a particular item from the database!
• blockchain blockchain blockchain
• There is a locking mechanism preventing further edition
• You can comment on an experiment (if it's not your experiment)
• You can import your old database stored in an excel file
• You can use it in your language
• and much more…

You also have to consider the fact that installing eLabFTW on your own server means that no one will be able to snoop on your data. If you have ever used Evernote or basically any online ELN that says «Free», read carefully the privacy policy, you might be surprised what they allow themselves to do under the cover of «to improve your experience»…

Yes. It is used in numerous research centers all over the world since more than a decade now and if an issue is found it is quickly reported and fixed.

However, having an automated backup strategy is mandatory in order to be sure nothing will be lost.

Being able to do backups is yet another advantage over paper (you can't backup paper!).

We do not maintain a list of institutions using it anymore. There are just too many. Consider that there are thousands of eLabFTW instances worldwide.

In France, it's the ELN of choice for the CNRS, the 1st largest research organization in Europe, along with many other universities and research institutes. It is also useful to startups and companies. You'll also find a lot of instances in German institutions, along with many other countries all around the world.

The data is encrypted when travelling from your browser to the server with the highest quality encryption currently available (TLSv1.2/1.3 with modern ciphers). The passwords are not recoverable in case of a breach and are hashed using state of the art algorithms.

If you wish to have data at rest encryption, it needs to be done during the web server installation, and is not the concern of the software itself.

Yes. The project is actively maintained and updated. You can look at the release history on GitHub.

Yes. You can import data into the database from a file, either from the web interface, or by using a dedicated import script. See Tutorial to import data programmatically.

Yes. There is a demo instance available. See demo.elabftw.net.

eLabFTW is a server software that should be installed on a server.

Requirements for the server

The following specification has been shown to perform well for an instance of several hundred daily users. The more users using the instance, the more CPU and RAM you'll need.

Hardware

At least 2Gb of RAM, a decent processor (> 2GHz), preferably multi-core and an SSD disk with at least a few Gb free.

Software

The operating system of the server must be a flavor of GNU/Linux. We recommend Rocky Linux or RHEL.

The service runs in containers (Docker or Podman), which are a Linux specific technology.

A MySQL database service is required. You can deploy a MySQL service with Docker by following the standard installation procedure, or use an existing separate MySQL server. Only MySQL is supported. Not PostgreSQL, not MariaDB, not SQLite.

Requirements for the clients (users)

• Any operating system with either Firefox, or Chrome based browser (Chrome, Chromium, Edge, Brave, Opera). Safari is known to cause issues and is not officially supported. Internet Explorer is not supported.
• An internet connection.

GMP Compliance Statement for eLabFTW

1. Introduction

eLabFTW is an open-source electronic lab notebook (ELN) and database designed for academic, industrial, and research institutions. This document outlines how eLabFTW complies with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements, particularly in contexts where digital recordkeeping must meet regulatory standards.

2. System Overview

eLabFTW provides features essential for compliance with GMP, including:

• Secure and tamper-evident electronic recordkeeping
• Comprehensive audit trails
• User authentication and access control
• Version control of records
• Role-based permission management
• Timestamped entries

3. GMP-Relevant Compliance Features

3.1 Data Integrity and Security

eLabFTW ensures data integrity through:

• Enforced HTTPS connections
• Encrypted data in transit
• Automatic backups
• Tamper-evident log entries

3.2 Audit Trails

Nearly every action performed in eLabFTW is logged. The audit trail includes:

• Timestamp of the action
• User identity
• Nature of the change (e.g., edit, delete)
• Linked records or experiments

3.3 User Management and Access Control

• Each user has a unique login with secure password requirements
• Role-based access controls limit user permissions
• Admins can assign and revoke roles
• Inactive users can be disabled to maintain access security

3.4 Electronic Signatures

eLabFTW supports electronic signatures that are:

• Unique to each user
• Tied to a specific time and action
• Stored in immutable archives
• Using state of the art cryptography

3.5 Validation and Qualification

eLabFTW supports system validation through:

• Open-source codebase (fully inspectable)
• Documented update logs and change management

3.6 Data Retention and Exportability

• Data can be exported in human-readable and machine-readable formats
• Archived data remains accessible and readable
• Long-term retention complies with GMP recordkeeping requirements

4. Implementation Best Practices

To ensure GMP compliance, administrators should:

• Implement validated backup strategies
• Maintain system validation documentation
• Define and enforce access policies
• Perform regular audits using eLabFTW's built-in reporting tools
• Train users on GMP principles and proper usage of eLabFTW

5. Conclusion

When properly configured and maintained, eLabFTW provides the necessary functionality to support GMP compliance in electronic documentation and laboratory recordkeeping environments.

There is no plugin system, but there is an API.

• You can use the API to create scripts that interact with eLabFTW
• You can create external tools or integrations using the API

Yes, it is free software (as in speech) and also free as in beer. However, you will still need a server and technical know-how to deploy it securely.

If you are looking for hosting (SaaS) options, check Deltablot.com.

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