MAN.9FRONT.ORG RTFM


     REPLICA(8)                                             REPLICA(8)

     NAME
          applychanges, applylog, compactdb, updatedb - simple
          client-server replica management

     SYNOPSIS
          replica/compactdb db
          replica/updatedb [ -cl ] [ -p proto ] [ -r root ] [ -t now n
          ] [ -u uid ] [ -x path ] ...  db
          replica/applylog [ -nuv ] [ -c name ]...  [ -s name ]...
          clientdb clientroot serverroot [ path ... ]
          replica/applychanges [ -nuv ] [ -p proto ] [ -x path ] ...
          clientdb clientroot serverroot [ path ... ]

     DESCRIPTION
          These four tools collectively provide simple log-based
          client-server replica management.  The shell scripts
          described in replica(1) provide a more polished interface.

          Both client and server maintain textual databases of file
          system metadata.  Each line is of the form

             path mode uid gid mtime length

          Later entries for a path supersede previous ones.  A line
          with the string REMOVED in the mode field annuls all previ-
          ous entries for that path. The entries in a file are typi-
          cally kept sorted by path but need not be.  These properties
          facilitate updating the database atomically by appending to
          it.  Compactdb reads in a database and writes out an equiva-
          lent one, sorted by path and without outdated or annulled
          records.

          A replica is further described on the server by a textual
          log listing creation and deletion of files and changes to
          file contents and metadata.  Each line is of the form:

             time gen verb path serverpath mode uid gid mtime length

          The time and gen fields are both decimal numbers, providing
          an ordering for log entries so that incremental tools need
          not process the whole log each time they are run.  The verb,
          a single character, describes the event: addition of a file
          (a), deletion of a file (d), a change to a file's contents
          (c), or a change to a file's metadata (m).  Path is the file
          path on the client; serverpath the path on the server (these
          are different when the optional fifth field in a proto file
          line is given; see proto(2)). Mode, uid, gid, and mtime are
          the files metadata as in the Dir structure (see stat(5)).
          For deletion events, the metadata is that of the deleted
          file.  For other events, the metadata is that after the

     REPLICA(8)                                             REPLICA(8)

          event.

          Updatedb scans the file system rooted at root for changes
          not present in db, noting them by appending new entries to
          the database and by writing log events to standard output.
          The -c option causes updatedb to consider only file and
          metadata changes, ignoring file additions and deletions.  By
          default, the log events have time set to the current system
          time and use incrementing gen numbers starting at 0.  The -t
          option can be used to specify a different time and starting
          number.  If the -u option is given, all database entries and
          log events will use uid rather than the actual uids.  The -x
          option (which may be specified multiple times) excludes the
          named path and all its children from the scan.  If the -l
          option is given, the database is not changed and the time
          and gen fields are omitted from the log events; the result-
          ing output is intended to be a human-readable summary of
          file system activity since the last scan.

          Applylog is used to propagate changes from server to client.
          It applies the changes listed in a log (read from standard
          input) to the file system rooted at clientroot, copying
          files when necessary from the file system rooted at
          serverroot. By default, applylog does not attempt to set the
          uid on files; the -u flag enables this.  Applylog will not
          overwrite local changes made to replicated files.  When it
          detects such conflicts, by default it prints an error
          describing the conflict and takes no action.  If the -c flag
          is given, applylog still takes no action for files beginning
          with the given names, but does so silently and will not
          report the conflicts in the future.  (The conflict is
          resolved in favor of the client.)  The -s is similar but
          causes applylog to overwrite the local changes.  (The con-
          flict is resolved in favor of the server.)

          Applychanges is, in some sense, the opposite of applylog; it
          scans the client file system for changes, and applies those
          changes to the server file system.  Applychanges will not
          overwrite remote changes made to replicated files.  For
          example, if a file is copied from server to client and sub-
          sequently changed on both server and client, applychanges
          will not copy the client's new version to the server,
          because the server also has a new version.  Applychanges and
          applylog detect the same conflicts; to resolve conflicts
          reported by applychanges, invoke applylog with the -c or -s
          flags.

     EXAMPLE
          One might keep a client kfs file system up-to-date against a
          server file system using these tools.  First, connect to a
          CPU server with a high-speed network connection to the file
          server and scan the server file system, updating the server

     REPLICA(8)                                             REPLICA(8)

          database and log:
              repl=$home/lib/replica
              proto=/sys/lib/sysconfig/proto/portproto
              db=$repl/srv.portproto.db
              log=$repl/srv.portproto.log

              9fs $fs
              replica/updatedb -p $proto -r /n/$fs -x $repl $db >>$log
              replica/compactdb $db >/tmp/a && mv /tmp/a $db

          Then, update the client file system:
              repl=$home/lib/replica
              db=$repl/cli.portproto.db
              log=$repl/srv.portproto.log

              9fs $fs
              9fs kfs
              replica/applylog $db /n/kfs /n/$fs <$log
              replica/compactdb $db >/tmp/a && mv /tmp/a $db

          The $repl directory is excluded from the sync so that multi-
          ple clients can each have their own local database.  The
          shell scripts in /rc/bin/replica are essentially a further
          development of this example.

          The Plan 9 distribution update program operates similarly,
          but omits the first scan; it is assumed that the Plan 9
          developers run scans manually when the distribution file
          system changes.  The manual page replica(1) describes this
          in full.

     SEE ALSO
          replica(1)

     BUGS
          These tools assume that mtime combined with length is a good
          indicator of changes to a file's contents.