rdist - remote file distribution client program
rdist [ -DFn ] [ -A num ] [ -a num ] [ -d var=value ] [ -l <local logopts>] [ -L <remote logopts> ] [ -f distfile ] [ -M maxproc ] [ -m host ] [ -odistopts ] [ -t timeout ] [ -p <rdistd-path> ] [ -P <rsh-path> ] [ name ...]
rdist -DFn -c name ... [login@]host[:dest]
rdist -Server
rdist -V
Rdist is a program to maintain identical copies of files over multiplehosts. It preserves the owner, group, mode, and mtime of files if possibleand can update programs that are executing. Rdist reads commands fromdistfile to direct the updating of files and/or directories. If distfileis `-', the standard input is used. If no -f option is present, the programlooks first for `distfile', then `Distfile' to use as the input. Ifno names are specified on the command line, rdist will update all of thefiles and directories listed in distfile. Otherwise, the argument is takento be the name of a file to be updated or the label of a command to execute.If label and file names conflict, it is assumed to be a label. Thesemay be used together to update specific files using specific commands.
The -c option forces rdist to interpret the remaining arguments as a smalldistfile. The equivalent distfile is as follows.
( name ... ) -> [login@]host
install [dest] ;
The -Server option is recognized to provide partial backward compatiblesupport for older versions of rdist which used this option to put rdistinto server mode. If rdist is started with the -Server command lineoption, it will attempt to exec (run) the old version of rdist. This optionwill only work if rdist was compiled with the location of the old rdist(usually either /usr/ucb/oldrdist or /usr/old/rdist) and that program isavailable at run time.
Rdist can use either the rcmd(3) function call or the rsh(1c), remoteshell, command to access each target host. The method used is selected atcompile-time. If the rsh(1c) method is used and the target host is thestring localhost and the remote user name is the same as the local username, rdist will run the command
/bin/sh -c rdistd -S
Otherwise rdist run will run the command
rsh host -l remuser rdistd -S
where host is the name of the target host, remuser is the name of the userto make the connection as and, rdistd is the rdist server command on thetarget host as shown below.
If the rcmd(3) method is used, then rdist makes the connection to the targethost itself and runs the rdistd server program as shown below. Thedefault, and preferred method, is to use rsh(1c) to make the connection totarget hosts. This allows rdist to be run without being setuid to``root''.
On each target host Rdist will attempt to run the command
rdistd -S
or
<rdistd path> -S
if the -p option was specified. If no -p option is included, or the<rdistd path> is a simple filename, rdistd or <rdistd path> must be somewherein the $PATH of the user running rdist on the remote (target) host.
-A num
Set the minimum number of free files (inodes) on a filesystem thatmust exist for rdist to update or install a file.
-a num
Set the minimum amount of free space (in bytes) on a filesystem thatmust exist for rdist to update or install a file.
-D Enable copious debugging messages.
-d var=value
Define var to have value. This option is used to define or overridevariable definitions in the distfile. Value can be the empty string,one name, or a list of names surrounded by parentheses and separatedby tabs and/or spaces.
-F Do not fork any child rdist processes. All clients are updatedsequentially.
-f distfile
Set the name of the distfile to use to be distfile . If distfile isspecified as ``-'' (dash) then read from standard input (stdin).
-l logopts
Set local logging options. See the section MESSAGE LOGGING fordetails on the syntax for logopts.
-L logopts
Set remote logging options. logopts is the same as for local loggingexcept the values are passed to the remote server (rdistd). See thesection MESSAGE LOGGING for details on the syntax for logopts.
-M num
Set the maximum number of simultaneously running child rdist processesto num. The default is 4.
-m machine
Limit which machines are to be updated. Multiple -m arguments can begiven to limit updates to a subset of the hosts listed in the dist_file.
-n Print the commands without executing them. This option is useful fordebugging distfile.
-odistopts
Specify the dist options to enable. distopts is a comma separatedlist of options which are listed below. The valid values for distoptsare:
verify
Verify that the files are up to date on all the hosts. Any filesthat are out of date will be displayed but no files will be changednor any mail sent.
whole
Whole mode. The whole file name is appended to the destinationdirectory name. Normally, only the last component of a name is usedwhen renaming files. This will preserve the directory structure ofthe files being copied instead of flattening the directory structure.For example, rdisting a list of files such as /path/dir1/f1and /path/dir2/f2 to /tmp/dir would create files/tmp/dir/path/dir1/f1 and /tmp/dir/path/dir2/f2 instead of/tmp/dir/dir1/f1 and /tmp/dir/dir2/f2.
noexec
Automatically exclude executable files that are in a.out(5) formatfrom being checked or updated.
younger
Younger mode. Files are normally updated if their mtime and size(see stat(2)) disagree. This option causes rdist not to update filesthat are younger than the master copy. This can be used to preventnewer copies on other hosts from being replaced. A warning messageis printed for files which are newer than the master copy.
compare
Binary comparison. Perform a binary comparison and update files ifthey differ rather than comparing dates and sizes.
follow
Follow symbolic links. Copy the file that the link points to ratherthan the link itself.
ignlnks
Ignore unresolved links. Rdist will normally try to maintain thelink structure of files being transferred and warn the user if allthe links cannot be found.
chknfs
Do not check or update files on target host that reside on NFSfilesystems.
chkreadonly
Enable check on target host to see if a file resides on a read-onlyfilesystem. If a file does, then no checking or updating of thefile is attempted.
chksym
If the target on the remote host is a symbolic link, but is not onthe master host, the remote target will be left a symbolic link.This behavior is generally considered a bug in the original versionof rdist, but is present to allow compatibility with older versions.
quiet
Quiet mode. Files that are being modified are normally printed onstandard output. This option suppresses this.
remove
Remove extraneous files. If a directory is being updated, any filesthat exist on the remote host that do not exist in the master directoryare removed. This is useful for maintaining truly identicalcopies of directories.
nochkowner
Do not check user ownership of files that already exist. The fileownership is only set when the file is updated.
nochkgroup
Do not check group ownership of files that already exist. The fileownership is only set when the file is updated.
nochkmode
Do not check file and directory permission modes. The permissionmode is only set when the file is updated.
nodescend
Do not descend into a directory. Normally rdist will recursivelycheck directories. If this option is enabled, then any files listedin the file list in the distfile that are directories are not recursivelyscanned. Only the existence, ownership, and mode of thedirectory are checked.
numchkgroup
Use the numeric group id (gid) to check group ownership instead ofthe group name.
numchkowner
Use the numeric user id (uid) to check user ownership instead of theuser name.
savetargets
Save files that are updated instead of removing them. Any targetfile that is updates is first rename from file to file.OLD.
sparse
Enable checking for sparse (aka wholely) files. One of the mostcommon types of sparse files are those produced by ndbm(3). Thisoption adds some additional processing overhead so it should only beenabled for targets likely to contain sparse files.
-p <rdistd-path>
Set the path where the rdistd server is searched for on the targethost.
-P <rsh-path>
Set the path to the rsh(1c) command. The rsh-path may be a colonseperated list of possible pathnames. In this case, the first componentof the path to exist is used. i.e. /usr/ucb/rsh:/usr/bin/remsh, /usr/bsd/rsh.
-t timeout
Set the timeout period (in seconds) for waiting for responses from theremote rdist server. The default is 900 seconds.
-V Print version information and exit.
Rdist uses a collection of predefined message facilities that each containa list of message types specifying which types of messages to send to thatfacility. The local client (rdist) and the remote server (rdistd) eachmaintain their own copy of what types of messages to log to what facilities.
The -l logopts option to rdist tells rdist what logging options to uselocally. The -L logopts option to rdist tells rdist what logging optionsto pass to the remote rdistd server.
The form of logopts should be of form
facility=types:facility=types...
The valid facility names are:
stdout
Messages to standard output.
file
Log to a file. To specify the file name, use the format``file=filename=types''. e.g. ``file=/tmp/rdist.log=all,debug''.
syslog
Use the syslogd(8) facility.
notify
Use the internal rdist notify facility. This facility is used inconjunction with the notify keyword in a distfile to specify whatmessages are mailed to the notify address.
types should be a comma separated list of message types. Each message typespecified enables that message level. This is unlike the syslog(3) systemfacility which uses an ascending order scheme. The following are the validtypes:
change
Things that change. This includes files that are installed orupdated in some way.
info
General information.
notice
General info about things that change. This includes things likemaking directories which are needed in order to install a specifictarget, but which are not explicitly specified in the distfile.
nerror
Normal errors that are not fatal.
ferror
Fatal errors.
warning
Warnings about errors which are not as serious as nerror type messages.
debug
Debugging information.
all
All but debug messages.
Here is a sample command line option:
This entry will set local message logging to have all but debug messagessent to standard output, change and notice messages will be sent tosyslog(3), and all messages will be written to the file /tmp/rdist.log.
The distfile contains a sequence of entries that specify the files to becopied, the destination hosts, and what operations to perform to do theupdating. Each entry has one of the following formats.
<variable name> `=' <name list>
[ label: ] <source list> `->' <destination list> <command list>[ label: ] <source list> `::' <time_stamp file> <command list>
The first format is used for defining variables. The second format is usedfor distributing files to other hosts. The third format is used for makinglists of files that have been changed since some given date. The sourcelist specifies a list of files and/or directories on the local host whichare to be used as the master copy for distribution. The destination listis the list of hosts to which these files are to be copied. Each file inthe source list is added to a list of changes if the file is out of date onthe host which is being updated (second format) or the file is newer thanthe time stamp file (third format).
Labels are optional. They are used to identify a command for partialupdates.
Newlines, tabs, and blanks are only used as separators and are otherwiseignored. Comments begin with `#' and end with a newline.
Variables to be expanded begin with `$' followed by one character or a nameenclosed in curly braces (see the examples at the end).
The source and destination lists have the following format:
<name>
or
`(' <zero or more names separated by white-space> `)'
These simple lists can be modified by using one level of set addition, subtraction,or intersection like this:
list `-' list
or
list `+' list
or
list `&' list
If additional modifications are needed (e.g., ``all servers and clientmachines except for the OSF/1 machines'') then the list will have to beexplicitly constructed in steps using «temporary» variables.
The shell meta-characters `[', `]', `{', `}', `*', and `?' are recognizedand expanded (on the local host only) in the same way as csh(1). They canbe escaped with a backslash. The `~' character is also expanded in thesame way as csh but is expanded separately on the local and destinationhosts. When the -owhole option is used with a file name that begins with`~', everything except the home directory is appended to the destinationname. File names which do not begin with `/' or `~' use the destinationuser's home directory as the root directory for the rest of the file name.
The command list consists of zero or more commands of the following format.
The install command is used to copy out of date files and/or directories.Each source file is copied to each host in the destination list. Directoriesare recursively copied in the same way. Opt_dest_name is anoptional parameter to rename files. If no install command appears in thecommand list or the destination name is not specified, the source file nameis used. Directories in the path name will be created if they do not existon the remote host. The -o distopts option as specified above underOPTIONS, has the same semantics as on the command line except they onlyapply to the files in the source list. The login name used on the destinationhost is the same as the local host unless the destination name is ofthe format ``login@host".
The notify command is used to mail the list of files updated (and anyerrors that may have occurred) to the listed names. If no `@' appears inthe name, the destination host is appended to the name (e.g., name1@host,name2@host, ...).
The except command is used to update all of the files in the source listexcept for the files listed in name list. This is usually used to copyeverything in a directory except certain files.
The except_pat command is like the except command except that pattern listis a list of regular expressions (see ed(1) for details). If one of thepatterns matches some string within a file name, that file will be ignored.Note that since `\' is a quote character, it must be doubled to become partof the regular expression. Variables are expanded in pattern list but notshell file pattern matching characters. To include a `$', it must beescaped with `\'.
The special command is used to specify sh(1) commands that are to be executedon the remote host after the file in name list is updated orinstalled. If the name list is omitted then the shell commands will beexecuted for every file updated or installed. String starts and ends with`"' and can cross multiple lines in distfile. Multiple commands to theshell should be separated by `;'. Commands are executed in the user's homedirectory on the host being updated. The special command can be used torebuild private databases, etc. after a program has been updated. Thefollowing environment variables are set for each special command:
FILE The full pathname of the local file that was just updated.
REMFILE
The full pathname of the remote file that was just updated.
BASEFILE
The basename of the remote file that was just updated.
The cmdspecial command is similar to the special command, except it is executedonly when the entire command is completed instead of after each fileis updated. The list of files is placed in the environment variable$FILES. Each file name in $FILES is separated by a `:' (colon).
If a hostname ends in a ``+'' (plus sign), then the plus is stripped offand NFS checks are disabled. This is equivalent to disabling the -ochknfsoption just for this one host.
The following is a small example.
HOSTS = ( matisse root@arpa)
FILES = ( /bin /lib /usr/bin /usr/games/usr/include/{*.h,{stand,sys,vax*,pascal,machine}/*.h}/usr/lib /usr/man/man? /usr/ucb /usr/local/rdist )
EXLIB = ( Mail.rc aliases aliases.dir aliases.pag crontab dshrcsendmail.cf sendmail.fc sendmail.hf sendmail.st uucp vfont )
${FILES} -> ${HOSTS}
install -oremove,chknfs ;
except /usr/lib/${EXLIB} ;
except /usr/games/lib ;
special /usr/lib/sendmail «/usr/lib/sendmail -bz» ;
srcs:
/usr/src/bin -> arpa
except_pat ( \\.o\$ /SCCS\$ ) ;
IMAGEN = (ips dviimp catdvi)
imagen:
/usr/local/${IMAGEN} -> arpa
install /usr/local/lib ;
notify ralph ;
${FILES} :: stamp.cory
notify root@cory ;
TMPDIR
Name of temporary directory to use. Default is /tmp.
sh(1), csh(1), stat(2), rsh(1c), rcmd(3)
If the basename of a file (the last component in the pathname) is «.",then rdist assumes the remote (destination) name is a directory. i.e./tmp/. means that /tmp should be a directory on the remote host.
The following options are still recognized for backwards compatibility:
Source files must reside on the local host where rdist is executed.
Variable expansion only works for name lists; there should be a generalmacro facility.
Rdist aborts on files which have a negative mtime (before Jan 1, 1970).
If a hardlinked file is listed more than once in the same target, thenrdist will report missing links. Only one instance of a link should belisted in each target.