RDIST
Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: June 13, 1998
IndexReturn to Main Contents
NAME
rdist – remote file distribution client program
SYNOPSIS
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<transport-path>][ name ...]
rdist-DFn-c name … [login@]host[:dest]
rdist-Server
rdist-V
DESCRIPTION
Rdistis a program to maintain identical copies of files over multiple hosts. It preserves the owner, group, mode, and mtime of files if possible andcan update programs that are executing.Rdistreads commands fromdistfileto direct the updating of files and/or directories.Ifdistfileis `-’, the standard input is used.If no-foption is present, the program looks first for `distfile’,then `Distfile’ to use as the input.If no names are specified on the command line,rdistwill update all of the files and directories listed indistfile.Otherwise, the argument is taken to be the name of a file to be updatedor the label of a command to execute. If label and file names conflict,it is assumed to be a label.These may be used together to update specific filesusing specific commands.
The-coption forcesrdistto interpret the remaining arguments as a smalldistfile.The equivalent distfile is as follows.
( name ... ) -> [login@]host
install [dest] ;
The-Serveroption is recognized to provide partial backward compatible supportfor older versions ofrdistwhich used this option to putrdistinto server mode.Ifrdistis started with the -Servercommand line option, it will attempt to exec (run) the old version ofrdist.This option will only work if rdistwas compiled with the location of the old rdist(the path/usr/bin/oldrdistis used on Red Hat linux)and that program is available at run time.
Rdistcan use either thercmd(3)function call or run an arbitrary transport program such asrsh(1c)to access each target host.The method used is selected at compile-time.However, if the later method is used, the transport program can bespecified at run-time on the command line with the default being rsh(1c).If thersh(1c)method is used andthe target host is the stringlocalhostand the remote user name is the same as the local user name,rdistwill run the command
- /bin/sh -c rdistd -S
Otherwiserdistrun will run the command
- rsh host -l remuser rdistd -S
where hostis the name of the target host,remuseris the name of the user to make the connection as and,rdistdis the rdist server command on the target host as shown below.To use a transport program other thanrsh(1c)use the -Poption.Whatever transport program is used, must be compatible with the abovespecified syntax forrsh(1c).If the transport program is not, it should be wrappedin a shell script which does understand this command line syntax andwhich then executes the real transport program.
Here’s an example which uses ssh(1)as the transport:
- rdist -P /usr/local/bin/ssh -f myDistfile
If thercmd(3) method is used, thenrdistmakes the connection to the target host itself and runsthe rdistdserver program as shown below.The default, and preferred method, is to usersh(1c)to make the connection to target hosts. This allows rdistto be run without being setuid to “root”.
On each target hostRdistwill attempt to run the command
- rdistd -S
or
- <rdistd path> -S
if the-poption was specified.If no-p option is included,or the<rdistd path>is a simple filename,rdistdor<rdistd path>must be somewhere in the $PATHof the user runningrdiston the remote (target) host.
OPTIONS
- -A num
- Set the minimum number of free files (inodes) on a filesystem that must existfor rdistto update or install a file.
- -a num
- Set the minimum amount of free space (in bytes) on a filesystem that must existfor rdistto update or install a file.
- -D
- Enable copious debugging messages.
- -d var=value
- Definevarto havevalue.Thisoption is used to define or override variable definitions in thedistfile.Valuecan be the empty string, one name, or a list of names surrounded byparentheses and separated by tabs and/or spaces.
- -F
- Do not fork any child rdistprocesses.All clients are updated sequentially.
- -f distfile
- Set the name of the distfile to use to bedistfile .If distfileis specified as“-” (dash)then read from standard input (stdin).
- -l logopts
- Set local logging options.See the section MESSAGE LOGGINGfor details on the syntax forlogopts.
- -L logopts
- Set remote logging options.logoptsis the same as for local loggingexcept the values are passed to the remoteserver (rdistd).See the section MESSAGE LOGGINGfor details on the syntax forlogopts.
- -M num
- Set the maximum number of simultaneouslyrunning childrdistprocesses tonum.The default is 4.
- -m machine
- Limit which machines are to be updated. Multiple-marguments can be given to limit updates to a subset of the hosts listed in thedistfile.
- -n
- Print the commands without executing them. This option isuseful for debuggingdistfile.
- -odistopts
- Specify the dist options to enable.distoptsis a comma separated list of options which are listed below.The valid values fordistoptsare:
-
-
- 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 destination directoryname. Normally, only the last component of a name is used when renaming files.This will preserve the directory structure of the files beingcopied instead of flattening the directory structure. For example,rdisting a list of files such as/path/dir1/f1 and/path/dir2/f2 to /tmp/dir would createfiles /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)format from bei
ng checked or updated.
- younger
- Younger mode. Files are normally updated if theirmtimeandsize(seestat(2))disagree. Thisoption causesrdistnot to update files that are younger than the master copy.This can be usedto prevent newer copies on other hosts from being replaced.A warning message is printed for files which are newer than the master copy.
- compare
- Binary comparison. Perform a binary comparison and update files if they differrather than comparing dates and sizes.
- follow
- Follow symbolic links. Copy the file that the link points to rather than thelink itself.
- ignlnks
- Ignore unresolved links.Rdistwill normally try to maintain the link structure of files being transferredand warn the user if all the links cannot be found.
- chknfs
- Do not check or update files on target host thatreside on NFS filesystems.
- chkreadonly
- Enable check on target hostto see if a file resides on a read-only filesystem.If a file does, then no checking or updating of the file is attempted.
- chksym
- If the target on the remote host is a symbolic link, but is not on themaster host, the remote target will be left a symbolic link.This behavior is generally considered a bug in the original version ofrdist,but is present to allow compatibility with older versions.
- quiet
- Quiet mode. Files that are being modified are normallyprinted on standard output. Thisoption suppresses this.
- remove
- Remove extraneous files. If a directory is being updated, any files that existon the remote host that do not exist in the master directory are removed.This is useful for maintaining truly identical copies of directories.
- nochkowner
- Do not check user ownership of files that already exist.The file ownership is only set when the file is updated.
- nochkgroup
- Do not check group ownership of files that already exist.The file ownership is only set when the file is updated.
- nochkmode
- Do not check file and directory permission modes.The permission mode is only set when the file is updated.
- nodescend
- Do not descend into a directory.Normally rdistwill recursively check directories.If this option is enabled, then any files listed in thefile list in the distfile that are directories are not recursively scanned.Only the existence, ownership, and mode of the directory 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 ofthe user name.
- savetargets
- Save files that are updated instead of removing them.Any target file that is updates is first rename fromfiletofile.OLD.
- sparse
- Enable checking for sparse (aka wholely) files. One of the mostcommon types of sparse files are those produced byndbm(3).This option adds some additional processing overhead so it shouldonly be enabled for targets likely to contain sparse files.
- -p <rdistd-path>
- Set the path where the rdistd server is searched for on the target host.
- -P <transport-path>
- Set the path to the transport command to be used.This is normallyrsh(1c)but can be any other program – such as ssh(1) -which understands rsh(1c)command line syntax and which provides an appropriate connection to theremote host.Thetransport-pathmay be a colon seperated list of possible pathnames.In this case, the first component of 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 the remote rdistserver.The default is 900 seconds.
- -V
- Print version information and exit.
MESSAGE LOGGING
Rdistuses a collection of predefined messagefacilitiesthat each contain a list of messagetypesspecifying which types of messages to send to that facility.The local client (rdist) and the remote server (rdistd) eachmaintaintheir own copy of what types of messages to log to what facilities.
The -llogoptsoption tordisttellsrdistwhat logging options to use locally.The -Llogoptsoption tordisttellsrdistwhat logging options to pass to the remoterdistdserver.
The form oflogoptsshould 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 internalrdistnotifyfacility.This facility is used in conjunction with thenotifykeyword in a distfileto specify what messages are mailed to thenotifyaddress.
typesshould be a comma separated list of message types. Each message type specified enables that message level. This is unlike thesyslog(3)system facility which uses an ascending order scheme.The followingare the valid types:
-
-
- change
- Things that change.This includes files that are installed or updated in some way.
- info
- General information.
- notice
- General info about things that change.This includes things like making directories which are needed in orderto install a specific target, but which are not explicitly specified inthedistfile.
- nerror
- Normal errors that are not fatal.
- ferror
- Fatal errors.
- warning
- Warnings about errors which are not as serious asnerrortype messages.
- debug
- Debugging information.
- all
- All but debug messages.
Here is a sample command line option:
- -l stdout=all:syslog=change,notice:file=/tmp/rdist.log=all
This entry will set local message logging to have all but debugmessages sent to standard output, change and notice messages willbe sent to syslog(3),and all messages will be written to the file/tmp/rdist.log.
DISTFILES
Thedistfilecontains a sequence of entries that specify the filesto be copied, the destination hosts, and what operations to performto do the updating. 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 used for distributing files to other hosts.The third format is used for making lists of files that have been changedsince some given date.The source list specifies alist of files and/or directories on the local host which are to be usedas the master copy for distribution.The destination list is the list of hosts to which these files are to becopied. Each file in the source list is added to a list of changesif the file is out of date on the host which is being updated (second format) orthe file is newer than the time stamp file (third format).
Labels are optional. They are used to identify a command for partial updates.
Newlines, tabs, and blanks are only used as separators and areotherwise ignored. Comments begin with `#’ and end with a newline.
Variables to be expanded begin with `$’ followed by one character ora name enclosed 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 '-' listor
list '+' listor
list '&' list
If additional modifications are needed (e.g., “all servers and clientmachines except for the OSF/1 machines”) then the list will haveto be explicitly constructed in steps using "temporary" variables.
The shell meta-characters `[', `]‘, `{‘, `}’, `*’, and `’are recognized and expanded (on the local host only) in the same way ascsh(1).They can be escaped with a backslash.The `~’ character is also expanded in the same way ascshbut is expanded separately on the local and destination hosts.When the-owholeoption is used with a file name that begins with `~’, everything except thehome directory is appended to the destination name.File names which do not begin with `/’ or `~’ use the destination user’shome directory as the root directory for the rest of the file name.
The command list consists of zero or more commands of the followingformat.
- `install' <options> opt_dest_name `;'`notify' <name list> `;'`except' <name list> `;'`except_pat' <pattern list>`;'`special' <name list> string `;'`cmdspecial' <name list> string `;'
Theinstallcommand is used to copy out of date files and/or directories.Each source file is copied to each host in the destination list.Directories are recursively copied in the same way.Opt_dest_nameis an optional parameter to rename files.If noinstallcommand appears in the command list orthe destination name is not specified,the source file name is used.Directories in the path name will be created if theydo not exist on the remote host.The-o distoptsoptionas specified above underOPTIONS,has the same semantics ason the command line except they only apply to the filesin the source list.The login name used on the destination host is the same as the local hostunless the destination name is of the format “login@host".
Thenotifycommand is used to mail the list of files updated (and any errorsthat may have occurred) to the listed names.If no `@’ appears in the name, the destination host is appended tothe name(e.g., name1@host, name2@host, …).
Theexceptcommand is used to update all of the files in the source listexceptfor the files listed in name list.This is usually used to copy everything in a directory except certain files.
Theexcept_patcommand is like theexceptcommand except that pattern list is a list of regular expressions(seeed(1)for details).If one of the patterns matches some string within a file name, that file willbe ignored.Note that since `’ is a quote character, it must be doubled to becomepart of the regular expression. Variables are expanded in pattern listbut not shell file pattern matching characters. To include a `$’, itmust be escaped with `’.
Thespecialcommand is used to specifysh(1)commands that are to be executed on theremote host after the file in name list is updated or installed.If the name list is omitted then the shell commands will be executedfor every file updated or installed. Stringstarts and ends with `"’ and can cross multiple lines indistfile.Multiple commands to the shell should be separated by `;’.Commands are executed in the user’s home directory on the hostbeing updated.Thespecialcommand can be used to rebuild private databases, etc.after a program has been updated.The following environment variables are set for each specialcommand:
- 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.
Thecmdspecialcommand is similar to thespecialcommand, except it is executed only when the entire command is completedinstead of after each file is updated.The list of files is placed in the environment variable $FILES.Each file name in$FILESis separated by a `:’ (colon).
If a hostname ends in a “+” (plus sign), then the plusis stripped off and 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 dshrc sendmail.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 ;
ENVIRONMENT
- TMPDIR
- Name of temporary directory to use. Default is /tmp.
FILES
distfile - input command file$TMPDIR/rdist* - temporary file for update lists
SEE ALSO
sh(1),csh(1),stat(2),rsh(1c),rcmd(3)
DIAGNOSTICS
NOTES
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/tmpshould be a directory on the remote host.
The following options are still recognized for backwards compatibility:
-
- -v -N -O -q -b -r -R -s -w -y -h -i -x
BUGS
Source files must reside on the local host where rdist is executed.
Variable expansion only works for name lists; there should be a general macrofacility.
Rdistaborts on files which have a negative mtime (before Jan 1, 1970).
If a hardlinked file is listed more than once in the same target,then rdist will report missing links.Only one instance of a link should be listed in each target.
Index
- NAME
-
- SYNOPSIS
-
- DESCRIPTION
-
- OPTIONS
-
- MESSAGE LOGGING
-
- DISTFILES
-
- ENVIRONMENT
-
- FILES
-
- SEE ALSO
-
- DIAGNOSTICS
-
- NOTES
-
- BUGS
desc: rdist – remote file distribution client program
keywords: linux, manual, pages, rdist
[tags]linux, manual, pages, rdist[/tags]
