4.3BSD-Reno/share/man/cat1/rdist.0
RDIST(1) UNIX Reference Manual RDIST(1)
NNAAMMEE
rrddiisstt - remote file distribution program
SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
rrddiisstt [--nnqqbbRRhhiivvwwyy] [--ff _d_i_s_t_f_i_l_e] [--dd _v_a_r=_v_a_l_u_e] [--mm --hhoosstt] [_n_a_m_e ...]
rrddiisstt [--nnqqbbRRhhiivvwwyy] --cc _n_a_m_e ... [login@]_h_o_s_t[:dest]
DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
RRddiisstt is a program to maintain identical copies of files over multiple
hosts. It preserves the owner, group, mode, and mtime of files if possi-
ble and can update programs that are executing. RRddiisstt reads commands
from _d_i_s_t_f_i_l_e to direct the updating of files and/or directories.
Options specific to the first SYNOPSIS form:
-- If _d_i_s_t_f_i_l_e is `--', the standard input is used.
--ff _d_i_s_t_f_i_l_e
Use the specified _d_i_s_t_f_i_l_e.
If either the --ff or `--' option is not specified, the program looks first
for ``_d_i_s_t_f_i_l_e'', then ``_D_i_s_t_f_i_l_e'' to use as the input. If no names are
specified on the command line, rrddiisstt will update all of the files and
directories listed in _d_i_s_t_f_i_l_e. Otherwise, the argument is taken to 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. These may be
used together to update specific files using specific commands.
Options specific to the second SYNOPSIS form:
--cc Forces rrddiisstt to interpret the remaining arguments as a small
_d_i_s_t_f_i_l_e.
The equivalent distfile is as follows.
(_n_a_m_e ...) -> [_l_o_g_i_n@] _h_o_s_t
install [_d_e_s_t];
Options common to both forms:
--dd _v_a_r=_v_a_l_u_e
Define _v_a_r to have _v_a_l_u_e. The --dd option is used to define or
override variable definitions in the _d_i_s_t_f_i_l_e. _V_a_l_u_e can be
the empty string, one name, or a list of names surrounded by
parentheses and separated by tabs and/or spaces.
--mm _h_o_s_t Limit which machines are to be updated. Multiple --mm arguments
can be given to limit updates to a subset of the hosts listed
the _d_i_s_t_f_i_l_e.
--nn Print the commands without executing them. This option is use-
ful for debugging _d_i_s_t_f_i_l_e.
--qq Quiet mode. Files that are being modified are normally printed
on standard output. The --qq option suppresses this.
--RR Remove extraneous files. If a directory is being updated, any
files that exist on the remote host that do not exist in the
master directory are removed. This is useful for maintaining
truely identical copies of directories.
--hh Follow symbolic links. Copy the file that the link points to
rather than the link itself.
--ii Ignore unresolved links. RRddiisstt will normally try to maintain
the link structure of files being transfered and warn the user
if all the links cannot be found.
--vv Verify that the files are up to date on all the hosts. Any
files that are out of date will be displayed but no files will
be changed nor any mail sent.
--ww Whole mode. The whole file name is appended to the destination
directory name. Normally, only the last component of a name is
used when renaming files. This will preserve the directory
structure of the files being copied instead of flattening the
directory structure. For example, renaming a list of files such
as ( dir1/f1 dir2/f2 ) to dir3 would create files dir3/dir1/f1
and dir3/dir2/f2 instead of dir3/f1 and dir3/f2.
--yy Younger mode. Files are normally updated if their _m_t_i_m_e and
_s_i_z_e (see stat(2)) disagree. The --yy option causes rrddiisstt not to
update files that are younger than the master copy. This can
be used to prevent newer copies on other hosts from being re-
placed. A warning message is printed for files which are newer
than the master copy.
--bb Binary comparison. Perform a binary comparison and update files
if they differ rather than comparing dates and sizes.
_D_i_s_t_f_i_l_e contains a sequence of entries that specify the files to be
copied, the destination hosts, and what operations to perform to 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 changed since some given date. The
_s_o_u_r_c_e _l_i_s_t specifies a list of files and/or directories on the local
host which are to be used as the master copy for distribution. The
_d_e_s_t_i_n_a_t_i_o_n _l_i_s_t is the list of hosts to which these files are to be
copied. Each file in the source list is added to a list of changes if
the file is out of date on the host which is being updated (second for-
mat) or the file is newer than the time stamp file (third format).
Labels are optional. They are used to identify a command for partial up-
dates.
Newlines, tabs, and blanks are only used as separators and are otherwise
ignored. Comments begin with `#' and end with a newline.
Variables to be expanded begin with `$' followed by one character or a
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> `)'
The shell meta-characters `[', `]', `{', `}', `*', and `?' are recognized
and expanded (on the local host only) in the same way as csh(1). They
can be escaped with a backslash. The `~' character is also expanded in
the same way as csh(1) but is expanded separately on the local and desti-
nation hosts. When the --ww option is used with a file name that begins
with `~', everything except the home directory is appended to the desti-
nation name. File names which do not begin with `/' or `~' use the des-
tination user'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 for-
mat.
`install' <options> opt_dest_name `;'
`notify' <name list> `;'
`except' <name list> `;'
`except_pat' <pattern list> `;'
`special' <name list> string `;'
The iinnssttaallll command is used to copy out of date files and/or directories.
Each source file is copied to each host in the destination list. Direc-
tories are recursively copied in the same way. _O_p_t__d_e_s_t__n_a_m_e is an op-
tional parameter to rename files. If no iinnssttaallll command appears in the
command list or the destination name is not specified, the source file
name is used. Directories in the path name will be created if they do
not exist on the remote host. To help prevent disasters, a non-empty
directory on a target host will never be replaced with a regular file or
a symbolic link. However, under the `-R' option a non-empty directory
will be removed if the corresponding filename is completely absent on the
master host. The _o_p_t_i_o_n_s are `-R', `-h', `-i', `-v', `-w', `-y', and
`-b' and have the same semantics as options on the command line except
they only apply to the files in the source list. The login name used on
the destination host is the same as the local host unless the destination
name is of the format ``login@host".
The nnoottiiffyy command is used to mail the list of files updated (and any er-
rors that may have occured) to the listed names. If no `@' appears in
the name, the destination host is appended to the name (e.g., name1@host,
name2@host, ...).
The eexxcceepptt command is used to update all of the files in the source list
eexxcceepptt for the files listed in _n_a_m_e _l_i_s_t. This is usually used to copy
everything in a directory except certain files.
The eexxcceepptt__ppaatt command is like the eexxcceepptt command except that _p_a_t_t_e_r_n
_l_i_s_t is a list of regular expressions (see ed(1) for details). If one of
the patterns 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 part of the regular expression. Variables are expanded in _p_a_t_t_e_r_n
_l_i_s_t but not shell file pattern matching characters. To include a `$',
it must be escaped with `\'.
The ssppeecciiaall command is used to specify sh(1) commands that are to be exe-
cuted on the remote host after the file in _n_a_m_e _l_i_s_t is updated or in-
stalled. If the _n_a_m_e _l_i_s_t is omitted then the shell commands will be ex-
ecuted for every file updated or installed. The shell variable `FILE' is
set to the current filename before executing the commands in _s_t_r_i_n_g.
_S_t_r_i_n_g starts and ends with `"' and can cross multiple lines in _d_i_s_t_f_i_l_e.
Multiple commands to the shell should be separated by `;'. Commands are
executed in the user's home directory on the host being updated. The
_s_p_e_c_i_a_l command can be used to rebuild private databases, etc. after a
program has been updated.
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} -> ${HOSTS}
install -R ;
except /usr/lib/${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 ;
FFIILLEESS
_d_i_s_t_f_i_l_e input command file
/_t_m_p/_r_d_i_s_t* temporary file for update lists
SSEEEE AALLSSOO
sh(1), csh(1), stat(2)
HHIISSTTOORRYY
The rrddiisstt command appeared in 4.3 BSD.
DDIIAAGGNNOOSSTTIICCSS
A complaint about mismatch of rdist version numbers may really stem from
some problem with starting your shell, e.g., you are in too many groups.
BBUUGGSS
Source files must reside on the local host where rrddiisstt is executed.
There is no easy way to have a special command executed after all files
in a directory have been updated.
Variable expansion only works for name lists; there should be a general
macro facility.
RRddiisstt aborts on files which have a negative mtime (before Jan 1, 1970).
There should be a `force' option to allow replacement of non-empty direc-
tories by regular files or symlinks. A means of updating file modes and
owners of otherwise identical files is also needed.