OLDRDIST(1)                OpenBSD Reference Manual                OLDRDIST(1)

NAME
     oldrdist - remote file distribution program

SYNOPSIS
     oldrdist [-bhinqRvwy] [-d var=value] [-f distfile] [-m host] [name ...]
     oldrdist [-bhinqRvwy] -c name ...  [login@]host[:dest]

DESCRIPTION
     oldrdist 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.  oldrdist reads commands
     from distfile to direct the updating of files and/or directories.

     Options specific to the first SYNOPSIS form:

     -f distfile  Use the specified distfile.  If distfile is ``-'', the stan-
                  dard input is used.

     If either the -f or `-' option is not specified, the program looks first
     for ``distfile'', then ``Distfile'' to use as the input.  If no names are
     specified on the command line, oldrdist will update all of the files and
     directories listed in distfile.  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:

     -c    Forces oldrdist to interpret the remaining arguments as a small
           distfile.

           The equivalent distfile is as follows:

                 (name ...) -> [login@] host
                       install [dest];

     Options common to both forms:

     -b    Binary comparison.  Perform a binary comparison and update files if
           they differ rather than comparing dates and sizes.

     -d var=value
           Define var to have value.  The -d option is used to define or over-
           ride variable definitions in the distfile.  Value can be the empty
           string, one name, or a list of names surrounded by parentheses and
           separated by tabs and/or spaces.

     -h    Follow symbolic links.  Copy the file that the link points to
           rather than the link itself.

     -i    Ignore unresolved links.  oldrdist will normally try to maintain
           the link structure of files being transferred and warn the user if
           all the links cannot be found.

     -m host
           Limit which machines are to be updated.  Multiple -m arguments can
           be given to limit updates to a subset of the hosts listed in the
           distfile.

     -n    Print the commands without executing them.  This option is useful
           for debugging distfile.

     -q    Quiet mode.  Files that are being modified are normally printed on
           standard output.  The -q option suppresses this.

     -R    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 truly iden-
           tical copies of directories.

     -v    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.

     -w    Whole mode.  The whole file name is appended to the destination di-
           rectory 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 struc-
           ture.  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.

     -y    Younger mode.  Files are normally updated if their mtime and size
           (see stat(2)) disagree.  The -y option causes oldrdist not to up-
           date files that are younger than the master copy.  This can be used
           to prevent newer copies on other hosts from being replaced.  A
           warning message is printed for files which are newer than the mas-
           ter copy.

     distfile 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
     source list specifies a list of files and/or directories on the local
     host which are to be used as the master copy for distribution.  The
     destination list 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 whitespace> `)'

     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 -w 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 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.  Direc-
     tories are recursively copied in the same way.  opt_dest_name is an op-
     tional parameter to rename files.  If no install 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 options 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 un-
     less the destination name is of the format ``login@host''.

     The notify command is used to mail the list of files updated (and any er-
     rors that may have occurred) 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 except command is used to update all of the files in the source list
     except for the files listed in name list.  This is usually used to copy
     everything in a directory except certain files.

     The except_pat command is like the except command except that pattern
     list 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 pattern
     list but not shell file pattern matching characters.  To include a `$',
     it must be escaped with `\'.

     The special command is used to specify sh(1) commands that are to be exe-
     cuted on the remote host after the file in name list is updated or in-
     stalled.  If the name list 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 string.
     string starts and ends with `"' and can cross multiple lines in distfile.
     Multiple commands to the shell should be separated by `;'.  Commands are
     executed in the user's home directory on the host being updated.  The
     special 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 ;

FILES
     distfile     input command file
     /tmp/rdist*  temporary file for update lists

DIAGNOSTICS
     A complaint about mismatch of oldrdist version numbers may really stem
     from some problem with starting your shell, e.g., you are in too many
     groups.

SEE ALSO
     csh(1), sh(1), stat(2)

HISTORY
     The oldrdist command appeared in 4.3BSD.

BUGS
     Source files must reside on the local host where oldrdist 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.

     oldrdist aborts on files which have a negative mtime (before Jan 1,
     1970).

     There should be a ``force'' option to allow replacement of non-empty di-
     rectories by regular files or symlinks.  A means of updating file modes
     and owners of otherwise identical files is also needed.

OpenBSD 4.7                    February 18, 2010                             4
