


RDIST(1)	    UNIX Programmer's Manual		 RDIST(1)



NAME
     rdist - remote file distribution program

SYNOPSIS
     rdist [ -nqbRhivwy ] [ -f distfile ] [ -d var=value ]  [  -m
     host ] [ name ... ]

     rdist [ -nqbRhivwy ] -c name ... [login@]host[:dest]

DESCRIPTION
     _R_d_i_s_t is a program to maintain  identical	copies	of  files
     over  multiple  hosts.  It preserves the owner, group, mode,
     and mtime of files if possible and can update programs  that
     are executing.  _R_d_i_s_t reads commands from _d_i_s_t_f_i_l_e to direct
     the updating of files and/or directories.	 If  _d_i_s_t_f_i_l_e  is
     `-',  the	standard  input  is  used.   If  no  -f option is
     present, the program looks first for `distfile', then `Dist-
     file' to use as the input.  If no names are specified on the
     command line, _r_d_i_s_t will update all of the files and  direc-
     tories 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.

     The -c option forces _r_d_i_s_t to interpret the remaining  argu-
     ments  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] ;


     Other options:

     -d   Define _v_a_r to have _v_a_l_u_e.  The -d  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.

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

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

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




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     -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 truely identical copies of
	  directories.

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

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

     -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 des-
	  tination  directory  name. Normally, only the last com-
	  ponent 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 _m_t_i_m_e
	  and  _s_i_z_e  (see _s_t_a_t(2)) disagree. The -y option causes
	  _r_d_i_s_t not to update 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 master
	  copy.

     -b   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 opera-
     tions 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



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     specifies a list of files and/or directories  on  the  local
     host  which  are to be used as the master copy for distribu-
     tion.  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 format) or the 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
     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 exam-
     ples 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 _c_s_h(1).  They can be escaped with  a  backslash.
     The  `~'  character  is also expanded in the same way as _c_s_h
     but is expanded separately  on  the  local  and  destination
     hosts.   When  the  -w  option is used with a file name that
     begins with `~', everything except  the  home  directory  is
     appended  to  the destination name.  File names which do not
     begin with `/' or `~' use the destination user's home direc-
     tory as the root directory for the rest of the file name.

     The command list consists of zero or more	commands  of  the
     following format.

	  `install'  <options>	  opt_dest_name `;'
	  `notify'   <name list>  `;'
	  `except'   <name list>  `;'
	  `except_pat'		  <pattern list>`;'
	  `special'  <name list>  string `;'


     The _i_n_s_t_a_l_l command 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.  _O_p_t__d_e_s_t__n_a_m_e is an optional parameter to rename
     files.  If no _i_n_s_t_a_l_l command appears in the command list or
     the  destination name is not specified, the source file name



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     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.  How-
     ever, 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 _n_o_t_i_f_y command is used to mail the list of files updated
     (and  any errors 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 _e_x_c_e_p_t command is used to update all of the files in the
     source  list except 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 _e_x_c_e_p_t__p_a_t command is like  the  _e_x_c_e_p_t  command  except
     that  _p_a_t_t_e_r_n  _l_i_s_t  is  a  list of regular expressions (see
     _e_d(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 _s_p_e_c_i_a_l command is used to specify _s_h(1)  commands  that
     are to be executed on the remote host after the file in _n_a_m_e
     _l_i_s_t is updated or installed.  If the _n_a_m_e _l_i_s_t  is  omitted
     then  the	shell  commands  will  be executed 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  mul-
     tiple  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 )



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	  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/sbin/sendmail "/usr/sbin/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

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

DIAGNOSTICS
     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.

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

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

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



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     files is also needed.






















































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