Author: poeml Date: Fri Jul 31 21:53:29 2009 New Revision: 7747 URL: http://svn.mirrorbrain.org/viewvc/mirrorbrain?view=revision&revision=7747 Log: docs: lots of work, describing how to create, edit, scan mirrors. Modified: trunk/docs/mirrors.rst Modified: trunk/docs/mirrors.rst ============================================================================== --- trunk/docs/mirrors.rst Fri Jul 31 21:15:33 2009 (r7746) +++ trunk/docs/mirrors.rst Fri Jul 31 21:53:29 2009 (r7747) _at_@ -1,36 +1,423 @@ -Prerequirements for mirrors -=========================== +Maintaining the mirror database +=============================== -* must run rsync, FTP or HTTP for scanning. rsync is best. +Concepts -- the mb command +-------------------------- -Creating and maintaining the mirror database -============================================ +:program:`mb` is a commandline tool to do maintain the mirror database, create +mirrors, edit them, work with files and other tasks. + +It has several subcommands, and it is typically used in one the following forms:: + + mb <command> + mb <command> <identifier> + +A typical example would be:: + + mb edit opensuse.uib.no + +Note the first argument (after ``edit``), which is the *mirror identifier*. It +serves as a name that uniquely identifies a single mirror. It can be useful if +these identifiers are memorizable by a human. + +For all :program:`mb` commands where a mirror (or several) needs to be +specified, you can abbreviate the identifier by typing part of it. For +instance, instead of:: + + mb show opensuse.uib.no + +you could just type:: + + mb show uib + +as long as ``uib`` is uniquely identifying a mirrors among the others. + +The :program:`mb` command is extensible. See the developers documentation for +instructions. (To be written yet.) +.. TODO: add reference + + +Built-in help +^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + +:program:`mb` has reference documentation built-in. If you just call +:program:`mb` or :program:`mb -h` or :program:`mb help`, it will print out the +list of known subcommands:: + + % mb + Usage: + mb COMMAND [ARGS...] + mb help [COMMAND] + + Options: + --version show program's version number and exit + -h, --help show this help message and exit + -d, --debug print info useful for debugging + -b BRAIN_INSTANCE, --brain-instance=BRAIN_INSTANCE + the mirrorbrain instance to use. Corresponds to a + section in /etc/mirrorbrain.conf which is named the + same. Can also specified via environment variable MB. + + Commands: + commentadd add a comment about a mirror + delete delete a mirror from the database + dirs show directories that are in the database + disable disable a mirror + edit edit a new mirror entry in $EDITOR + enable enable a mirror + export export the mirror list as text file + file operations on files: ls/rm/add + help (?) give detailed help on a specific sub-command + instances list all configured mirrorbrain instances + iplookup lookup stuff about an IP address + list list mirrors + markers show or edit marker files + mirrorlist generate a mirror list + new insert a new mirror into the database + probefile list mirrors on which a given file is present by probing... + rename rename a mirror's identifier + scan scan mirrors + score show or change the score of a mirror + show show a mirror entry + test test if a mirror is working + update update mirrors network data in the database + vacuum clean up unreferenced files from the mirror database + + +By typing :program:`mb <command> -h` or :program:`mb help <command>`, help for +the individual command will be printed:: + + % mb help list + list: list mirrors + + Usage: + mb list [IDENTIFIER] + Options: + -h, --help show this help message and exit + -r XY show only mirrors whose region matches XY (possible + values: sa,na,oc,af,as,eu) + -c XY show only mirrors whose country matches XY + -a, --show-disabled + do not hide disabled mirrors + --disabled show only disabled mirrors + --prio also display priorities + --asn also display the AS + --prefix also display the network prefix + --region also display the region + --country also display the country + --other-countries also display other countries that a mirror is + configured to handle Creating a new mirror --------------------- -Run the :program:`mb new` command, like this:: +As necessary ingredient, there need to be mirror servers. They need to serve +content via HTTP or FTP. To be scanned, they need to run rsync, FTP or HTTP. +rsync is most efficient for this. FTP is second choice. At last, HTTP may be +used, however it'll work only if the HTTP server provides a reasonable +"standard" directory index. - mb new opensuse.uib.no -H 'http://opensuse.uib.no/' -F 'ftp://opensuse.uib.no/pub/Linux/Distributions/opensuse/' -R rsync://opensuse.uib.no/opensuse-full/ -This creates a new entry in the mirror database for this mirror. +To make a new mirror known to the database, you use the :program:`mb` command, +specifically the :program:`mb new` subcommand. An example would be the following:: + mb new opensuse.uib.no -H http://opensuse.uib.no/ \ + -F ftp://opensuse.uib.no/pub/Linux/Distributions/opensuse/ \ + -R rsync://opensuse.uib.no/opensuse-full/ -Listing mirrors ---------------- -mb list +This creates a new entry in the mirror database with the data provided on the +commandline. + +Because providing a lot of data on the commandline can be tiresome, and +incremental changes are often needed to get the data right, there is a command to +edit the data later: :program:`mb edit`. + + +Deleting a mirror +----------------- + +A mirror is deleted with the :program:`mb delete` command. This command is an +exception of the rule of abbreviating mirror identifiers; here, the full and +exact identifier of the mirror to be deleted must be specified. This is to +prevent typos. + +A deleted mirror is permanently pruned from the database upon completion of the +command. Displaying details about a mirror --------------------------------- -mb show +:program:`mb show` will print out the metadata of a mirror. Example:: + + % mb show uib + identifier : opensuse.uib.no + operatorName : UiB - University of Bergen, IT services + operatorUrl : http://it.uib.no/ + baseurl : http://opensuse.uib.no/ + baseurlFtp : ftp://opensuse.uib.no/pub/Linux/Distributions/opensuse/opensuse/ + baseurlRsync : rsync://opensuse.uib.no/opensuse-full/ + region : eu + country : no + asn : 224 + prefix : 129.177.0.0/16 + regionOnly : False + countryOnly : False + asOnly : False + prefixOnly : False + otherCountries : + fileMaxsize : 0 + publicNotes : + score : 100 + enabled : True + statusBaseurl : True + admin : X, Y, ... + adminEmail : mail_at_example.com + ---------- comments ---------- + Added - Wed May 6 14:36:10 2009 + + *** scanned and enabled at Wed May 6 14:47:56 2009. + + Gave stage access. + poeml, Mon May 11 16:11:56 CEST 2009 + + Adjusted FTP URL after they switched to stage. (appended "opensuse"). + rsync down at the moment. + poeml, Mon May 11 17:18:06 CEST 2009 + ---------- comments ---------- + + + +A mirror record explained +------------------------- + + +============================== ======================================== + Field Explanation +============================== ======================================== +.. describe:: identifier This is the unique identifier of the mirror server. In the table shown by mb edit, this is the only field that cannot be edited. To rename an identifier, you can use the :program:`mb rename` command. +.. describe:: operatorName The realname of the mirror operator. This could be a person, an the organization running the mirror, or a sponsor. If the mirror list is exposed in some way, this field could be used to give the operator some visibility. Otherwise, it is of no significance than for your information. +.. describe:: operatorUrl A contact or informative URL. +.. describe:: baseurl The root HTTP URL of the mirrored file tree on the mirror. Used by the redirector to redirect requests via HTTP. If a mirror doesn't offer HTTP, but only FTP, an FTP URL can be entered here as well. +.. describe:: baseurlFtp The root FTP URL of the mirrored file tree on the mirror. Used by the scanner to retrieve the file list - if rsync isn't available.. +.. describe:: baseurlRsync The root rsync URL used by the scanner to find the files via rsync. It's possible to use URLs with credentials, like ``rsync://<username>:<password>_at_<hostname>/module``. rsync is the preferred method of scanning, so it is beneficial if rsync access exists. If it doesn't, the scanner falls back to FTP or HTTP. +.. describe:: region The region code specifying the continent the mirror server is located in. See also ``regionOnly``. If you create a new mirror, :program:`mb new` tries to fill in this field and the following field for you; it's possible to edit it later, though. +.. describe:: country The country code for the server. See also ``countryOnly``. +.. describe:: asn This is optional and is a number of the autonomous system the mirror is located in. It may serve as a more specific "network location" than the country, and is filled in automatically when a mirror is created. If you don't use the autonomous system database together with MirrorBrain, the value will be zero and will be ignored by MirrorBrain. It is not strictly needed. It can also be edited manually, or updated via :program:`mb update --asn <identifier>` from looked up data. *Only meaningful if MirrorBrain is used together with mod_asn*. +.. describe:: prefix Same as ``asn``, this value is optional, and if present, it is used for a possibly finer-grained mirror selection. It is filled in automatically, and can be edited like asn. Use :program:`mb update --prefix <identifier>` to fill in data from a routing table lookup. +.. describe:: regionOnly If true, only clients from the same region (continent) as the mirror are redirected to this mirror. +.. describe:: countryOnly If true, only clients from the same country as the mirror are redirected to this mirror. +.. describe:: asOnly If true, the mirror will only get requests from clients that are located within the same network autonomous system (using the value in ``asn``). +.. describe:: prefixOnly If true, the mirror will only get requests from clients that are located within the same network prefix using the value inn ``prefix``). +.. describe:: otherCountries List of other countries that should be sent to this mirror server. This overrides the country and region choice, and can be used to fine-tune mirror selection. The list of country IDs specified here is given in the form of comma-separated two-letter codes. Apache does a simple string match on these, and a value that would make sense would be ``ca,mx,ar,bo,br,cl,co,ec,fk,gf,gy,pe,py,sr,uy,ve, jp`` for instance. +.. describe:: fileMaxsize Maximum filesize, the server can deliver without problems (some servers have problems with files > 2GB for example). MirrorBrain automatically checks HTTP servers for correct delivery, so there is no need to define this value for that reason. It can be used, however, to cause only "small" requests to go to certain mirrors, which are known to have too few bandwidth to deliver large files. If you set a threshold here (in bytes), the mirror will only get files that are smaller. +.. describe:: publicNotes Notes which should be added to a html page listing all mirrors. The field may be used to store information separately from private notes taken in the comments field. The data isn't exposed though, unless you take care of it. +.. describe:: score The score (priority) of the server. Higher scored servers are used more often than lower scored servers. Default is 100. A server with score=150 will be used more often than a server with score=50. +.. describe:: enabled Whether a mirror gets requests. Use this to enable redirects to a mirror, or switch them off. Can also be set with :program:`mb enable/disable <identifier>`. +.. describe:: statusBaseurl This field is edited by the mirror probe each time it runs (which normally is done frequently via cron). If it's true, the mirror probe found that the mirror is alive the last time it looked. +.. describe:: admin Name of an admin or contact person for the mirror. +.. describe:: adminEmail Contact Email address. +.. describe:: comments Free text field for additional comments. Use it in any way that suits you. It lends itself to take notes about communication with mirrors, for instance. +============================== ======================================== + + +Editing a mirror +---------------- + +A mirror (in the mirror database) can be edited with the :program:`mb edit` command. + +The command will bring up an editor with the mirror's metadata. The +:envvar:`EDITOR` environmental variable is respected, and the editor defaults +to :program:`vim`. + +For fields where a Boolean is expected, you can type the value (while editing) +in the form of 0/1 instead of true/false (shorter to type). + +When you save the text and close the editor, you'll be asked whether to save +the data to the database. + + +Listing mirrors +--------------- + +:program:`mb list` lists mirrors, with less or more details. In its simplest +form, the command will simply print all identifiers of enabled mirrors. +:program:`mb list -a` includes also the disabled mirrors. + +More useful is to add filters, or display more data. + +Examples of filtering by country code (here: Bulgaria, ``bg``):: + + % mb list -c bg + mirrors.netbg.com + bgadmin.com + +Example of filtering by region (here: Oceania, ``oc``), and also displaying the +value of the ``otherCountries`` field for each mirror:: + + % mb list -r oc --other-countries + ftp.iinet.net.au nz + mirror.aarnet.edu.au nz + mirror.pacific.net.au nz + mirror.internode.on.net nz + mirror.3fl.net.au nz + netspace.net.au nz + optusnet.com.au nz + +Example of listing all mirrors in Portugal and showing their ``score`` (their +priority):: + + % mb list -c pt --prio + lisa.gov.pt 100 + ftp.isr.ist.utl.pt 50 + uminho.pt 50 + ftp.nux.ipb.pt 3 + +Showing priority, network prefix and autonomous system of Chinese mirrors:: + + % mb list -c cn --prio --as --prefix + mirror.lupaworld.com 100 4134 122.224.0.0/12 + lizardsource.cn 30 9389 211.166.8.0/21 + lcuc.org.cn 100 17816 218.249.128.0/17 + + + +When *not* filtering the output, the ``--country`` and ``--region`` commandline +options are useful, because they add that data into the output. An example +would be listing all mirrors with the command :program:`mb list --prio --as +--prefix --country --region`. + + +Scanning mirrors +---------------- + +Mirrors need to be scanned for their file lists. This is done with the +:program:`mb scan` command. The program will try rsync, if available, FTP if +not, or HTTP if it's the only option. + +An individual mirror can be scanned like this:: + + % mb scan roxen + Fri Jul 31 21:31:50 2009 roxen.integrity.hu: starting + Fri Jul 31 21:31:51 2009 roxen.integrity.hu: total files before scan: 17248 + Fri Jul 31 21:31:59 2009 roxen.integrity.hu: scanned 17248 files (1935/s) in 8s + Fri Jul 31 21:31:59 2009 roxen.integrity.hu: files to be purged: 0 + Fri Jul 31 21:32:00 2009 roxen.integrity.hu: total files after scan: 17248 + Fri Jul 31 21:32:00 2009 roxen.integrity.hu: purged old files in 1s. + Fri Jul 31 21:32:00 2009 roxen.integrity.hu: done. + Completed in 9 seconds + +After creation of a new mirror, it is disabled first. A typical workflow would +be to scan it, after creating it, and then enabling redirection. :program:`mb +scan` command can be used with the ``-e``/``--enable`` option to make this +happen. If the scan went successfully, the mirror will be enabled afterwards:: + + % mb scan -e tuwien + Fri Jul 31 21:50:45 2009 gd.tuwien.ac.at: starting + Fri Jul 31 21:50:45 2009 gd.tuwien.ac.at: total files before scan: 712 + Fri Jul 31 21:50:46 2009 gd.tuwien.ac.at: scanned 712 files (511/s) in 1s + Fri Jul 31 21:50:46 2009 gd.tuwien.ac.at: files to be purged: 0 + Fri Jul 31 21:50:46 2009 gd.tuwien.ac.at: total files after scan: 712 + Fri Jul 31 21:50:46 2009 gd.tuwien.ac.at: purged old files in 0s. + gd.tuwien.ac.at: now enabled. + Fri Jul 31 21:50:46 2009 gd.tuwien.ac.at: done. + Completed in 1 seconds + + + +To scan all enabled mirrors in parallel, you would use ``-j``/``--jobs=N`` +option to specify the number of scanners to start in parallel, and the +``-a``/``--all`` option:: + + % mb scan -j 16 -a + +This is likely what you would configure to be done periodically by cron. + +To scan only a subdirectory on the mirrors, the ``-d`` option can be used. This +can be useful when it is known that content has been added or removed in +particular places of large trees, in the following example shown with a single +mirror only:: + + % mb scan -d repositories/Apache ftp5 + Checking for existance of 'repositories/Apache' directory + . + Scheduling scan on: + ftp5.gwdg.de + Completed in 0 seconds + Fri Jul 31 21:41:37 2009 ftp5.gwdg.de: starting + Fri Jul 31 21:41:38 2009 ftp5.gwdg.de: files in 'repositories/Apache' before scan: 780 + Fri Jul 31 21:41:40 2009 ftp5.gwdg.de: scanned 780 files (636/s) in 1s + Fri Jul 31 21:41:40 2009 ftp5.gwdg.de: files to be purged: 0 + Fri Jul 31 21:41:42 2009 ftp5.gwdg.de: total files after scan: 760122 + Fri Jul 31 21:41:42 2009 ftp5.gwdg.de: purged old files in 2s. + Fri Jul 31 21:41:42 2009 ftp5.gwdg.de: done. + Completed in 4 seconds + + +For debugging purposes, the ``-v`` option is useful. It can be repeated several +times to enable more output. + + + +Listing files +------------- + +Files known to the database can be listed with the :program:`mb file ls` command. +When specifying a path name, the leading slash is optional and not relevant. +(Internally, the filenames are stored without.) + +Example:: + + % mb file ls /distribution/11.1/repo/oss/suse/ppc/tcsh-6.15.00-93.3.ppc.rpm + as th 100 ok ok mirror.in.th + eu at 100 disabled dead tugraz.at + eu at 100 ok ok gd.tuwien.ac.at + eu de 100 ok ok ftp5.gwdg.de + eu hu 100 ok ok roxen.integrity.hu + + +Globbing can be used. Then, to get more than a list or mirrors, but also the +filenames, the ``-u``/``--url`` option is useful:: + + % mb file ls \*.iso -u + as th 100 ok ok mirror.in.th http://mirror.in.th/opensuse/ppc/factory/iso/openSUSE-NET-ppc-Build0137-Media.iso + as th 100 ok ok mirror.in.th http://mirror.in.th/opensuse/ppc/factory/iso/openSUSE-Factory-NET-ppc-Build0051-Media.iso + as th 100 ok ok mirror.in.th http://mirror.in.th/opensuse/ppc/factory/iso/openSUSE-Factory-NET-ppc-Build0059-Media.iso + as th 100 ok ok mirror.in.th http://mirror.in.th/opensuse/ppc/factory/iso/openSUSE-NET-ppc-Build0116-Media.iso + eu de 100 ok ok ftp5.gwdg.de http://ftp5.gwdg.de/pub/opensuse/ppc/factory/iso/openSUSE-NET-ppc-Build0179-Media.iso + eu hu 100 ok ok roxen.integrity.hu http://roxen.integrity.hu/pub/opensuse/ppc/factory/iso/openSUSE-NET-ppc-Build0179-Media.iso + + +In addition to just listing what's known to the database, the command can also +do probing. The number is the HTTP return code (200 for OK):: + + % mb file ls /distribution/11.1/repo/oss/suse/ppc/tcsh-6.15.00-93.3.ppc.rpm --probe + ..... + as th 100 ok ok mirror.in.th 200 + eu at 100 disabled dead tugraz.at + eu at 100 ok ok gd.tuwien.ac.at 200 + eu de 100 ok ok ftp5.gwdg.de 200 + eu hu 100 ok ok roxen.integrity.hu 200 + + +When used with probing, there is the additional option to actually download the +content and display a checksum of what was returned:: + + % mb file ls --probe /distribution/11.1/repo/oss/suse/ppc/tcsh-6.15.00-93.3.ppc.rpm --md5 + ..... + as th 100 ok ok mirror.in.th 200 50dc50b20a97783a51ff402359456e3a + eu at 100 disabled dead tugraz.at + eu at 100 ok ok gd.tuwien.ac.at 200 50dc50b20a97783a51ff402359456e3a + eu de 100 ok ok ftp5.gwdg.de 200 50dc50b20a97783a51ff402359456e3a + eu hu 100 ok ok roxen.integrity.hu 200 50dc50b20a97783a51ff402359456e3a + +To be usable with lots of mirrors, the probing is done in parallel. -Changing a mirror ---------------------- -mb edit +The :program:`mb file` command can also be used as :program:`mb file add` and +:program:`mb file rm` to manipulate the database. See the help output of the +command for details. _______________________________________________ mirrorbrain-commits mailing list Archive: http://mirrorbrain.org/archive/mirrorbrain-commits/ Note: To remove yourself from this list, send a mail with the content unsubscribe to the address mirrorbrain-commits-request_at_mirrorbrain.orgReceived on Fri Jul 31 2009 - 19:53:31 GMT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Mon Feb 20 2012 - 23:47:04 GMT