rdist(1)						      General Commands Manual							  rdist(1)

NAME

       rdist - Maintains identical copies of files on multiple hosts

SYNOPSIS

       rdist [-bDhinqRvwy] [-f distfile | -] [-d variable=value] [-m host] [file...]

       rdist [-bhinqRvwy] -csource... [login@]host[:dest]

       The rdist command maintains identical copies of files on multiple hosts.

OPTIONS

       Performs a binary comparison; updates files if they differ.  Forces rdist to interpret the remaining arguments as the sources of small dis-
       tfiles in the following format:

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

	      The rest of the command line is treated as if it came from a distfile.  If you want to specify an IPv6 address for  host,  you  must
	      prefix the address with the [ (backslash, left bracket) characters and terminate the address with the ] (backslash, right bracket)
	      characters.  Defines variable to have value.  This option defines or overrides variable definitions in the distfile.  The value  can
	      be  the  empty  string,  one  name, or a list of names surrounded by parentheses and separated by tabs or spaces, or both.  Turns on
	      debugging output.  Specifies another name for distfile; specify - for standard input.  Copies the  file  that  the  link	points	to
	      rather  than  the link itself.  Ignores unresolved links.  The rdist command maintains the link structure of files being transferred
	      and warns users if it cannot find all the links.	Limits which machines are to be updated.  You can use multiple host  arguments	to
	      limit  updates to a subset of the hosts listed in distfile.  You can also specify an IPv6 address or addresses for host.	Prints the
	      commands without executing them.	This option is useful for debugging distfile.  Operates in quiet  mode.   This	option	suppresses
	      printing	of  modified  file on standard output.	Removes 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 identical copies  of  directo-
	      ries.  Verifies that the files are up to date on all the hosts. Any files that are out of date will be displayed, but rdist does not
	      change any files or send any mail.  Appends the whole filename to the destination directory name.  Normally,  rdist  uses  only  the
	      last  component  of  a  name  for renaming files, preserving the directory structure of the copied files.  Prevents recent copies of
	      files from being replaced by files that are not as recent.  Files are normally updated when their time stamp and size  (see  stat())
	      differ. The -y option  prevents rdist from updating files younger than the master file.

DESCRIPTION

       The  rdist  command preserves the owner, group, mode, and modification time of files if possible. It can also update programs that are exe-
       cuting. The rdist command reads commands from distfile in your $HOME directory and directs the updating of files or directories,  or  both.
       If distfile is a - (dash), standard input is used.

       If no -f option is specified, the program looks first for distfile, then Distfile to use as the input. If no filenames are specified on the
       command line, rdist updates all of the files and directories listed in distfile. Otherwise, the argument is read as the name of a  file	to
       be  updated or a command to execute. If the name of the file specified by the file argument is the same as the name of a command, the rdist
       command treats the filename as a command.

       The file specified by distfile 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> '::' <timestamp_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 were changed since some given date.

       The source_list specifies a list of files or directories, or both, on the local host that is to be used as the master  copy  for  distribu-
       tion.  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 that is being updated (second format) or the file is newer than timestamp_file  (third  for-
       mat).

       Labels are optional. They are used to identify a command for partial updates.

       Newlines, tabs, and spaces are only used as separators and are otherwise ignored. Comments begin with a # (number sign) and end with a new-
       line.

       Variables to be expanded begin with a $ (dollar sign) followed by one character or a name enclosed in { } (braces) (see EXAMPLES).

       Each line of the source and destination lists contains zero or more names, separated by spaces. The shell metacharacters [, ], {, }, *, and
       ?   are recognized and expanded (on the local host only) as with csh.  They can be escaped with a  (backslash). The ~ (tilde) character is
       also expanded as with csh, but is expanded separately on the local and destination hosts. When the -w option is used with a  filename  that
       begins  with ~, everything except the home directory is appended to the destination name. Filenames that do not begin with a / (slash) or a
       ~ (tilde) use the destination user's home directory as the root directory for the rest of the filename.

       If you want to specify an IPv6 address or addresses for destination_list, you must enclose each address with the [ ] (bracket) characters.

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

       install <option ...> <destination_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 or directories, or both. Each source file is copied to each host in  the  destination
       list.  Directories are recursively copied in the same way. The destination_name is an optional argument to rename files. If no install com-
       mand appears in the command list or the destination name is not specified, the source filename is used.

       Directories in the pathname are created if they do not exist on the remote host. To help prevent disasters, a nonempty directory on a  tar-
       get  host  will	never be replaced with a regular file or a symbolic link. However, under the -R option, a nonempty directory is removed if
       the corresponding filename is completely absent on the master host.

       Options for install 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 username used on the destination host is the same as the local host unless the destination name is of
       the format user@host.

       The notify command is used to mail the list of files updated (and any errors that may have occurred) to the listed names. If no @ (at sign)
       appears in the name, the destination host is appended to the name (for example, name1@host, name2@host, ...).

       The  except  command is used to update all of the files in the source list 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 grep for details). If one
       of  the	patterns matches some string within a filename, that file is ignored.  Note that since  (backslash) 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  charac-
       ters.  To include a $ (dollar sign), it must be escaped with  (backslash).

       The  special  command  is  used to specify sh commands that are to be executed on the remote host after the file in name_list is updated or
       installed. If the name_list is omitted, the shell commands are executed for every file updated or installed.  The FILE  shell  variable	is
       set  to the current filename before executing the commands in string. The string starts and ends with a " (double quote) and can cross mul-
       tiple lines in distfile.  Separate multiple commands to the shell with a ; (semicolon). Commands are executed in your home directory on the
       host being updated.  The special command can be used to rebuild private databases and so forth after a program is updated.

       If  you	run  the rdist command as a normal user and any of the target hosts does not allow normal users to run rdist, updates to that host
       will fail with the following error message:

       rdist:  connection failed:  version numbers don't match

EXAMPLES

       The following is a small example of a distfile:

       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/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

       Contains a list of commands to be read by rdist.  Contains update lists temporarily.

DIAGNOSTICS

       A complaint about mismatch of rdist version numbers may really stem from some problem with starting your shell; for example, you are in too
       many groups.

SEE ALSO

       Commands:  csh(1), grep(1), ksh(1), nrdist(1), sh(1)

																	  rdist(1)