[chap:hostmanage]
The curses(3X) based program, host_manage, allows the Archie administrator to examine and/or change the contents of the Host Information files. These activities include the addition and deletion of Data Hosts, as well as providing information about specific catalogs that are updated from the Data Host sites. Invoked as:
it will display the information about the given , or the first entry in the Host Information File (alphabetically sorted) if no is given. The screen display is illustrated below.
Primary hostname: blizzard.cc.mcgill.ca
Preferred hostname: www.mcgill.ca
Databases: webindex
Operating System: Unknown Prospero Host: No
Primary IP address: 132.206.27.11 Timezone: -5:00
Database: webindex
Source: archie.bunyip.com Generated by: insert
Retrieve time: 19:02:34 31 Mar 1996 EST Number of records: 136
Parse time: 17:06:00 25 Apr 1996 EST
Update time: 05:47:23 26 Apr 1996 EST Fail count: 0
Msg:
Port: 80 Path:
Current status: Active
Force Update: No
Action: UpdateThe commands for editing the information are based on the standard emacs key bindings. These will be configurable in a future release of the system.
The configuration file associated with the host_manage program is /etc/hm_db.cf. It describes how the various catalog-specific information is to be displayed on the screen. Currently, the default file handles anonftp and webidnex catalog entries. This file need not change unless you add new catalogs.
Many of the fields displayed by the program are informational only and may not be modified directly by the Archie administrator. Others may be modified, but have a restricted range of values (such as the Operating System value). In all cases, the information given by the Archie administrator is verified against the existing information file, as well as the Domain Name System. Any errors that are encountered will be indicated.
Only the major functions of the program are described in detail below. For full details on how to configure and use host_manage, please see the manual page entry.
The easiest way to add an individual Data Host to the Host Information Files is to use the host_manage program. Adding a site to the database is a straightforward operation.
Use the various DNS tools, such as host, nslookup, or nstest to determine the primary name before proceeding. In general, we recommend that you check all names before starting.
Using host_manage, do the following:
Hit the key, to bring up the Host Database Modification Menu.
select item “Add a site to the host database”.
The message Add site will appear at the bottom of the screen and a blank template will be displayed.
Fill in the various fields:
Primary hostname must contain the primary (“canonical”) name of the host.
Preferred hostname can be the alternate name of the host, typically an alias of the primary name. Leave this blank if none is desired.
Operating System. This field is used by the parser. Currently only three values are possible. Hitting the spacebar cycles through these. If the site is not a VMS site, select Unix BSD.
Prospero Host. Leave this as “No”. This is reserved for future releases.
Timezone. An optional field specifying the offset, from GMT, of the host being entered.
Database. The name of the catalog that you are entering for this host. This would normally be anonftp or webindex. Note that you can only add one database at a time.
Access commands. Leave blank for the moment.
Current Status. This field holds three values:
Disabled. This host is not polled.
Active. This host is actively being polled.
Inactive. The host is not in the database at the moment.
Not Supported. The host is currently unsupported for one reason or another (e.g. because of an incompatible operating system).
You will probably want to enter the host as “Active”. Again just hit the space bar to cycle through the possible values.
When you are satisfied with your entries, type . The system will ask you if you want to update the site, and then if you want to update the database. Answer “y” to both questions.
The site has now been added and will be indexed during the next Update Cycle.
Before a site can be removed from the Host Database of the Archie system, all catalogs tracked on that host must be scheduled for deletion.
Using host_manage, do the following:
Find the site you want to delete by filling in the Primary Database field then, typing the key.
Hit the key to bring up the Host Database Modification Menu, then select the number corresponding to the entry “Delete an Archie database from current site”.
You will be asked if you want to delete the current database. Answer “y”.
The system should then report the message “Database scheduled for deletion”, where is the current catalog selected and displayed on the line “Database:”. The “Current status” line for that catalog will now display “Marked for deletion by Archie administrator”.
Repeat the procedure for all the catalogs for which this site is being polled. You can see this list by consulting the “Databases” field.
Once you’ve marked all the catalogs for deletion, you will have to wait until the next Update Cycle runs, when all catalog entries for that site will be purged.
As each catalog is removed from the system, the “Current status” line will display “Deleted”.
Only once this is done can you remove the site, from the Host Databases, using the “Delete a site from the host database”. The site will then be physically removed from the Host Databases.
Often a site will offer multiple services, such as anonymous FTP and webindex. It is possible to add multiple catalogs for the same site with the following steps:
Go to that site by typing in its name in the primary_name field.
Hit and select .
Fill in the information and update with .
If, for whatever reason, you would like a particular site to be inspected before it normally would be scheduled, use the Force Update function of the Host Modification Menu in host_manage.
This will cause the particular Data Host/catalog pair to be retrieved and processed during the next Update Cycle, if it conforms to the domain and catalog restrictions of that Retrieval Phase. That is, this feature only overrides the time of the update, not the type.
Now that we know how to look at the information stored in the Host Databases we can start to look at configuring individual catalogs.