From: Daira Hopwood Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2015 13:24:10 +0000 (+0100) Subject: Documentation changes for Magic Folder. X-Git-Url: https://git.rkrishnan.org/%5B/frontends/%22news.html/status?a=commitdiff_plain;h=8a713fa6babe5941bdcf10e0581341b6ae0277d3;p=tahoe-lafs%2Ftahoe-lafs.git Documentation changes for Magic Folder. Signed-off-by: Daira Hopwood --- diff --git a/docs/frontends/drop-upload.rst b/docs/frontends/drop-upload.rst deleted file mode 100644 index b6fcd92c..00000000 --- a/docs/frontends/drop-upload.rst +++ /dev/null @@ -1,168 +0,0 @@ -.. -*- coding: utf-8-with-signature -*- - -=============================== -Tahoe-LAFS Drop-Upload Frontend -=============================== - -1. `Introduction`_ -2. `Configuration`_ -3. `Known Issues and Limitations`_ - - -Introduction -============ - -The drop-upload frontend allows an upload to a Tahoe-LAFS grid to be triggered -automatically whenever a file is created or changed in a specific local -directory. It currently works on Linux and Windows. - -The implementation was written as a prototype at the First International -Tahoe-LAFS Summit in June 2011, and is not currently in as mature a state as -the other frontends (web, CLI, SFTP and FTP). This means that you probably -should not rely on all changes to files in the local directory to result in -successful uploads. There might be (and have been) incompatible changes to -how the feature is configured. - -We are very interested in feedback on how well this feature works for you, and -suggestions to improve its usability, functionality, and reliability. - - -Configuration -============= - -The drop-upload frontend runs as part of a gateway node. To set it up, you -need to choose the local directory to monitor for file changes, and a mutable -directory on the grid to which files will be uploaded. - -These settings are configured in the ``[drop_upload]`` section of the -gateway's ``tahoe.cfg`` file. - -``[drop_upload]`` - -``enabled = (boolean, optional)`` - - If this is ``True``, drop-upload will be enabled. The default value is - ``False``. - -``local.directory = (UTF-8 path)`` - - This specifies the local directory to be monitored for new or changed - files. If the path contains non-ASCII characters, it should be encoded - in UTF-8 regardless of the system's filesystem encoding. Relative paths - will be interpreted starting from the node's base directory. - -In addition, the file ``private/drop_upload_dircap`` must contain a -writecap pointing to an existing mutable directory to be used as the target -of uploads. It will start with ``URI:DIR2:``, and cannot include an alias -or path. - -After setting the above fields and starting or restarting the gateway, -you can confirm that the feature is working by copying a file into the -local directory. Then, use the WUI or CLI to check that it has appeared -in the upload directory with the same filename. A large file may take some -time to appear, since it is only linked into the directory after the upload -has completed. - -The 'Operational Statistics' page linked from the Welcome page shows -counts of the number of files uploaded, the number of change events currently -queued, and the number of failed uploads. The 'Recent Uploads and Downloads' -page and the node log_ may be helpful to determine the cause of any failures. - -.. _log: ../logging.rst - - -Known Issues and Limitations -============================ - -This frontend only works on Linux and Windows. There is a ticket to add -support for Mac OS X and BSD-based systems (`#1432`_). - -Subdirectories of the local directory are not monitored. If a subdirectory -is created, it will be ignored. (`#1433`_) - -If files are created or changed in the local directory just after the gateway -has started, it might not have connected to a sufficient number of servers -when the upload is attempted, causing the upload to fail. (`#1449`_) - -Files that were created or changed in the local directory while the gateway -was not running, will not be uploaded. (`#1458`_) - -The only way to determine whether uploads have failed is to look at the -'Operational Statistics' page linked from the Welcome page. This only shows -a count of failures, not the names of files. Uploads are never retried. - -The drop-upload frontend performs its uploads sequentially (i.e. it waits -until each upload is finished before starting the next), even when there -would be enough memory and bandwidth to efficiently perform them in parallel. -A drop-upload can occur in parallel with an upload by a different frontend, -though. (`#1459`_) - -On Linux, if there are a large number of near-simultaneous file creation or -change events (greater than the number specified in the file -``/proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_queued_events``), it is possible that some events -could be missed. This is fairly unlikely under normal circumstances, because -the default value of ``max_queued_events`` in most Linux distributions is -16384, and events are removed from this queue immediately without waiting for -the corresponding upload to complete. (`#1430`_) - -The Windows implementation might also occasionally miss file creation or -change events, due to limitations of the underlying Windows API -(ReadDirectoryChangesW). We do not know how likely or unlikely this is. -(`#1431`_) - -Some filesystems may not support the necessary change notifications. -So, it is recommended for the local directory to be on a directly attached -disk-based filesystem, not a network filesystem or one provided by a virtual -machine. - -Attempts to read the mutable directory at about the same time as an uploaded -file is being linked into it, might fail, even if they are done through the -same gateway. (`#1105`_) - -When a local file is changed and closed several times in quick succession, -it may be uploaded more times than necessary to keep the remote copy -up-to-date. (`#1440`_) - -Files deleted from the local directory will not be unlinked from the upload -directory. (`#1710`_) - -The ``private/drop_upload_dircap`` file cannot use an alias or path to -specify the upload directory. (`#1711`_) - -Files are always uploaded as immutable. If there is an existing mutable file -of the same name in the upload directory, it will be unlinked and replaced -with an immutable file. (`#1712`_) - -If a file in the upload directory is changed (actually relinked to a new -file), then the old file is still present on the grid, and any other caps to -it will remain valid. See `docs/garbage-collection.rst`_ for how to reclaim -the space used by files that are no longer needed. - -Unicode filenames are supported on both Linux and Windows, but on Linux, the -local name of a file must be encoded correctly in order for it to be uploaded. -The expected encoding is that printed by -``python -c "import sys; print sys.getfilesystemencoding()"``. - -On Windows, local directories with non-ASCII names are not currently working. -(`#2219`_) - -On Windows, when a node has drop-upload enabled, it is unresponsive to Ctrl-C -(it can only be killed using Task Manager or similar). (`#2218`_) - -.. _`#1105`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1105 -.. _`#1430`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1430 -.. _`#1431`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1431 -.. _`#1432`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1432 -.. _`#1433`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1433 -.. _`#1440`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1440 -.. _`#1449`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1449 -.. _`#1458`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1458 -.. _`#1459`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1459 -.. _`#1710`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1710 -.. _`#1711`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1711 -.. _`#1712`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1712 -.. _`#2218`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/2218 -.. _`#2219`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/2219 - -.. _docs/garbage-collection.rst: ../garbage-collection.rst - diff --git a/docs/frontends/magic-folder.rst b/docs/frontends/magic-folder.rst new file mode 100644 index 00000000..7835c990 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/frontends/magic-folder.rst @@ -0,0 +1,169 @@ +.. -*- coding: utf-8-with-signature -*- + +================================ +Tahoe-LAFS Magic Folder Frontend +================================ + +1. `Introduction`_ +2. `Configuration`_ +3. `Known Issues and Limitations`_ + + +Introduction +============ + +The Magic Folder frontend allows an upload to a Tahoe-LAFS grid to be triggered +automatically whenever a file is created or changed in a specific local +directory. It currently works on Linux and Windows. + +The implementation was written as a prototype at the First International +Tahoe-LAFS Summit in June 2011, and is not currently in as mature a state as +the other frontends (web, CLI, SFTP and FTP). This means that you probably +should not rely on all changes to files in the local directory to result in +successful uploads. There might be (and have been) incompatible changes to +how the feature is configured. + +We are very interested in feedback on how well this feature works for you, and +suggestions to improve its usability, functionality, and reliability. + + +Configuration +============= + +The Magic Folder frontend runs as part of a gateway node. To set it up, you +need to choose the local directory to monitor for file changes, and a mutable +directory on the grid to which files will be uploaded. + +These settings are configured in the ``[magic_folder]`` section of the +gateway's ``tahoe.cfg`` file. + +``[magic_folder]`` + +``enabled = (boolean, optional)`` + + If this is ``True``, Magic Folder will be enabled. The default value is + ``False``. + +``local.directory = (UTF-8 path)`` + + This specifies the local directory to be monitored for new or changed + files. If the path contains non-ASCII characters, it should be encoded + in UTF-8 regardless of the system's filesystem encoding. Relative paths + will be interpreted starting from the node's base directory. + +In addition: + * the file ``private/magic_folder_dircap`` must contain a writecap pointing + to an existing mutable directory to be used as the target of uploads. + It will start with ``URI:DIR2:``, and cannot include an alias or path. + * the file ``private/collective_dircap`` must contain a readcap + +After setting the above fields and starting or restarting the gateway, +you can confirm that the feature is working by copying a file into the +local directory. Then, use the WUI or CLI to check that it has appeared +in the upload directory with the same filename. A large file may take some +time to appear, since it is only linked into the directory after the upload +has completed. + +The 'Operational Statistics' page linked from the Welcome page shows +counts of the number of files uploaded, the number of change events currently +queued, and the number of failed uploads. The 'Recent Uploads and Downloads' +page and the node log_ may be helpful to determine the cause of any failures. + +.. _log: ../logging.rst + + +Known Issues and Limitations +============================ + +This frontend only works on Linux and Windows. There is a ticket to add +support for Mac OS X and BSD-based systems (`#1432`_). + +Subdirectories of the local directory are not monitored. If a subdirectory +is created, it will be ignored. (`#1433`_) + +If files are created or changed in the local directory just after the gateway +has started, it might not have connected to a sufficient number of servers +when the upload is attempted, causing the upload to fail. (`#1449`_) + +Files that were created or changed in the local directory while the gateway +was not running, will not be uploaded. (`#1458`_) + +The only way to determine whether uploads have failed is to look at the +'Operational Statistics' page linked from the Welcome page. This only shows +a count of failures, not the names of files. Uploads are never retried. + +The Magic Folder frontend performs its uploads sequentially (i.e. it waits +until each upload is finished before starting the next), even when there +would be enough memory and bandwidth to efficiently perform them in parallel. +A Magic Folder upload can occur in parallel with an upload by a different +frontend, though. (`#1459`_) + +On Linux, if there are a large number of near-simultaneous file creation or +change events (greater than the number specified in the file +``/proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_queued_events``), it is possible that some events +could be missed. This is fairly unlikely under normal circumstances, because +the default value of ``max_queued_events`` in most Linux distributions is +16384, and events are removed from this queue immediately without waiting for +the corresponding upload to complete. (`#1430`_) + +The Windows implementation might also occasionally miss file creation or +change events, due to limitations of the underlying Windows API +(ReadDirectoryChangesW). We do not know how likely or unlikely this is. +(`#1431`_) + +Some filesystems may not support the necessary change notifications. +So, it is recommended for the local directory to be on a directly attached +disk-based filesystem, not a network filesystem or one provided by a virtual +machine. + +Attempts to read the mutable directory at about the same time as an uploaded +file is being linked into it, might fail, even if they are done through the +same gateway. (`#1105`_) + +When a local file is changed and closed several times in quick succession, +it may be uploaded more times than necessary to keep the remote copy +up-to-date. (`#1440`_) + +Files deleted from the local directory will not be unlinked from the upload +directory. (`#1710`_) + +The ``private/magic_folder_dircap`` and ``private/collective_dircap`` files +cannot use an alias or path to specify the upload directory. (`#1711`_) + +Files are always uploaded as immutable. If there is an existing mutable file +of the same name in the upload directory, it will be unlinked and replaced +with an immutable file. (`#1712`_) + +If a file in the upload directory is changed (actually relinked to a new +file), then the old file is still present on the grid, and any other caps to +it will remain valid. See `docs/garbage-collection.rst`_ for how to reclaim +the space used by files that are no longer needed. + +Unicode filenames are supported on both Linux and Windows, but on Linux, the +local name of a file must be encoded correctly in order for it to be uploaded. +The expected encoding is that printed by +``python -c "import sys; print sys.getfilesystemencoding()"``. + +On Windows, local directories with non-ASCII names are not currently working. +(`#2219`_) + +On Windows, when a node has Magic Folder enabled, it is unresponsive to Ctrl-C +(it can only be killed using Task Manager or similar). (`#2218`_) + +.. _`#1105`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1105 +.. _`#1430`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1430 +.. _`#1431`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1431 +.. _`#1432`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1432 +.. _`#1433`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1433 +.. _`#1440`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1440 +.. _`#1449`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1449 +.. _`#1458`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1458 +.. _`#1459`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1459 +.. _`#1710`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1710 +.. _`#1711`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1711 +.. _`#1712`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1712 +.. _`#2218`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/2218 +.. _`#2219`: https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/2219 + +.. _docs/garbage-collection.rst: ../garbage-collection.rst +