swcopy(8)

NAME
swcopy — Copy POSIX and RPM packages.

SYNOPSIS

swcopy [-p] [-s source_file] [-f file] [-t targetfile] \
[-x option=value] [-X options_file] [-W option] \
[software_selections] [@target [target1...]]

DESCRIPTION

swcopy copies a POSIX distribution from a source archive or directory to a target archive directory. Neither swcopy nor any component of swbis is required on the target host, however, the target host must look like a Unix system at the shell and command-line utility level. Remote network connections are made by ssh. Ssh is the default but rsh can be selected by a command line option.

Before and during data transfer to the target, the distribution is audited. Package auditing includes parsing the INDEX and INFO meta-data files. The package pathnames are checked for consistency with a valid layout. swcopy can be made to operate on arbitrary data or archives not in POSIX format by using the --no-audit option. By default and with no external influences (i.e. swdefaults file) swcopy will read a archive on stdin and write an audited archive on stdout. The uncompressed audited output file will be identical to the uncompressed input file unless an error occurs. Compressed archives that are audited will be re-compressed in the same format, however, the resulting file may not be identical to the input file (i.e. date, filename, and other stored data in the compressed format will be different).

swcopy operates on serial archives (e.g. compressed tar archives) or on file system directories. It will attempt to preserve the form (archive or directory) and compression state of the source object. An exception is "." as a target (See Implementation Extensions below).

OPTIONS

-f FILE

    Reads software_selections from FILE. (Not implemented).

-p

    Preview the operation. Information is written to stdout. The target is not written and no remote connections are established.

-s SOURCE

    Specify the source file SOURCE, "-" is standard input. The syntax is the same as for a target. SOURCE may be a directory or archive file.

-t targetfile

    Specify a file containing a list of targets (one per line).

-x option=value

    Specify the extended option overriding the defaults file value.

-X FILE

    Specify the extended options filename, FILE, overriding the default filenames. This option may be given more then once. If the resulting specified value is an empty string then reading of any options file is disabled.

-v

    Given one time it is identical to -x verbose=2. This option can be given multiple times with increasing effect. (Implementation extension option).
    -v is level 2, -vv is level 3,... etc.
        level 0: silent on stdout and stderr.
        level 1: fatal and warning messages to stderr.
    -v level 2: level 1 plus a progress bar.
    -vv level 3: level 2 plus script stderr.
    -vvv level 4: level 3 plus events.
    -vvvv level 5: level 4 plus events.
    -vvvvv level 6: level 5 plus set shell -vx option.
    -vvvvvv level 7 and higher: level 6 plus debugging messages.
     The progress meter is suppressed if swcopy is using stdout for data.

-b SIZE

    Set block size, same as --block-size=N (Implementation extension option).

--version, -V

    Show version (Implementation extension)

--help

    Show help (Implementation extension)

-W option[,option,...]

    Specify the implementation extension option.
    Syntax: -W option[=option_argument[,option...]
    Options may be separated by a comma. The implementation extension options may also be given individually using the '--long-option[=option_arg]' syntax.

-W no-audit

    Defaults File Option: swbis_no_audit
    Do not audit the transferred file. This allows copying of arbitrary data.

-W audit

    Do audit the transferred file. Useful for overriding swbisdefaults file.

-W block-size=SIZE

    SIZE is number of octets.

-W login

    Establishes a interactive shell on the (remote) target host. Intended for debugging/verifying ssh operation.

-W gzip

    Compress output using gzip.

-W bzip

    Compress output using bzip2.

-W extract

    Install the source using the archive reading utility at the target.

-W pty

    Do use pseudo-tty. The system Ptys are only used for the --login feature. A warning is emitted to stderr which says that the usage may be insecure.

-W no-pty

    Do not use pseudo-tty. The system Ptys are only used by default for the --login feature, otherwise they are not used and this option would have no effect. If ptys are used a warning is emitted to stderr which says that the usage may be insecure.

-W uncompress

    Write output archive that is uncompressed.

-W remote-shell=SHELL

    Defaults File Option: swbis_remote_shell_client
    Supported shells are "ssh" and "rsh", ssh is the default.

-W quiet-progress

    Defaults File Option: swbis_quiet_progress_bar
    Disable progress bar, which is active for verbose levels 2 and higher (i.e. -v).

-W show-progress

    Enables progress bar.(i.e. -v).

-W show-options-files
    Show the complete list of options files and if they are found.

-W show-options
    Show the options after reading the files and parsing the command line options.

-W pax-command={tar|pax|star|gtar}
    Set the portable archive command for all operations. The default is "pax".

-W pax-read-command={tar|pax|star|gtar}
    Set the read command for local and remote hosts.

-W remote-pax-read-command={tar|pax|star|gtar}
    Defaults File Option: swbis_remote_pax_read_command
    Set the read command for remote hosts. This is the command that runs on the target (e.g. pax -r, tar xpf -). The default is "pax".

-W local-pax-read-command={tar|pax|star|gtar}
    Defaults File Option: swbis_local_pax_read_command
    Set the read command for local hosts. This is the command that runs on the target (e.g. pax -r, tar xpf -). The default is "pax".

-W pax-write-command={tar|pax|star|gtar|swbistar}
    Set the write command for local and remote hosts. This is the command that runs on the target (e.g. pax -w, tar cf -).

-W remote-pax-write-command={tar|pax|star|gtar|swbistar}
    Defaults File Option: swbis_remote_pax_write_command
    Set the write command for remote hosts.

-W local-pax-write-command={tar|pax|star|gtar|swbistar}
    Defaults File Option: swbis_local_pax_write_command
    Set the portable archive write command for local host operations. This is the command that runs on the source (e.g. pax -w, tar cf -). The default is "pax".

-W remote-pax-write-command={tar|pax|star|gtar|swbistar}
    Defaults File Option: swbis_remote_pax_write_command
    Set the portable archive write command for remote host operations. This is the command that runs on the source (e.g. pax -w, tar cf -). The default is "pax".

-W no-defaults
    Do not read any defaults files.

-W no-remote-kill
    Defaults File Option: swbis_no_remote_kill
    Disables the use of a second remote connection to tear down the first in the event of SIGINT or SIGTERM or SIGPIPE. Only has effect if the number of ssh hops is greater than 1. A single host remote connection (ssh hop = 1) never uses a second remote connection.

-W no-getconf
    Defaults File Option: swbis_no_getconf
    Makes the remote command be '/bin/sh -s' instead of the default

-W shell-command=NAME
    Defaults File Option: swbis_shell_command
    NAME may be one of "bash", "sh" or "posix" and specifies the remote command run by the remote shell. "posix" is 'PATH=`getconf PATH` sh -s', "bash" is "/bin/bash -s", "sh" is "/bin/sh -s", and "ksh" is "ksh -s". The default is "posix".

-W use-getconf
    Opposite of --no-getconf.

-W allow-rpm
    Defaults File Option: swbis_allow_rpm
    Allows detection and translation of RPMs. (--audit must also be set.)

-W unrpm
    Turns on options --allow-rpm and --audit.

-W source-script-name=NAME
    Write the script that is written into the remote shell's stdin to NAME. This is useful for debugging.

-W target-script-name=NAME
    Write the script that is written into the remote shell's stdin to NAME. This is useful for debugging.

software_selections

    Refer to the software objects (products, filesets) on which to be operated. (Not implemented). The implementation defined behavior for no selections is to operate on the entire distribution.

target

    Refers to the software_collection where the software selections are to be applied. Allows specification of host and pathname where the software collection is located. A target that contains only one part is assumed to be a hostname. To force interpretation as a path, use a absolute path or prefix with ':'.

Source and Target Specification and Logic

     Synopsis:
          Posix:
               host[:path]
               host
               host:
               /path  # Absolute path

          Swbis Extension:
               [user@]host[:path]
               [user@]host_port[:path]
               :path

          Swbis Multi-hop Target Extension:
               # ':' is the target delimiter
	       # '_' delimits a port number in the host field

               [user@]host[@@[user@]host[@@...]][:file]
               [user@]host_port[@@[user@]host[@@...]][:file]

               # Using ':', a trailing colon is used to
               # disambiguate between a host and file.
	       # For Example,
               :file
               host:
               host
               host:file
               host:host:
               host_port:host_port:
               host:host:file
               user@host:user@host:
               user@host:user@host:host:
               user@host:user@host:file

     A more formal description:

     target : HOST_CHARACTER_STRING ':' PATHNAME_CHARACTER_STRING
            | HOST_CHARACTER_STRING ':'
            | HOST_CHARACTER_STRING
            | PATHNAME_CHARACTER_STRING
            | ':' PATHNAME_CHARACTER_STRING   # Impl extension
            ;

       PATHNAME_CHARACTER_STRING must be an absolute path unless
                       a HOST_CHARACTER_STRING is given.  Allowing
                       a relative path is a feature of the swbis
                       implementation.

                NOTE: A '.' as a target is an implementation
                      extension and means extract in current
                      directory.

                NOTE: A '-' indicating stdout/stdin is an
                      implementation extension.

                NOTE: A ':' in the first character indicates a filename.
                      This is an implementation extension.

       HOST_CHARACTER_STRING is an IP or hostname.

    Examples:
       Copy the  distribution /var/tmp/foo.tar.gz at 192.168.1.10
              swcopy -s /var/tmp/foo.tar.gz @192.168.1.10:/root

Implementation Extension Syntax (multi ssh-hop) :
    Syntax:
    %start   wtarget    # the Implementation Extension Target
                        # Note: a trailing ':' forces interpretation
                        # as a host, not a file.
    wtarget   : wtarget DELIM sshtarget
              | sshtarget
              | sshtarget DELIM
              ;
    sshtarget : user '@' target # Note: only the last target
              | target          # may have a PATHNAME, and only a host
              ;                 * may have a user
    target   : HOST_CHARACTER_STRING
             | PATHNAME_CHARACTER_STRING
             ;
    user     : PORTABLE_CHARACTER_STRING  # The user name

    DELIM    : ':'   # The multi-hop delimiter.
             ;

TARGET COPYING RULES

Currently, file permissions and ownerships are not copied. 'swcopy' is not intended to be used in the way of cp or scp, although it can be if forced. Non-existing directories in a target are created. A source directory cannot be renamed (although a regular file can be), that is if a directory is being copied, it will never be a different name on the target. A single source file is specified for one or more targets. The syntax does not support multiple source files. A portable character string in the target spec is assumed to be a hostname unless it begins with a slash '/' or a colon ':'.

  Rules

If a target directory on the host does not exist it will be created using mkdir -p using the file creation mask of the originating swcopy process. A trailing slash in the target spec signifies that the last path component should be a directory. A source spec that is a directory will be created on the target as a directory with the same name in the target directory. If the source spec is stdin then the existence of directories in the target spec and a trailing slash in the target spec path determines whether the created file will be a regular file or directory, that is, stdin will be copied as a file unless the last target path component is a directory or ends in a slash '/'. If the source spec is a regular file, the source basename will be used as the basename in the target if the last target path component is a directory or ends in a slash '/', otherwise, the target basename is the last path component of the target spec. The implementation option --extract biases these rules to install using the archive reading command (e.g. pax -r).

  Examples

        Install a tarball in the current directory:
          Note: Must use stdin as source and "." as the target.

                swcopy --no-audit -s - @. < foo.tar.gz

         Copy thru a firewall:

                swcopy -s /var/tmp/foo.tar.gz \
                     @root@host1@@root@host2:/var/tmp

         Copy Stdin to a remote host:

           Unpack the archive on stdin in the directory
           /a/b/c if 'c' is a directory, otherwise copy
           the archive file to a file named 'c' in
           directory /a/b creating it if possible and
           overwriting if required.
               swcopy -s - @host1:/a/b/c

         Copy Stdin to a remote host:

           Unpack the serial archive on stdin in the
           directory /a/b/c if 'c' is a directory,
           otherwise make the directory 'c' but fail if
           directory 'c' cannot be created.
               swcopy -s - @host1:/a/b/c/
                         # Note trailing slash.

         Copy a regular file:

           Copy file yy to directory /aa/bb/cc/ on the
           remote host, creating it if required and possible.
           If cc is a regular file then fail.
               swcopy -s /xx/yy @host1:/aa/bb/cc/

         Copy a regular file thru intermediate host 'fw':

           Copy file yy to home directory of user1 on host1
           thru a an intermediate host fw,
               swcopy -s /xx/yy @fw@@user1@host1:.

         Copy a directory from one host to another

           Copy directory yy into directory cc if cc exists,
           otherwise create cc and copy yy into it. If cc
           is and copy as yy.
               swcopy -s /xx/yy @host1:/aa/bb/cc

IMPLEMENTATION EXTENSIONS

  Software Specification Targets

A dash '-' is supported and means stdout or stdin. Operations with stdout and stdin on a remote host is not supported.

A decimal '.' is supported and means the current directory. This is supported for remote and non-remote targets. If the source is standard input, the distribution will be unpacked (e.g. pax -r) in the directory '.'. If the source is a regular file then a regular file in '.' will be created with the same name.

Thus,

           # swcopy -s `pwd`/myarchive.tgz @.  # Do NOT do this even
                                               # though in most cases
                                               # swcopy is a coward.

 will destroy the source file myarchive.tgz, whereas

           # swcopy -s - @. <`pwd`/myarchive.tgz

 will install it with the configured archive reading utility.

  RPM Translation

RPM (RedHat Package Manager) format packages are copied by first translating to an equivalent ISO/IEEE file layout in POSIX tar format and then copying as a POSIX package. The RPM detection and translation occurs if the ''--allow-rpm'' option is on (either by the command line args or defaults file) and the ''--audit'' option is on. If the ''--allow-rpm'' option is not set an error occurs. If the ''--audit'' is not set, the RPM is copied as arbitrary data and translation does not occur.

Since translation is done on the local (management) host, RPM is not reqired on the remote (target) host.

The translation is (internally) equivalent to :

   cat your-poor-poor-0.0.bin.rpm |
   /usr/lib/swbis/lxpsf --psf-form2 -H ustar |
   swpackage -Wsource=- -s@PSF

EXTENDED OPTIONS

Extended options can be specified on the command line using the -x option or from the defaults file, swdefaults. Shown below is an actual portion of a defaults file which show default values.

  Posix

These options are set in the /usr/lib/swbis/swdefaults or the ~/.swdefaults

   autoselect_dependencies     = false      # Not Implemented
   compress_files              = false      # Not Implemented
   compression_type            = none       # Not Implemented
   distribution_source_directory   = -
   distribution_target_directory   = -
   enforce_dependencies        = false       # Not Implemented
   enforce_dsa                 = false       # Not Implemented
   logfile                     = /var/lib/sw/swcopy.log #Not Implemented
   loglevel                    = 1          # Not Implemented
   recopy                      = false      # Not Implemented
   select_local         = false      # Not Implemented
   uncompress_files             = false     # Not Implemented
   verbose                      = 1

  Swbis Implementation

These options are set in the /usr/lib/swbis/swbisdefaults or the ~/.swbis/swbisdefaults file.

  swcopy.swbis_no_getconf = false # true or false
  swcopy.swbis_shell_command = posix # {sh|bash|posix|ksh}
  swcopy.swbis_no_remote_kill = false # true or false
  swcopy.swbis_no_audit = false # true or false
  swcopy.swbis_quiet_progress_bar = false # true or false
  swcopy.swbis_local_pax_write_command=pax #{pax|tar|star|gtar|swbistar}
  swcopy.swbis_remote_pax_write_command=pax #{pax|tar|star|gtar|swbistar}
  swcopy.swbis_local_pax_read_command=pax #{pax|tar|gtar|star}
  swcopy.swbis_remote_pax_read_command=pax #{pax|tar|gtar|star}
  swcopy.swbis_allow_rpm = false  # true or false
  swcopy.swbis_remote_shell_client=ssh

RETURN VALUE

0 if all targets succeeded, 1 if all targets failed, 2 if some targets failed and some succeeded.

NOTES
 Multiple ssh-hops is an implementation extension.

REQUISITE UTILITIES

Swcopy requires a Posix shell accessible by the remote shell command. This is the remote command run by ssh (or rsh) for all operations. This command can be controlled by the --shell-command option or the swbis_shell_command defaults file option. Permitted values are "bash" (/bin/bash -s), "sh" (/bin/sh -s), "ksh" (/bin/ksh -s) or "posix" ('PATH=`getconf PATH` sh -s'). The default is "posix". swcopy requires the POSIX capability of reading commands on stdin according to the specification described in IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Ed.; sh -shell, Section STDIN. This requirement accommodates reading of shell program code and data on STDIN. This capability may not be present in some /bin/sh shells. The "/bin/sh" on FreeBSD-5.1 is broken in this regard, hence ''--shell-command=bash'' should be used for BSD hosts. The public domain Korn shell (pdksh-5.2.14) seems to work OK, that is, it complies by luck or intent with the POSIX capability of reading data and code on stdin.

If the --no-getconf option is set or the swcopy.swbis_no_getconf defaults option is "true" then the remote command is '/bin/sh -s'. Use of the no-getconf option is needed for communication with user accounts on remote machines whose login shell is not a Bourne shell (e.g. csh) such as root on some default BSD installations. Other *nix systems may require use of getconf because their /bin/sh is broken or not Posix enough (e.g. Sun platforms). Still other systems may not have getconf.

Other utilities required to be in $PATH on the remote host are: dd, pax (or tar|star|gtar), mkdir, echo, test, sleep, read (if not builtin).

FILES

/usr/lib/swbis/swdefaults
/usr/lib/swbis/swbisdefaults
$HOME/.swbis/swdefaults
$HOME/.swbis/swbisdefaults

APPLICABLE STANDARDS

ISO/IEC 15068-2:1999, Open Group CAE C701

SEE ALSO

info swbis

sw(5), swbisparse(1), swign(1), swverify(8)

IDENTIFICATION
 swcopy(8): The archive copying utility of the swbis project.
 Author: Jim Lowe Email: jhlowe at acm.org
 Version: 0.950
 Last Updated: 2006-07
 Copying: GNU Free Documentation License

BUGS

Swcopy is subject to breakage if a user's account on an intermediate (or terminal) host in a target spec is not configured to use a Bourne compatible shell. (This breakage may be eliminated by use of the --no-getconf option as explained above.)

A multiple ssh hop source spec (more than 1 remote host involved in the source transfer) upon a SIGINT may result in sshd and ssh processes being left on on the intermediate host(s), this despite, swcopy's action of sending a SIGTERM to the remote script's parent process.

Swcopy does not currently implement Software Selections nor the events of the Selection and Analysis Phases nor dependency copying nor fileset state transitions. The Execution (copying) phase is done on the entire distribution by the utility selected in .../swbisdefaults which is pax(1) by default. Pax is not found on all GNU/Linux systems. Also, the pax version shipped with some (older) GNU/Linux systems mangles the pathname of files whose pathname is exactly 100 octets long. Despite this pax is the the builtin default. GNU tar is widely used and trusted but creates non-standard archives for long pathnames. Perhaps the best compromise is to use star (with -H ustar header option) for archive creation and (GNU) tar for archive reading. If your environment is 100% GNU/Linux using GNU tar is safe (GNU tar 1.13.25 is recommended). Swcopy does not support using the cpio utility since its archive writing interface is unlike pax and tar, although, future support is possible for archive reading.