--- name: "dirvish.conf" section: "5" platform: "linux" package: "dirvish" version: "1.2.1-2.1" release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/dirvish.conf" --- # dirvish.conf(5) dirvish configuration file. ## NAME dirvish.conf - dirvish configuration file. ## DESCRIPTION The dirvish.conf file provides configuration information and default values for dirvish. The file format is fairly simple. Each option requires either a single-value or a list of values and unless otherwise indicated must be specified according to its expected type. Single value options are specified by lines of the form **option: value**. Options expecting list must be specified in a multi-line format as shown here where the lines specifying values are indented by any kind of whitespace even if only one value is being specified.\ ``` option: value1 value2 . . . valueN ``` Each value must be provided on its own line. Any leading and trailing whitespace is discarded. Options whose names with an initial capital (ex: Foo) are discarded by dirvish itself but may be used by support utilities. Blank lines are ignored. While this simplistic format may allow for configuration errors it allows arbitrary options to be declared that custom support scripts could use. A **#** introduces a comment to the end of the line. On startup the dirvish utilities will first load a master dirvish.conf file. **/etc/dirvish.conf** will be tried first but if not present **/etc/dirvish/master.conf** will be tried. During installation dirvish may have been configured expect the system-wide configuration files in some location other than /etc/dirvish. Multiple configuration files will be loaded by the .BR --config , .B --vault and .B --branch command-line options as well as the **config:** and **client:** configuration parameters. To prevent looping each configuration file can only be loaded once. ## DIRVISH OPTIONS Like the command line each option may be specified any number of times. Those options that expect lists will accumulate all of their arguments and for single value options each specification will override the ones before. Boolean values need to specified as **1** or **0** or may be specified using **SET** or **UNSET**. Some Boolean values are set by default and must be explicitly unset if unwanted. Each option is marked here with one of (B) for Boolean, (S) single value, (L) list or (0) other. - .BI SET " option option ..." " (O)" - .BI UNSET " option option ..." " (O)" Set or unset one or more boolean options. NOTE: The SET and UNSET directives do not use colons \<:\>. - .BI RESET " option" " (O)" Reset a list option so that it contains no values. This may be used to start specification of the option. NOTE: The RESET directive does not use a colon \<:\>. - .BR "bank:" " (L)" Specify paths to directories containing vaults. A *bank* is a directory containing one or more *vault*s. The system supports multiple *bank*s so that filesystem mount-points can be managed more effectively. When a *vault* is specified the *bank*s will be searched in list order until the *vault* is found. This way *vault*s can be moved between *bank*s or added without having to update a master index. Multiple **bank:** values will accumulate. - .BI branch: " branch\_name" " (S)" Specify a *branch* to use. A *branch* is a sequence of *image*s. This also specifies a default value for **reference:**. Setting this in a config file may cause the command line option to be overridden. Use **branch-default:** instead. - .BI branch-default: " branch\_name" " (S)" Specify a default *branch* to use. - .BI client: " \[username@\]client\_name" " (S)" specify a client to back up. Setting this to the same value as hostname will cause dirvish to do a local copy and stay off the network. This automatically invokes **whole-file**. The first time this parameter is set **/etc/dirvish/*client\_name*** or **/etc/dirvish/*client\_name*.conf** will be loaded. - .BR "checksum:" " (B)" Force the checksum comparison of file contents even when the inode fails to indicate a change has occurred. Default value: **0** - .BI config: " filename" " (S)" Load configuration file. Similar to #include, *filename* or *filename***.conf** will be loaded immediately. If *filename* is a relative path it will be looked for in the vault and then the system-wide configuration directories. - .BR "devices:" " (B)" If this is unset device special files will be excluded from backups. This may need to be unset when doing backups of where the client OS uses device numbers or types unsupported by the server OSs or where the presence of device nodes in the vault present a security issue. - .BR "exclude:" " (L)" Specify a filename patterns to exclude. Patterns are based on shell glob with some enhancements. See **[rsync(1)](/rsync/1.md)** for more details. Multiple **exclude:** values will accumulate. - .BI file-exclude: " filename" " (S)" Load a set of patterns from a file. If *filename* is a relative path it will be looked for in the vault and then the system-wide configuration directories. - .BI expire: " expire\_date" " (S)" Specify a time for the *image* to expire. This does not actually expire anything. What it does do is add an **Expire:** option to the *image* summary file with the absolute time appended so that **dirvish-expire** can automate old *image* removal. Setting this in a config file may cause the command line option to be overridden. Use **expire-rule:** and **expire-default:** instead. See **[Time::ParseDate(3pm)](/Time::ParseDate/3pm.md)** for more details. - .BI expire-default: " expire\_date" " (S)" Specify a default expiration time. This value will only be used if expire is not set and expire-rule doesn't have a match. - .BR "expire-rule:" " (L)" specify rules for expiration. Rules are specified similar to crontab or in **Time::Period**format**.** See **EXPIRE RULES** for more details. Multiple **expire-rule:** values will accumulate. - .BI image: " image\_name" " (S)" Specify a name for the *image*. *image\_name* is passed through **POSIX::strftime** Setting this in a config file may cause the command line option to be overridden. Use **image-default:** instead. See **[strftime(3)](/strftime/3.md)** for more details. - .BI image-default: " image\_name" " (S)" Set the default *image\_name*. This value will only be used if **image:** is not set. - .BI image-perm: " octal\_mode" " (S)" Set the permissions for the *image*. While the *image* is being created the *image* directory permissions will be **0700**. After completion it will be changed to *octal\_mode* or **0755**. See **[chmod(1)](/chmod/1.md) and [umask(2)](/umask/2.md)** for more details. - .BI image-time: " parsedate\_expression" " (S)" Time to use when creating the *image* name. If an absolute time without a date is provided it will be forced into the past. If this isn't set the current time will be used. See **[Time::ParseDate(3pm)](/Time::ParseDate/3pm.md)** for more details. - .BI image-temp: " dirname" " (S)" Temporary directory name to use for new *image*. This allows you to have *image*s created with the same directory name each run so that automatic processes can access them. The next time an image is made on the *branch* this option will cause the directory to be renamed to its official name. - **index: none\|text\|gzip\|bzip2 (S)** Create an index file listing all files in the *image*. The index file will be created using **find -ls** so the list will be in the same format as **ls**-dils with paths converted to reflect the source location. If index is set to bzip2 or gzip or a path to one the index file will be compressed accordingly. This index will be used by **dirvish-locate** to locate versions of files. See **dirvish-locate(8)** for more details. - .BR "init:" " (B)" Create an initial *image*. Turning this on will prevent backups from being incremental. - **log: text\|gzip\|bzip2 (S)** Specify format for the image log file. If **log** is set to bzip2 or gzip or a path to one the log file will be compressed accordingly. - .BI meta-perm: " octal-mode" " (S)" Set the permissions for the *image* meta-data files. If this value is set the permissions of the meta-data files in the *image* will be changed after the *image* is created. Otherwise the active umask will prevail. SECURITY NOTE: The log, index, and error files contain lists of files. It may be possible that filenames themselves may be or contain confidential information so uncontrolled access may constitute a security weakness. See **[chmod(1)](/chmod/1.md) and [umask(2)](/umask/2.md)** for more details. - .BR "numeric-ids:" " (B)" Use numeric uid/gid values instead of looking up user/group names for setting permissions. See **[rsync(1)](/rsync/1.md)** for more details. Default value: **1** - .BI password-file: " filepath" " (S)" Specify file containing password for connection to an **rsync** daemon on backup client. This is not useful for remote shell passwords. See **--password-file** in **[rsync(1)](/rsync/1.md)** for more details. - .BR "permissions:" " (B)" Preserve file permissions. If this is unset permissions will not be checked or preserved. With rsync version 2.5.6 not preserving permissions will break the linking. Only unset this if you are running a later version of rsync. See **[rsync(1)](/rsync/1.md)** for more details. Default value: **1** - .BI pre-server: " shell\_command" " (S)" - .BI pre-client: " shell\_command" " (S)" - .BI post-client: " shell\_command" " (S)" - .BI post-server: " shell\_command" " (S)" Execute *shell\_command* on client or server before or after making backup. The client commands are run on the client system using the remote shell command (see the **rsh**: parameter). The order of execution is **pre-server**, **pre-client**, **rsync**, **post-client**, **post-server**. The *shell\_command* will be passed through **[strftime(3)](/strftime/3.md)** to allow date strings to be expanded. Each pre or post *shell\_command*s will be run with these environment variables **DIRVISH\_SERVER**, **DIRVISH\_CLIENT,** **DIRVISH\_SRC**, **DIRVISH\_DEST** and **DIRVISH\_IMAGE** set. The current directory will be **DIRVISH\_SRC** on the client and **DIRVISH\_DEST** on the server. If there are any exclude patterns defined the **pre-server** shell command will also have the exclude file's path in **DIRVISH\_EXCLUDE** so it may read or modify the exlude list. STDOUT from each *shell\_command* will be written to the *image* log file. The exit status of each script will be checked. Non-zero values will be recognised as failure and logged. Failure of the **pre-server** command will halt all further action. Failure of the **pre-client** command will prevent the rsync from running and the **post-server** command, if any, will be run. Post *shell\_command*s will also have **DIRVISH\_STATUS** set to **success**, **warning**, **error**, or **fatal error**. This is useful for multiple things. The client *shell\_command*s can be used to stop and start services so their files can be backed up safely. You might use **post-server:** to schedule replication or a tape backup of the new *image*. Use your imagination. - .BI reference: " branch\_name\|image\_name" " (S)" Specify an existing *image* or a *branch* from which to create the new *image*. If a *branch\_name* is specified, the last existing *image* from its history file will be used. A *branch* will take precedence over an *image* of the same name. If this isn't specified the *branch* name will be used as a default value. - .BI rsh: " command" " (S)" Remote shell utility. This can be used to specify the location of **ssh** or **rsh** and/or to provide addition options for said utility such as .BI -p " port" " " for **ssh** to use an alternate port number. If not specified **ssh** will be used. This remote shell command will be used not only as the default rsync transport but also for any **pre-client** and **post-client** commands. - .BI rsync: " command" " (S)" Path to rsync executable on the server. - .BI rsync-client: " command" " (S)" Path to rsync executable on the client. - .BR "rsync-option:" " (L)" Specify additional options for the rsync command. Only one option per list item is supported. This allows you to use rsync features that are not directly supported by **dirvish**. Where **dirvish** does support an rsync feature it is probably better to use the the **dirvish** supplied mechanism for setting it. Multiple **rsync-option:** values will accumulate. - .BR "sparse:" " (B)" Try to handle sparse files efficiently so they take up less space in the *vault*. NOTE: Some filesystem types may have problems seeking over null regions. - .BI speed-limit: " Mbps" " (S)" Specify a maximum transfer rate. This allows you to limit the network bandwidth consumed. The value is specified in approximate Mega-bits per second which correlates to network transport specifications. An adaptive algorithm is used so the actual bandwidth usage may exceed *Mbps* occasionally. See **--bwlimit** in **[rsync(1)](/rsync/1.md)** for more details. - .BR "stats:" " (B)" Have rsync report transfer statistics. See **[rsync(1)](/rsync/1.md)** for more details. Default value: **1** - .BR "summary: short\|long" " (S)" Specify summary format. A short summary will only include final used values. A long summary will include all configuration values. With long format you custom options in the configuration files will appear in the summary. The default is short. - .BI tree: " path \[alias\]" " (S)" Specify a directory path on the client to backup. If *path* is prefixed with a colon the transfer will be done from an **rsync** daemon on the client otherwise the transfer will be done through a remote shell process. The optional *alias* specifies the path that should appear in the index so **dirvish-locate** will report paths consistant with common usage. This can help reduce confusion when dealing with users unfamiliar with the physical topology of their network provided files. - .BR "no-run:" " (B)" Don't actually do anything. Process all configuration files, options and tests then produce a summary/configuration file on standard output and exit. I can't think why you would do this in a configuration file but if you want to shoot yourself in the foot, be my guest. - .BI vault: " vault" " (S)" Specify the *vault* to store the *image* in. Although multiple *vault*s may share a filesystem a given *vault* cannot span filesystems. For filesystem purposes the *vault* is the level of atomicity. This will seldom be specified in a configuration file. - .BR "whole-file:" " (B)" Transfer whole files instead of just the parts that have changed. This may be slightly faster for files that have more changed than left the same such as compressed or encrypted files. In most cases this will be slower when transferring over the network but will use less CPU resources. This will be faster if the transfers are not over the network or when the network is faster than the destination disk subsystem. - .BR "xdev:" " (B)" Do not cross mount-points when traversing the tree on the client. - .BR "zxfer:" " (B)" Enable compression on data-transfer. ## SCHEDULING OPTIONS - .BI Dirvish: " path" " (S)" Location of dirvish executable. If not set defaults to **dirvish**. - .BR "Runall:" " (L)" Specify *branch*es to be scheduled for automated backups. Each value is specified in the form\ vault:branch \[image\_time\]\ If image\_time is set here it will be used. This option can only be set in the master configuration file and multiple values will accumulate. ## EXPIRE RULES Expire rules is a list of rules used to determine an expiration time for an *image*. The last rule that matches will apply so list order is significant. This allows rules to be set in client, *vault* and *branch* configuration files to override rules set in the master configuration file without having to use **RESET**. In most cases it is better to use a **expire-default:** value than to define a rule that matches all possible times. Each rule has an pattern expression against which the current time is compared followed by a date specifier in **Time::ParseDate** format. See **[Time::ParseDate(3pm)](/Time::ParseDate/3pm.md)** for more details. A matching rule with an empty/missing date specifier or specifying **never** will result in no expiration. The time pattern expression may be in either **crontab** or in **Time::Period** format. See **[crontab(5)](/crontab/5.md) and [Time::Period(3pm)](/Time::Period/3pm.md)** for more details. The crontab formated patterns are converted to **Time::Period** format so the limitations and extensions for the specification of option values of **Time::Period** apply to the **crontab** format as well. Most notable is that the days of the week are numbered **1**-**7** for **sun**-**sat** so **0** is not a valid wday but **sat**\ is. Here are two equivalent examples of an expire-rule list. ``` expire-default: +5 weeks expire-rule: #MIN HR DOM MON DOW EXPIRE * * * * 1 +3 months * * 1-7 * su +1 year * * 1-7 1,4,7,10 1 never * 10-20 * * * +10 days or: wd { sun } +3 months wd { sun } md { 1-7 } +1 year wd { 1 } md { 1-7 } mo { 1,4,7,10 } never hr { 10-20 } +10 days ``` This describes is an aggressive retention schedule. If the nightly backup is made dated the 1st Sunday of each quarter it is is kept forever, the 1st Sunday of any other month is kept for 1 year, all other Sunday's are kept for 3 months, the remaining nightlies are kept for 5 weeks. In addition, if the backup is made between 10AM and 8PM it will expire after 10 days. This would be appropriate for someone with a huge backup server who is so paranoid he makes two backups per day. The other possibility for the hour spec would be for ad-hoc special backups to have a default that differs from the normal dailies. It should be noted that all expiration rules will do is to cause dirvish to put an **Expire:** option in the summary file. The **dirvish-expire** utility will have to be run to actually delete any expired *image*s. ## FILES - **/etc/dirvish/master.conf** alternate master configuration file. - **/etc/dirvish.conf** master configuration file. - **/etc/dirvish/*client*\[.conf\]** client configuration file. - *bank/vault/***dirvish/default\[.conf\]** default vault configuration file. - *bank/vault/**dirvish**/branch***\[.conf\]** branch configuration file. - *bank/vault/**dirvish**/branch***.hist** branch history file. - *bank/vault/image/***summary** image creation summary. - *bank/vault/image/***log** image creation log. - *bank/vault/image/***tree** actual image of source directory tree. - *bank/vault/image/***rsync\_error** Error output from rsync if errors or warnings were detected. ## SEE ALSO ``` dirvish(8) dirvish-expire(8) dirvish-runall(8) dirvish-locate(8) ssh(1), rsync(1) Time::ParseDate(3pm) strftime(3) ``` ## AUTHOR Dirvish was created by J.W. Schultz of Pegasystems Technologies. ## BUGS Rsync version 2.5.6 has a bug so that unsetting the **perms** option will not disable testing for permissions. Disabling perms will break image linking. Options set in configuration files will override command line options that have been set before the file is read. This behaviour while consistent may confuse users. For this reason the more frequently used command line options have options paired with a *default* option so the order of specification will be more forgiving. It is recommended that where such default options exist in configuration files they should be preferred over the primary option. It is possible to specify almost any command line option as a option. Some of them just don't make sense to use here.