Repository mirroring

Abstract

Distributed administration of network repositories demands a low-overhead procedure for cooperating repositories around the world to ensure they hold identical contents. Netlib has adopted some refinements on the widespread scheme of anonymous ftp and s-R. Checksum files and two small C programs give an easily maintained system that copes with communication breakdowns and subtle changes in repository contents. The packaging of these C programs inside a shell pipeline provides an explicit command stream that can readily be checked before execution. Protecting files, keeping logs, and so forth become effortless and reliable. The same tools, applied on a smaller scale, allow more people to participate in the editorial work of maintaining a high-quality repository, by eliminating the need for directly manipulating files at remote sites.