4. The sysf.conf File

The sysf.conf file lists all the sysf entry files. Each entry fits usually on a single line, but this is not a requirement as a semi colon is used to mark the end of every definition. Line starting with a # are considered as comments. The syntax is as follow:

    SYSFILE_NAME = GROUP SYSTEM_FILE CONFIG_FILE [FLAGS];

• SYSFILE_NAME : is the name used for the sysf entry. This will usually be the filename of the configuration file but does not have to be. If there are two system files having the same name (but of course located in different directories) one will have to use two different SYSFILE_NAME.
• DIR_GROUP : this is the name of the directory where the configuration file is stored. Each sysf entry belongs to one group and each group corresponds to a subdirectory of the config directory in which the corresponding config files are stored. The configuration files are thus of the type /DIR_GROUP/CONFIG_FILE.SUFFIX.
• SYSTEM_FILE : the full path name of the system file. If the file does not exist as such (like the crontab file for example), this is the path name used for the temporary created system file. Each occurrence of the string $H in the pathname is substituted by the hostname.
• CONFIG_FILE : the name of the config file. This is usually identical to the SYSFILE_NAME. The actual config files will be of the type /DIR_GROUP/CONFIG_FILE.HOSTNAME, /DIR_GROUP/CONFIG_FILE.GROUP, /DIR_GROUP/CONFIG_FILE.DEFAULT or /DIR_GROUP/CONFIG_FILE.SHARED.
• FLAGS : the list of flags for the system file. Uppercase flags are used to describe operations performed by the auxiliary config command while lower case flags describe various properties of the sysf entry.
  • C : create the system file. This is typically for a file like the standard Unix crontab file which does not exist as such. The crontab auxiliary command has to be executed before the sysf command is executed (all command but install, first_install and OS_install ) to create a dummy system file, or after the sysf command (install, first_install and OS_install) to update the crontab entries.
  • I : executes two different commands before and after the system file is updated (install, first_install and OS_install only).
  • U : executes a script file when the sysf -uninstall command is executed.
  • s : the sysf entry is a shared file. It is on a shared partition common to all hosts and it is thus ignored by the check_host and diff_host commands.
  • h : the system file is specific to a given host. This only affects two sysf commands. The check-host command ignores these entries and the OS_install executes the command new instead of install.

When one of the flags C, I, U is specified in the sysf.conf file, sysf executes the command

    BIN/SYSFILE_NAME ACTION COM SYSFILE_NAME CONFIG_FILE ECHO