STORAGE.CONF(5)STORAGE.CONF(5)NAMEstorage.conf - configuration file for storage manager
DESCRIPTION
If ``storageapi'' is set to ``true'' in inn.conf(5), the
storage API will be used to store articles. The storage
API is a unified interface between INN and a variety of
different storage method, allowing the news administrator
to choose between different storage method with different
tradeoffs (or even use several at the same time for dif-
ferent newsgroups or articles of different sizes). The
rest of INN need not care what type of storage method was
used for a given article; the storage manager will figure
this out automatically when that article is retrieved via
the storage API.
If the storage API is used, the file <pathetc in
inn.conf>/storage.conf is required. This file contains
the rules to be used in assigning articles to different
storage methods.
The file consists of a series of storage method entries.
Blank lines and lines beginning with a number sign (``#'')
are ignored. The maximum number of character in each line
is 255. The order of entries in this file is important.
Each entry specifies a storage method and a set of rules.
Articles that match all of the rules of a storage method
entry will be stored using that storage method. If an
article matches multiple storage method entries, the first
one will be used. Each entry is formatted as follows:
method <methodname> {
class: <storage_class>
newsgroups: <wildmat>
size: <minsize>[,<maxsize>]
expires: <mintime>[,<maxtime>]
options: <options>
}
If spaces or tabs are included in a value, that value must
be quoted with ``"''. If either ``#'' or ``"'' are meant
to be included verbatim in a value, they should be escaped
with ``\''.
<methodname> is the name of a storage method to use for
articles that match the rules of this entry. The cur-
rently available storage methods are ``timehash'',
``cnfs'', and ``trash''. See the STORAGE METHODS section
below for more details.
The meanings of the keys in each entry are as follows:
class An identifier for this storage method entry.
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<storage_class> should be a number and should be
unique across all of the entries in this file.
It's used mainly by expire.ctl(5) for specifying
expiration times by storage class.
newsgroups
What newsgroups are stored using this storage
method. <wildmat> is a wildmat(3) pattern that is
matched against the newsgroups an article is posted
to. If ``storeonxref'' in inn.conf is ``true'',
this pattern will be matched against the newsgroup
names in the ``Xref'' header; otherwise, it will be
matched against newsgroup names in the ``News-
groups'' header. Poison wildmat expressions
(expressions starting with ``@'') are allowed and
can be used to exclude certain group patterns.
``!'' cannot be used, however. The <wildmat> pat-
tern is matched in order. There is no default
newsgroups pattern; if an entry should match all
newsgroups, use an explicit ``newsgroups: *''.
size A range of article sizes that should be stored
using this storage method. If <maxsize> is ``0''
or not given, the upper size of articles is limited
only by ``maxartsize'' in inn.conf(5). The
``size'' field is optional and may be omitted
entirely if you want articles of any size (that
otherwise fulfill the requirements of this storage
method entry) to be stored in this storage method.
expires
A range of article expiration times that should be
stored using this storage method. Be careful; this
is less useful than it may appear at first. This
is based only on the ``Expires'' header of the
article, not on any local expiration policies or
anything in expire.ctl(5)! If <mintime> is non-
zero, then this entry will not match any article
without an ``Expires'' header. This key is there-
fore only really useful for assigning articles with
requested longer expire times to a separate storage
method. <mintime> and <maxtime> are boundaries on
the amount of time into the future the ``Expires''
header of the article requests that it remain
around, and are formatted 0d0h0m0s (days, hours,
minutes, and seconds into the future). If <max-
time> is ``0s'' or is not specified, there is no
upper bound on expire times falling into this entry
(note that this key has no effect on when the arti-
cle will actually be expired, only on whether or
not the article will be stored using this storage
method). This field is also optional and may be
omitted entirely if all articles with or without an
``Expires'' header (that otherwise fulfill the
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requirements of this storage method entry) should
be stored according to it.
options
This key is for passing special options to storage
methods that require them (currently only
``cnfs''). See the STORAGE METHODS section below
for a description of its use.
If an article matches all of the constraints of an entry,
it is stored via that storage method and is associated
with that <storage_class>. This file is scanned in order
and the first matching entry is used to store the article.
If an article doesn't match any entry, either by being
posted to a newsgroup that doesn't match any of the <wild-
mat> patterns or by being outside the size and expires
ranges of all entries whose newsgroups pattern it does
match, the article is not stored and is rejected by
innd(8). When this happens, the error message
cant store article: no matching entry in storage.conf
is logged to syslog. If you want to silently drop arti-
cles matching certain newsgroup patterns or size or
expires ranges, assign them to the ``trash'' storage
method rather than having them not match any storage
method entry.
STORAGE METHODS
cnfs The ``cnfs'' storage method stores articles in
large cyclic buffers (CNFS stands for Cyclic News
File System). It's by far the fastest of all stor-
age methods (except for ``trash''), since it elimi-
nates the overhead of dealing with a file system
and creating new files. Articles are stored in
CNFS buffers in arrival order, and when the buffer
fills, it wraps around to the beginning and stores
new articles over top of the oldest articles in the
buffer. The expire time of articles stored in CNFS
buffers is therefore entirely determined by how
long it takes the buffer to wrap around, which
depends on how much data is being stored in it.
(This method is therefore said to have self-expire
functionality.) CNFS has its own configuration
file, cycbuff.conf(5). Storage method entries for
the ``cnfs'' storage method must have an
``options'' field specifying the metacycbuff into
which articles matching that entry should be
stored. See cycbuff.conf(5) for details on metacy-
cbuffs.
timehash
This method is very similar to ``timecaf'' except
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that each article is stored in a separate file.
The name of the file for a given article will be
<patharticles in inn.conf>/time-nn/bb/cc/yyyy-aadd,
where ``nn'' is the hexadecimal value of <stor-
age_class>, ``yyyy'' is a hexadecimal sequence num-
ber, and ``bb'', ``cc'', and ``aadd'' are compo-
nents of the arrival time in hexadecimal (the
arrival time is converted to hex and interpreted as
0xaabbccdd). This method does not have self-expire
functionality.
trash This method silently discards all articles stored
in it. Its only real uses are for testing and for
silently discarding articles matching a particular
storage method entry (for whatever reason). Arti-
cles stored in this method take up no disk space
and can never be retrieved, so this method has
self-expire functionality of a sort.
EXAMPLE
The following sample storage.conf file would store all
articles posted to alt.binaries.* in the ``BINARIES'' CNFS
metacycbuff, all articles over roughly 50KB in any other
hierarchy in the ``LARGE'' CNFS metacycbuff, all other
articles in alt.* in one timehash class, and all other
articles in any newsgroups in a second timehash class.
method cnfs {
class: 1
newsgroups: alt.binaries.*
options: BINARIES
}
method cnfs {
class: 2
newsgroups: *
size: 50000
options: LARGE
}
method timehash {
class: 3
newsgroups: alt.*
}
method timehash {
class: 4
newsgroups: *
}
Notice that the last storage method entry will catch
everything. This is a good habit to get into; make sure
that you have at least one catch-all entry just in case
something you didn't expect falls through the cracks.
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Notice also that the special rule for the internal.* hier-
archy is first, so it will catch even articles crossposted
to alt.binaries.* or over 50KB in size.
HISTORY
Written by Katsuhiro Kondou <kondou@nec.co.jp> for Inter-
NetNews. This is revision 1.1.2.2, dated 1999/12/15.
SEE ALSOcycbuff.conf(5), expire.ctl(5), inn.conf(5), innd(8),
newsfeeds(5), wildmat(3).
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