WHATSNEW

synctool by Walter de Jong <walter@heiho.net> (c) 2003-2012

synctool COMES WITH NO WARRANTY. synctool IS FREE SOFTWARE.
synctool is distributed under terms described in the GNU General Public
License.

See the README file for generic information on synctool.
See the INSTALL file for information on how to deploy synctool.
See the DOCUMENTATION file for information on how to use synctool.

Online documentation in HTML pages is available at:
http://www.heiho.net/synctool/


What's new in synctool version 5.2 ?
====================================
Only minor bugfixes ...


What's new in synctool version 5.1 ?
====================================
This version mostly fixes bugs.
There is a new feature named 'hostid' that you may use when there are
nodes that (for whatever reason) have the same hostname. The hostid is
a file on the node that holds the 'synctool' hostname that must be
unique and uniquely identifies this node in the cluster. See also the
documentation about hostid.


What's new in synctool version 5.0 ?
====================================

There are many new things:
 - HTML documentation has been added to the website.
 - Use 'synctool -e' to erase the '.saved' files that synctool leaves behind.
 - Use dsh-ping to see if your nodes are alive.
 - Use dsh-pkg to do package management.
 - Use 'dsh -o' to pass extra options to ssh.
 - Use 'synctool -T' for terse output mode.
 - Use 'synctool -F' to have synctool display full paths.
 - options -1, --single, --diff, --ref can be given multiple times.
 - .post scripts for directories are now run _in_ that directory rather than
   in the parent directory.
 - 'synctool-config --nodename' displays the current nodename.
 - checksums are performed much faster now if there is no match.
 - There are a bunch of new configuration parameters. See the provided
   synctool.conf.example for a list.
 - synctool.conf parameter 'ignore' supports wildcards.
 - Multiple overlay directories can be defined. This enables you to restructure
   your overlay dir in a way that you think is logical.
 - synctool.conf has a new 'hostname:' qualifier for nodes that are
   multi-homed.

Also included are updated contributions by Onno Zweers:
 - updated synctool-diff command
 - a shell-scripting library for writing synctool tasks

UPGRADING INFO

To upgrade from version 4.7.x to 5.0, run 'make install' on the master node and
then run 'synctool'. If you have synctool installed in the default place
(/opt/synctool/), then the upgrade should now be complete.


The version number was bumped to 5.0 because of major rewrites in the code.
The new code is more readable and therefore easier to maintain.
synctool 5.0 has been tested more than enough, but should you encounter any
issues, feel free to mail the author at walter@heiho.net

Some info on older versions is listed below.


What's new in synctool version 4.7.1 ? 
======================================

Only two tiny things:
 - bugfix for the "ignore" keyword that ignores files or directories
 - dsh and dcp now quietly accept the command-line option -q


What's new in synctool version 4.7 ? 
====================================

IMPORTANT UPGRADING INFO

This version includes a subtle yet major installation change that makes
sysadmin-ing synctool itself a lot easier.
Previously, you had to upgrade the nodes with 'make client_install'.
This step is no longer needed. However, for synctool to install
correctly, do the following (assuming masterdir=/var/lib/synctool/):

    1. run 'make install'
    2. edit /var/lib/synctool/synctool.conf
       change the line with 'synctool_cmd' to:

synctool_cmd /var/lib/synctool/sbin/synctool.py -c /var/lib/synctool/synctool.conf

    3. run 'synctool -qa'

synctool upgrade complete, on the entire cluster!

What did just happen? synctool version 4.7 installs all its commands
under /var/lib/synctool/sbin/. This directory gets synced to the clients
whenever you run synctool on the master node. This means that your
client synctool software is being kept up to date automatically from
the master node.
On the master node itself, the commands under /opt/synctool/sbin/ all
link to /var/lib/synctool/sbin/. This guarantees that the master and the
client run the same version of synctool.
The old client installations of synctool software are no longer needed,
so as a step 4 you may do:

    4. dsh -x masternode rm -rf /opt/synctool/sbin


What else is new?
This version includes two very nice contributions:

   * synctool-diff  by Onno Zweers
     which uses the graphical diff tool 'meld'

   * .bash_completion definition by Tim Dittler
     which quickens typing long synctool options in bash

See the contrib/ directory for these useful contributions.
Many thanks go to Onno and Tim!

See the Changelog for other changes to synctool.



Some info on older changes (version 4.6) is listed here:

- Version 4.6.1 is a bugfix release to 4.6
  It also contains contributed control files needed for making .deb packages
  for the Debian GNU/Linux OS, which can be found under contrib/debian/



What's new in synctool version 4.6 ?
====================================

Aside from a few minor bug fixes, version 4.6 includes two new features
that both have to do with group definitions in synctool's config file:

 1, groups 'all' and 'none' are now built-in groups.
    group 'all' applies to all nodes. Group 'none' is ignored by default.
    It can be used on files in the synctool repository that must not be
    synced right now, but maybe later.

    The fact that 'all' and 'none' are built-in now means that you can
    remove them from synctool's config file -- but read below.

    The built-in groups 'all' and 'none' may be overridden if you define
    them yourself, but really, you shouldn't.

 2. 'compound groups' may be defined. This is convenient if you have many
    nodes that are in the same set of groups. Example:
 
     group wn workernode batch mounthome plasma solar ldapclient

     node n1 master
     node n2 login mounthome
     node n3 wn
     node n4 wn
     node n5 wn
     node n6 wn othergroup
     node n7 moreimportantgroupfirst wn

    Compound groups may be combined, too:

     group bigwn somegroup othergroup wn


    Original idea of compound groups was by Tim Dittler.



Upgrading info
==============

Upgrade synctool as usual. I always upgrade the server first, and then the
clients. After upgrading, you may delete the groups 'all' and 'none' from
the synctool.conf file.   The synctool.conf file is located under
/var/lib/synctool (by default).

NB. If you remove the groups 'all' and 'none' from the config file before
upgrading and then run synctool, you may end up with nodes being unable to
parse the config file. If you get stuck like this, change the config file
back and use 'dcp /var/lib/synctool/synctool.conf' to restore the working
config file on the nodes.
After that, upgrade in the proper way.



EOB