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Synchronizing UNIX files

I have a new article on different ways in which you can synchronize your Unix files.

From the intro:

There are many tools available that allow you to synchronize files across UNIX directories, but doing it effectively, and securely, takes a little bit more effort. This article looks at solutions for synchronizing files across UNIX filesystems and different computer systems securely, and at solutions that allow you to synchronize encrypted versions of your files for the purposes of backup.
File synchronization is the process of adding, changing, or deleting a file in one location, and having the same file added to, changed, or deleted at another location. This article covers three utilties, cp, tar, and rsync, that can aid with synchronization of UNIX files. While cp and tar commands have limited synchronization abilities, rsync provides you with the full range of options; however, all three have their place.

Of particular interest is a script that provides an encrypted wrapper around rsync, which I use to provide a nice secure rsync-able backup.

Read: Synchronizing UNIX files

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Speaking at CommunityOne West

Sorry for the (relatively) short notice, but I will be talking at Sun’s CommunityOne conference in San Francisco on June 1st.

I’ll be talking about, and demonstrating, the DTrace probes we have put into MySQL in a joint presentation with Robert Lor who will be doing the same for Postgres.

CommunityOne West Badge

CommunityOne West Badge

Our presentation is on the Monday afternoon.

Check out the CommunityOne West Conference Site for more details and registration.

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Solaris 10 Boot Failure

OK, so this has now bitten me twice on a new install.

Basically, put Solaris 10u5 on certain machines, and it will work fine until you edit the /etc/vfstab and forget to add a terminating newline to one of your entries.

Upon reboot you will get something like this:

Error: svc:/system/filesystem/root:default failed to mount /boot (see 'svcs -x' for details)
[ system/filesystem/root:default failed fatally (see 'svcs -x' for details) ]
Requesting System Maintenance Mode
Console login service(s) cannot run

At the top of the output from svcs, you’ll see:

svc:/system/filesystem/root:default (root file system mount)
Reason: Start method exited with $SMF_EXIT_ERR_FATAL
see: http://sun.com/msg/SMF-8000-KS
see: /etc/svc/volatile/system-filesystem-root:default.log
Impact: 44 dependent services are not running. (use -v for list.)

The problem is that missing newline, which means the mount table is never parsed correctly.

To fix, enter your root password to get into admin mode. You’ll need to first remount the root fs as read/write:

# mount -orw,remount

And then add that offending missing line end:

# echo >>/etc/vfstab

Be careful with that second line; miss a > symbol and you’ll wipe out your vfstab altogether.

Now reboot, and things should be back to normal.

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Presentations now on MySQL Conf Site Too

So I talked to the wonderful JB from O’Reilly who is responsible for all sorts of parts of the conference, and she’s now enabled my presentations on the MySQL Conference Presentations page.

While you’re there downloading mine, make sure you go and download some of the others.

In particular, you might want to try:

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UC2009: Scale Up, Scale Out and High Availability: Solutions and Combinations

My presentation slides for the Scale Up, Scale Out and High Availability tutorial here at the MySQL Users Conference are now available for download:

Scale Up, Scale Out and High Availability: Solutions and Combinations

These have been on the MySQL Conference website for days now, but for some reason they don’t seem to have been freed yet.

To those waiting I’m sorry for the delay in getting these uploaded.

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UC2009: On the Starting Blocks

Despite an annoying 3 hour flight delay from Heathrow (and no, I wasn’t connecting there, I was leaving from there), I’m here in San Francisco and Santa Clara again ready for the MySQL User Conference 2009.

I obviously have my four presentations to get through, and there will be plenty of other stuff going on at the conference both in terms of other presentations, the show floor, the booths, and the Birds of a Feather sessions (which are terrific fun).

But mostly, I see the UC2009 as the best opportunity to meet up with both other MySQL/Sun people, our customers, and the community at large and talk about the thing we are all passionate about – MySQL and the technologies surrounding it.

And I don’t care if that sounds goofy. Nothing beats talking to face to face with like minded individuals, and one thing that MySQL – and Sun – seems to engender is an extreme passion about the products we deliver that I don’t always see in other products or companies. That means the talk is always interesting and intelligent, and, when it needs to be, good fun.

To anybody attending, welcome to the fun and enjoy the experience. To those not coming, you really are missing something.

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MySQL Conf 2009 Preview: Scalability and HA Tutorial

Like most people, and with just over a week to go before the conference, I’m putting the finishing touchs on my various presentations.

First up for me, on Monday afternoon, is my tutorial: Scale Up, Scale Out, and High Availability: Solutions and Combinations.

What will be doing?

Very simply: Looking at every potential solution for maximum scalability and availability for your database environment.

If you are attending, be prepared to:

  • Expand your mind as we think about scaling up.
  • Expand your horizons as we think about scaling out.
  • Divide and conquer, as we think about high-availability.

We’re not not hands on in this session – but I will expect you to be brains on!

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