FATMEN -- H2fatmenappendix-overview-fatcat-files-and-directories

Overview of FATCAT files and directories

At CERN, a dedicated system is used to host FATMEN servers and the associated catalogues. This system is currently an IBM RS6000 with node name fatcat. No user accounts exist on the machine - the /fatmen file system is exported and NFS-mounted on all systems requiring access. At a later date, OSF-DFS will be used for catalogue access.

The /fatmen file system contains a subdirectory for each experiment, as shown below.

                        /fatmen directories

[fatcat] (209) ls -F /fatmen
fmaleph/    fmcplear/   fmna31/     fmatlas/    fmna44/     fmna52/     fmcadd/
fmdelphi/   fmnomad/    fmcharm2/   fmopal/     fmrd5/      fmchorus/   fmkeops/
fmrd6/      fml3/       fmsmc/      fmcndiv/

Each of these directories contains the following files or directories:

cern.fatrz: The FATMEN catalogue for the experiment in question.
done: A directory where the server places update files after processing them.
fatserv: The script that runs the server for this experiment.
fatserv.log: The log file from the server process.
fatsrv: The server program (in fact a link to the server program).
fml3.names: A names file fmexperiment.names, e.g. fml3.names as here.
todo: A directory where updates are written by FATMEN clients (users) and which is scanned regularly by the server process.
tovm: Updates to be transferred to CERNVM are placed here. This directory is optional, and requires server software on the VM node.

In addition, one may also have the following configuration files:

fatmen.loccodes: A list of FATMEN location codes (integers) and associated text, e.g. 1=CERN Computer Centre.
fatmen.acl: An ACL file determining which users on which nodes may update the specified subdirectory structure.
fatmen.updates: A file controlling for which users and paths monitoring information is to be sent to the server.
fatmen.accounts: A list of account aliases.

Furthermore, one needs a subdirectory for each remote server. In the particular case of fatcat there are no remote servers, put the directories are called tonode, e.g. tovxcrna. Provided that the names file is correctly configured, all missing subdirectories are automatically created by the server, with the exception of tovm and todo. todo must be given the permission o+w to allow all users the possibility to make catalogue updates. (With AFS one could use ACLs to provide better security).