How to manage your BaseSpace server =================================== - Alex 3/16/2001 draft The principle behind the BaseSpace managed server is clear division of responsibility. You, the customer, are responsible for managing your own custom applications, while BaseSpace.net takes responsibility for managing all common aspects of the Linux operating system. In general, you should install your applications in your own file space, /home/. In principle, you should never touch files outside this directory tree, and BaseSpace.net will never touch files inside it. However, some exceptions arise: RPMs ==== The RPM concept is a very convenient way for you and us to install and upgrade software on your server. Most RPMs install software to locations other than your customer directory. You are allowed and encouraged to install RPMs on your machine. However, please keep track of what RPMs you have installed. In the future BaseSpace.net will develop infrastructure to automatically track customer RPM installations. System Configuration Files and Boot Scripts =========================================== These files typically live in /etc. Examples include: /etc/services /etc/inetd.conf /etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd /etc/rc.d/rc3.d/S80httpd To modify one of these files, use the autolink modular file control system. You can tell if a file is under autolink control, because the file will be a symlink into /var/auto: lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 22 Sep 1 2000 /etc/ntp.conf -> /var/auto/etc/ntp.conf If a file that you need to modify is not currently under autolink control, please contact BaseSpace.net to place it under autolink control before attempting to modify it. Modifying an entire file ------------------------ If you are taking control of the whole file, simply copy the file into /home//root// (where is the full path of the file's normal location, starting from /), and edit it there. Adding lines to a file ---------------------- If you just want to add a line to a file (if, for example, you want to add information about a new protocol to /etc/services), then place a file with just your addition in /home//root//, named .part. Autolink will append your addition. Adding a new file (e.g. startup scripts) ---------------------------------------- If you want to add a new file that does not yet exist in the normal file system, simply add your file in /home//root//. This is how you would typically add startup scripts for your application. Running autolink to effect your changes ======================================= The next time autolink runs, your new version or addition will be installed. You can run autolink yourself, as /home/src/base/script/autolink -a. A more detailed explanation of autolink is available at http://autolink.basespace.net