Ok, you should now have DXSpider running nicely and allowing connects by cluster -nodes or users. However, it has to be shutdown and restarted manually and if -connection scripts fail they have to be started again manually too, not much use -if you are not at the console! So, in this section we will automate both. -Firstly starting the cluster. +
From 1.48 onwards it will become increasingly possible to control DXSpider's +operation with scripts of various kinds.
-
This is not only a way to start the cluster automatically, it also works as a -watchdog, checking the sanity of DXSpider and respawning it should it crash for -any reason. Before doing the following, shutdown the cluster as you did earlier. -
-
Login as root and bring up the /etc/inittab file in your favourite editor. Add -the following lines to the file near the end ... +
The directory /spider/scripts is where it all happens and is used for several +things. Firstly it contains a file called startup that can be used to call +in any changes to the cluster from the default settings on startup. This +script is executed immediately after all initialisation of the node is done +but before any connections are possible. Examples of this include how many +spots it is possible to get with the sh/dx command, whether you want +registration/passwords to be permanently on etc. An example file is shown +below and is included in the distribution as startup.issue.
-##Start DXSpider on bootup and respawn it should it crash
-DX:3:respawn:/bin/su -c "/usr/bin/perl -w /spider/perl/cluster.pl" sysop >/dev/tty7
+#
+# startup script example
+#
+# set maximum no of spots allowed to 100
+# set/var $Spot::maxspots = 1
+#
+# Set registration on
+# set/var $main::reqreg = 1
+#
+# Set passwords on
+# set/var $main::passwdreq = 1
+#
-
This will automatically start DXSpider on tty7 (ALT-F7) on bootup and restart -it should it crash for any reason. -
-
As root type the command telinit q. DXSpider should start up -immediately. You will see the output on tty7 and if you login as sysop -you should find everything running nicely. -
-
So far so good, now to automate script connections... -
-
Login as sysop and create a file in /spider/local_cmd called crontab. -Edit it with your favourite editor and add a line like this (I have included -a comment) +
As usual, any text behind a # is treated as a comment and not read. +
Secondly, it is used to store the login scripts for users and nodes. Currently +this can only be done by the sysop but it is envisaged that eventually users will +be able to set their own. An example is included in the distibution but here is +a further example.
-# check every 10 minutes to see if gb7xxx is connected and if not
-# start a connect job going
-
-0,10,20,30,40,50 * * * * start_connect('gb7xxx') if !connected('gb7xxx')
+#
+# G0FYD
+#
+blank +
+sh/wwv 3
+blank +
+sh/dx
+blank +
+t g0jhc You abt?
+blank +
The lines in between commands can simply insert a blank line or a character +such as a + sign to make the output easier to read. Simply create this script +with your favourite editor and save it with the callsign of the user as the +filename. Filenames should always be in lower case.
-
The callsign involved will be the callsign of the cluster node you are -going to connect to. This will now check every 10 minutes to see if -gb7xxx is connected, if it is then nothing will be done. If it is not, -then a connect attempt will be started. +
Commands can be inserted in the same way for nodes. A node may wish a series +of commands to be issued on login, such as a merge command for example.
-
There are probably lots of other things you could use this crontab file for. -If you want to know more about it, look at the -DXSpider website -at the cron page where it is explained more fully. +
Thirdly, there are 2 default scripts for users and nodes who do not have a +specifically defined script. These are user_default and +node_default