Re: cfengine-1.6.2 copy doesn't replicate symlinks properly?

[Mark . Burgess]

On 27 Feb, J. Maynard Gelinas wrote:
>    Hi folks,
> 
>    I'm attempting to use cfengine-1.6.2 on several Redhat-6.2/x86 linux 
> clients
> to perform a deep recursive copy of an entire directory tree from a server
> running cfd.  The goal is to successfully replicate a template server which
> contains an entire OS release to a cluster of clients. This way the clients
> could update on a regular basis and automatically get security fixes,
> application updates, etc.  
> 
>    I've got the copy operation working properly, and it appears to work for 
> the
> most part. However, I've noticed what appears to be a serious problem in it's
> handling of Symbolic links: if a client has a symlink down the directory path,
> but the server has replaced that link with a file, the copy operation will 
> fail
> and leave the original link in place on the client. It also appears that if a
> file is in place on the client, but a symbolic link with that filename is on
> the server, the client cfengine won't replace the file with the proper link. 
> 
>   I realize that I could solve this by simply running a find for type l on the
> server and removing every link listed on the client before running the 
> cfengine
> copy process. But I'm worried that removing links down /lib and /usr/lib could
> confuse the cfengine instance and cause a system crash during the copy. 
> 
>    Are others seeing this problem? I understand why cfengine can't replicate 
> hard links, but I don't understand why it can't replicate a symbolic link 
> properly.
> 
> TIA,
> --Maynard

-- 

>From the manual:

typecheck=false (default is true)

Switches on/off error messages if source and existing
destination files do not match in type, e.g. if a file would overwrite a
directory or link. 

hope this helps,
Mark

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