Sorting the post An introduction to the Perforce Broker

Transcription

1 Sorting the post An introduction to the Perforce Broker Tony Smith Perforce Software 1 What is the Perforce Broker? Sits between the clients and the server Provides easy control of server workload Highly configurable Broker behaviour based on static rules Defined in configuration file External programs (filters) Administrator can specify whether: User can safely run specific commands. Commands can be safely redirected to another server. 2 1

2 Relationship to other Perforce Components Client Primary Client P4Broker Clients connect to P4Broker. Same local LAN as Perforce Server. Broker can connect to one or more replicas. Altserver Altserver Replica 3 Architectural Location Client Fast Proxy Slow P4Broker Fast LAN WAN LAN Proxy is close to the client Broker is close to the server 4 2

3 Command Execution Client sends command to broker Broker compares command with rule set Broker determines action PASS REJECT REDIRECT 5 Command Execution - PASS p4 opened -a P4 Client P4USER=kwirth P4Broker pass Replica 6 3

4 Command Execution - REJECT P4 Client P4USER=bob p4 opened -a P4Broker reject Replica 7 Command Execution - REDIRECT P4 Client P4USER=kwirth p4 changes -l P4Broker redirect Replica 8 4

5 Command Execution - Filter P4 Client P4USER=kwirth p4 changes PASS P4Broker filter Replica # Print PASS if "user: kwirth" found $Pass = 0; while (defined($line = <STDIN>)) { if ($line =~ "user: kwirth") {$Pass = 1 if ($Pass) {printf ("PASS") else {printf ("REJECT \"Rejected.\"") 9 Requirements or later server (after build ) or later client. 10 5

6 Command line options Usage: p4broker [options] where options are: -c <file> path to configuration file. -d run as a daemon (fork first,then run) -f run as single-threaded server -h print this message -q suppress startup messages -V print version and exit -v level debug modes Minimum options: p4broker -c p4broker.conf 11 P4BROKEROPTIONS Example: SET P4BROKEROPTIONS=-c C:\Broker\p4broker.conf Appends command line options. Command line becomes: p4broker Intended to be used when using P4Broker as a Windows service. 12 6

7 Configuration File Defines environment and rules. Only accessed at startup. P4Broker will not start if file contains syntax errors. P4Broker can create a template: p4broker C > p4broker.conf Need to customise template file. Three parts: Global Settings Alternate Server definitions Command handler definitions 13 Global Settings target = server1.perforce.com:1666; listen = 1667; directory = C:\perforce\p4-broker; logfile = broker.log; debug-level = server=1; admin-name = "Perforce Admins"; admin-phone = 999/911; admin- = admins@mydomain.com; 14 7

8 Alternate Servers P4Broker can redirect requests to an alternate server. Reduces the load on the primary (target) server. Alternate servers should be replicas of the target server. Use a tool such as P4Jrep to create alternate server. Use P4AUTH to centralise authentication. Redirecting commands can cause confusion. Users must allow for latency of replication process. Use with caution! 15 Alternate Servers Example altserver: replica1 { host = backupserver1.perforce.com; port = 1669; login = no; altserver: replica2 { host = backupserver2.perforce.com; port = 1669; login = no; 16 8

9 Command Handlers As many command handlers as needed. Compared in top to bottom order. Only first match is applied. Default behaviour forwards to target Perforce server. p4 login and p4 logout commands may not be caught by a handler 17 Command Handlers Example command: opened { flags = -a; user = kwirth; action = pass; command: opened { flags = -a; action = reject; message = "You are not Karl. You don't\n \t need to know that.\n"; 18 9

10 Command Handlers Syntax command: <pattern> { # Conditions for the command to meet flags = <required flags>; user = <required user>; workspace = <required client-workspace>; prog = <required client program>; version = <required version of client program>; # What to do with matching commands action = pass reject redirect filter ; # How to go about it message = <message>; # For action = reject destination = <altserver>; # For action = redirect execute = <filter program>;# For action = filter 19 Filter Programs Execute program specified in the execute parameter: command: changes { action = filter; execute = "perl filter.pl"; Defers decision to that program. Parameters sent to the stdin for the program. The program must read all input 20 10

11 Filter Programs Input Format Example > p4 changes -m l //... command: changes clientprog: p4 clientversion: /NTX86/ clientprotocol: 61 apiprotocol: workspace: kwirth_proxy_ws user: kwirth clientip: proxyip: argcount: 4 Arg0: -m Arg1: 1000 Arg2: -l Arg3: // Filter Programs Expected Output One of the three following forms: REJECT <Message for user> REDIRECT <altserver name> PASS Other returned responses treated as REJECT 22 11

12 Broker output in p4 info The broker adds its details to the output of p4 info p4 info Broker address: localhost:1667 Broker version: P4BROKER/LINUX26X86_64/2007.3/ Support & Download P4Broker is currently unsupported. It s effectively a beta release Available on FTP site. Not available on downloads page

13 Troubleshooting Debug Levels server=1 Result of running each command written to log. server=3 Config file and filter debugging written to stdout. In configuration file debug-level = server=1; Note: value in configuration file overrides command line. 25 Q & A 26 13