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EXPIRE(8)
NAME
expire - Usenet article and history expiration program
SYNOPSIS
expire [ -d dir ] [ -f file ] [ -g file ] [ -h file ] [ -i ] [ -N ] [ -n ]
[ -p ] [ -r reason ] [ -s size ] [ -t ] [ -v level ] [ -w number ] [ -x ] [
-z file ] [ expire.ctl ]
DESCRIPTION
Expire scans the history(5)-format text file <pathdb in inn.conf>/history
and uses the information recorded in it to purge itself of old news
articles. Articles stored using a storage method that has self-expire
functionality are by default not affected by expire's primary behavior (but
see the ``-N'' flag to disable this). In this case, expire.ctl is ignored
except ``/remember/'' line for that article; expire does still probe to see
if the article still exists and purges the relevant history and overview
entries if appropriate. However, if ``groupbaseexpiry'' in inn.conf is
true, expire acts on all articles as specified by expire.ctl regardless of
whether their storage methods have self-expire functionality. In this
case, the ``-e'', ``-k'', ``-N'', ``-p'', ``-q'', ``-w'' and ``-z'' flags
are ignored.
Note that expire never purges articles which do not match any entry in
expire.ctl.
OPTIONS
-d dir
If the ``-d'' flag is used, then the new history file and database is
created in the specified directory, dir. This is useful when the
filesystem does not have sufficient space to hold both the old and new
history files. When this flag is used, expire leaves the server
paused and creates a zero-length file named after the new history
file, with an extension of ``.done'' to indicate that it has
successfully completed the expiration. The calling script should
install the new history file and un-pause the server. The ``-r'' flag
should be used with this flag.
-f file
To specify an alternate history file, use the ``-f'' flag. This flag
is valid when used with the ``-d'', and the output will be written to
the specified file. The default without ``-f'' flag is ``history''.
-g file
If the ``-g'' flag is given, then a one-line summary equivalent to the
output of ``-v 1'', except preceded by the current time, will be
appended to the specified file.
-h file
To specify an alternate input text history file, use the ``-h'' flag.
Expire uses the old dbz(3) database to determine the size of the new
one. (If ``-d'' flag is not used, the output filename will be the
same as the input filename with an extension of ``.n''.) The default
without ``-h'' flag is <pathdb in inn.conf>/history.
-i To ignore the old database, use the ``-i'' flag.
-N The control file is normally ignored for articles in storage methods
which have self-expire functionality. If the ``-N'' flag is used,
expire still uses the control file for these articles.
-n If innd is not running, use the ``-n'' flag and expire will not send
the ``pause'' or ``go'' commands. (For more details on the commands,
see ctlinnd(8)). Note that expire only needs exclusive access for a
very short time - long enough to see if any new articles arrived since
it first hit the end of the file, and to rename the new files to the
working files.
-p Expire makes its decisions on the time the article arrived, as found
in the history file. This means articles are often kept a little
longer than with other expiration programs that base their decisions
on the article's posting date. To use the article's posting date, use
the ``-p'' flag.
-r reason
Expire normally sends a ``pause'' command to the local innd(8) daemon
when it needs exclusive access to the history file, using the string
``Expiring'' as the reason. To give a different reason, use the
``-r'' flag. The process ID will be appended to the reason. When
expire is finished and the new history file is ready, it sends a
``go'' command. See also the ``-n'' flag.
-s size
Optimize the new history database for approximately size pairs (lines
in history). Accurately specifying the size will create a more
efficient database. (The size should be the estimated eventual size
of the file, typically the size of the old file.)
-t If the ``-t'' flag is used, then expire will generate a list of the
tokens that should be removed on its standard output, and the new
history file will be left in history.n, history.n.dir, history.n.index
and history.n.hash. This flag be useful for debugging when used with
the ``-n'' flags. Note that if the ``-f'' flag is used, then the name
specified with that flag will be used instead of history.
-v level
The ``-v'' flag is used to increase the verbosity of the program,
generating messages to standard output. The level should be a number,
where higher numbers result in more output. Level one will print
totals of the various actions done (not valid if a new history file is
not written), level two will print a report on each individual file,
while level five results in multiple lines of output for every history
line processed.
-w number
Use the ``-w'' flag to ``warp'' time so that expire thinks it is
running at some time other then the current time. The value should be
a signed floating point number indicating the number of days to use as
the offset.
-x If the ``-x'' flag is used, then expire will not create any new
history files. This is most useful when combined with the ``-n'' and
``-t'' flags to see how different expiration policies would change the
amount of disk space used.
-z file
If the ``-z'' flag is used, then articles are not removed, but their
names are appended to the specified file. See the description of
delayrm in news.daily(8).
If a filename is specified, it is taken as the control file and parsed
according to the rules in expire.ctl. A single dash (``-'') may be used to
read the file from standard input. If no file is specified, the file
<pathetc in inn.conf>/expire.ctl is read.
HISTORY
Written by Rich $alz <rsalz@uunet.uu.net> for InterNetNews. This is
revision 1.22, dated 2002/12/03.
SEE ALSO
ctlinnd(8), dbz(3), expire.ctl(5), history(5), inn.conf(5), innd(8),
inndcomm(3).
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Index for
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Alphabetical
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