updatedb -> PRUNE_FS: how to declare what's to be left out?

JZL240I-U · 02-01-2010, 06:54 AM

Okay, when I opened /etc/updatedb.conf it says there in the file that one should make ones own updatedb.local. But how, exactly? Presumably I create /etc/updatedb.local but what do I put into that? With all those $-signs I'm pretty much lost. Could anyone post his/her example of a PRUNE_FS statement or point me to some reference where I can read up on this? Thanks in advance.

rweaver · 02-02-2010, 04:10 PM

You pretty much have two directives you might use--

PRUNEFS - which excludes file systems
(usually you don't want say remote file systems or cdroms.)

or

PRUNEPATH - which excludes specific paths in the file system
(usually you don't want /dev or /tmp or /proc for example.)

Unless you have an issue with something being no caught you feel should or wish to exclude a location you shouldn't need to heavily modify the file.

unSpawn · 02-02-2010, 04:16 PM

Like rweaver said PRUNEFS is a quoted, space separated list of file system names (as in '( sed -e "s|^nodev||g" /proc/filesystems; find /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/fs -type f -print0|xargs -0 -iX basename 'X' .ko | grep -v nls ) | xargs' minus the ones you do use) and PRUNEPATHS is a quoted, space separated list of directory names rooted in "/" (like "/afs /media /sfs /tmp /udev /var/spool/squid") it should not traverse. To clarify this is not an "or" situation: you're free to use both directives.

JZL240I-U · 02-03-2010, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rweaver

You pretty much have two directives you might use--...

Thanks, rweaver, I am aware of that. I want to exclude my backups etc. so PRUNE_FS it is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rweaver

...you shouldn't need to heavily modify the file.

My question is (and was) how, exactly, do I do that. When you look at SuSE's /etc/updatedb.conf you'll notice what I mean: What is the syntax I am to use in /etc/updatedb.local? It never says so or gives an example, so if you could paste yours here that would be a big help...

JZL240I-U · 02-03-2010, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unSpawn

...sed -e "s|^nodev||g" /proc/filesystems; find /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/fs -type f -print0|xargs -0 -iX basename 'X' .ko | grep -v nls ) | xargs' ...

The tricks of the true master

. But what is the syntax I have to use in /etc/updatedb.local? Look into /etc/updatedb.conf and you'll see what I mean...

rweaver · 02-03-2010, 10:29 AM

The local version will typically be formatted the same as the conf itself. Just keep your simple you don't need anything complex like finds or variables or anything.

PRUNEPATH="/backups /backups2"

It's not hard to update the db, so try it and see if it worked, if it doesn't try an alternate way

JZL240I-U · 02-03-2010, 10:38 AM

No, it wont. The .conf uses (shell)-variables with lots of $-signs. Ah, I just noticed in your user panel that you don't have a SuSE system. So that's why we "didn't get a connection".

But I can certainly use your suggestion in a brute force try, blocking out everything but /boot (which is also a very small partition). Then I'll know it works or just kill the new db.

rweaver · 02-03-2010, 11:03 AM

In the end the variables and things returned from the executions are just evaluating out to either paths or file systems though.

jschiwal · 02-03-2010, 11:22 AM

In SuSE, you can add these entries in /etc/sysconfig/locate. This file is sourced, defining the variables you mentioned.

You can do so easily using YaST2's /etc/sysconfig editor.

JZL240I-U · 02-09-2010, 09:25 AM

Uargh. That comes from doing things from memory. And sorry to be back so late, I had a surprise call to leave town for a few days...

Now, in SuSE it is a cron job and not a .config file. This is the relevant file controling cron:

/etc/cron.daily/suse.de-updatedb

Code:

#!/bin/sh
#
#
# updatedb. This script was split off cron.daily.
# Please add your local changes to cron.daily.local
# since this file will be overwritten, when updating your system.
#
# Copyright (c) 2003 SuSE Linux AG, Nuernberg, Germany.
#
# Please submit bugfixes or comments via http://www.suse.de/feedback/
#
# Author: Burchard Steinbild <bs@suse.de>, 1996
#         Florian La Roche <florian@suse.de>, 1996
#
#
#


#
# paranoia settings
#
umask 022

PATH=/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
export PATH

#
# get information from /etc/rc.config
#
if [ -f /etc/sysconfig/locate ] ; then
    . /etc/sysconfig/locate
fi

#
# update database for locate
#
if [ -n "$RUN_UPDATEDB" -a "$RUN_UPDATEDB" = "yes" -a \
     -x /usr/bin/updatedb ] ; then

    # avoid error messages from updatedb when using user nobody for find.
    cd / 

    PARAMS="`test -n "$RUN_UPDATEDB_AS" && \
            fgrep localuser /usr/bin/updatedb > /dev/null && \
            echo --localuser=$RUN_UPDATEDB_AS`"

    PARAMS="$PARAMS `test -n "$UPDATEDB_PRUNEPATHS" && \
            echo --prunepaths=\'$(eval echo $UPDATEDB_PRUNEPATHS)\'`"

    PARAMS="$PARAMS `test -n "$UPDATEDB_NETUSER" && \
            echo --netuser=$UPDATEDB_NETUSER`"

    PARAMS="$PARAMS `test -n "$UPDATEDB_NETPATHS" && \
            echo --netpaths=\'$(eval echo $UPDATEDB_NETPATHS)\'`"

    PARAMS="$PARAMS `test -n "$UPDATEDB_PRUNEFS" && \
            echo --prunefs=\'$(eval echo $UPDATEDB_PRUNEFS)\'`"

    eval nice -n 19 ionice -c 3 /usr/bin/updatedb $PARAMS 2> /dev/null
fi


exit 0

My question was: What syntax do I use for /etc/cron.daily.local/suse.de-updatedb ... if that is the correct name to use...

@jschiwal Thanks, that is a good workaround as it looks. But I'd still like to understand what the SuSE-team really meant I should put into /etc/cron.daily or below that.

JZL240I-U · 09-24-2010, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JZL240I-U

...
I'd still like to understand what the SuSE-team really meant I should put into /etc/cron.daily or below that.

That still stands.

As of SuSE 11.2 /etc/sysconfig/locate is used to load these variables (UPDATEDB_PRUNEFS and UPDATEDB_PRUNEPATHS) using the normal syntax as already mentioned by unSpawn. I can at least reach the functionality that way but no understanding of the old ways

.