EXPIRE(8)EXPIRE(8)NAMEexpire - Usenet article and history expiration program
SYNOPSISexpire [ -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>/his‐
tory 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 data‐
base 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 file‐
name 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 arti‐
cles.
-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 exclu‐
sive 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 arti‐
cle'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 rea‐
son, 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 pro‐
gram, 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 mul‐
tiple 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 5909, dated 2002-12-03.
SEE ALSOctlinnd(8), dbz(3), expire.ctl(5), history(5), inn.conf(5), innd(8),
inndcomm(3).
EXPIRE(8)
