aetar(1)

NAME
aetar - remotely distribute a change via tar

SYNOPSIS
aetar -Send [ option... ]
aetar -Receive [ option... ]
aetar -List [ option... ]
aetar -Help
aetar -VERSion

DESCRIPTION
The aetar command is used to send and receive change sets via tar(1) to facilitate geographically distributed development.

The basic function is to reproduce a change, so a command like
    aetar -send | aetar -receive
may be used to clone a change, though less efficiently than aeclone(1). The file format used is an ordinary gzip(1) compressed tar(1) archive.

SEND
The send variant takes a specified change, or baseline, and constructs a distribution package containing all of the source file contents. No change meta-data is included.

It is not necessary for the recipient to have the aetar(1) command. It is possible to use the regular tar xzf command to extract the files from the archive.

  Options
The following options are understood by the send variant:

-BaseLine
    This option may be used to specify the source of a project, rather than a change.

-COmpress
    This option may be used to specify that the output is to be compressed. This is the default.

-No_COmpress
    This option may be used to specify that the output is not to be compressed.

-Entire_Source
    This option may be used to send the entire source of the project, as well as the change source files. This is the default.

-Partial_Source
    This option may be used to send only source files of a change.

RECEIVE
The receive variant takes a tarball and creates an Aegis change (see aenc(1)) to implement the change within. Files are added to the change (see aenf(1), aecp(1), aerm(1), aent(1)) and then the file contents are unpackaged into the development directory.

It is not necessary for the sender to have the aetar(1) command. It is possible to use the regular tar czf command to create the the tarball. You may want to use the tardy(1) command to manipulate the filenames before extraction.

  File Names
It is common for tar files generated to distribute open source projects to contain a path prefix.

-Remove_Path_Prefix string
    This option may be used to explicitly specify path prefixes to be removed, if present. It may be specified more than once.

If you have a complex project directory structure, from time to time people may send you tarballs relative to a sub-directory, rather than relative to the project root.

-Add_Path_Prefix string
    This option may be used to specify the path of a project sub-directory in which to apply the tarball.

  Notification
The aetar command invokes various other Aegis commands. The usual notifications that these commands would issue are issued.

  Options
The following options are understood by the receive variant:

-Change number
    This option may be used to choose the change number to be used, otherwise one will be chosen automatically.

-DELta number
    This option may be used to specify a particular delta in the project's history to copy the file from, just as for the aecp(1) command. You may also use a delta name instead of a delta number.

  Security
Downloading a tarball and automatically committing it to the baseline without checking it would be a recipe for disaster. A number of safeguards are provided:

•   The file sare unpacked into a new change. You need to edit the change description. You need to uncopy unchanged files. You need to difference the change. You need to build and test the change. This ensures that a local reviewer validates the change before it is committed, preventing accidental or malicious damage.

•   The use of authentication and encryption systems, such as PGP and GPG, are encouraged. However, it is expected that this processing will occur after aetar --send has constructed the package and before aetar --receive examines and acts on the package. Verification of the sender is the surest defense against trojan horses.

•   Automatic sending and receiving of packages is supported, but not implemented within the aetar command. It is expected that the aetar command will be used within shell scripts customized for your site and its unique security requirements. See the Aegis User Guide for several different ways to do this.

•   The more you use Aegis' test management facilities (see aent(1) and aet(1)) the harder it is for an inadequate change to get into the baseline.

LIST
The list variant can be used to list the contents of a tarball without actually unpacking it first.

  Options
The following options are understood by the list variant: Only useful with the -List option.

OPTIONS
The following options to this command haven't been mentioned yet:

FILE FORMAT
The file format re-uses existing formats, rather than introduce anything new. This means it is possible to extract the contents of a package even when aetar is unavailable.

•   The source files and other information is stored as a normal Unix tar(1) archive.

•   On sending, the tarball is compressed using the GNU gzip format. Typically primary source files are ASCII text, resulting in significant compression. (This is optional.)
    On receiving, if the tarball is compressed it will be automagically uncompressed, detection is automatic, you do not need to do this yourself.