1EXPIRE(8) System Manager's Manual EXPIRE(8)
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6 expire - Usenet article and history expiration program
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9 expire [ -d dir ] [ -f file ] [ -g file ] [ -h file ] [ -i ] [ -N ] [
10 -n ] [ -p ] [ -r reason ] [ -s size ] [ -t ] [ -v level ] [ -w number ]
11 [ -x ] [ -z file ] [ expire.ctl ]
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14 Expire scans the history(5)-format text file <pathdb in inn.conf>/his‐
15 tory and uses the information recorded in it to purge itself of old
16 news articles. Articles stored using a storage method that has self-
17 expire functionality are by default not affected by expire's primary
18 behavior (but see the ``-N'' flag to disable this). In this case,
19 expire.ctl is ignored except ``/remember/'' line for that article;
20 expire does still probe to see if the article still exists and purges
21 the relevant history and overview entries if appropriate. However, if
22 ``groupbaseexpiry'' in inn.conf is true, expire acts on all articles as
23 specified by expire.ctl regardless of whether their storage methods
24 have self-expire functionality. In this case, the ``-e'', ``-k'',
25 ``-N'', ``-p'', ``-q'', ``-w'' and ``-z'' flags are ignored.
26 Note that expire never purges articles which do not match any entry in
28 expire.ctl.
29
31 -d dir If the ``-d'' flag is used, then the new history file and data‐
32 base is created in the specified directory, dir. This is useful
33 when the filesystem does not have sufficient space to hold both
34 the old and new history files. When this flag is used, expire
35 leaves the server paused and creates a zero-length file named
36 after the new history file, with an extension of ``.done'' to
37 indicate that it has successfully completed the expiration. The
38 calling script should install the new history file and un-pause
39 the server. The ``-r'' flag should be used with this flag.
40 -f file
42 To specify an alternate history file, use the ``-f'' flag. This
43 flag is valid when used with the ``-d'', and the output will be
44 written to the specified file. The default without ``-f'' flag
45 is ``history''.
46 -g file
48 If the ``-g'' flag is given, then a one-line summary equivalent
49 to the output of ``-v 1'', except preceded by the current time,
50 will be appended to the specified file.
51 -h file
53 To specify an alternate input text history file, use the ``-h''
54 flag. Expire uses the old dbz(3) database to determine the size
55 of the new one. (If ``-d'' flag is not used, the output file‐
56 name will be the same as the input filename with an extension of
57 ``.n''.) The default without ``-h'' flag is
58 <pathdb in inn.conf>/history.
59 -i To ignore the old database, use the ``-i'' flag.
61 -N The control file is normally ignored for articles in storage
63 methods which have self-expire functionality. If the ``-N''
64 flag is used, expire still uses the control file for these arti‐
65 cles.
66 -n If innd is not running, use the ``-n'' flag and expire will not
68 send the ``pause'' or ``go'' commands. (For more details on the
69 commands, see ctlinnd(8)). Note that expire only needs exclu‐
70 sive access for a very short time — long enough to see if any
71 new articles arrived since it first hit the end of the file, and
72 to rename the new files to the working files.
73 -p Expire makes its decisions on the time the article arrived, as
75 found in the history file. This means articles are often kept a
76 little longer than with other expiration programs that base
77 their decisions on the article's posting date. To use the arti‐
78 cle's posting date, use the ``-p'' flag.
79 -r reason
81 Expire normally sends a ``pause'' command to the local innd(8)
82 daemon when it needs exclusive access to the history file, using
83 the string ``Expiring'' as the reason. To give a different rea‐
84 son, use the ``-r'' flag. The process ID will be appended to
85 the reason. When expire is finished and the new history file is
86 ready, it sends a ``go'' command. See also the ``-n'' flag.
87 -s size
89 Optimize the new history database for approximately size pairs
90 (lines in history). Accurately specifying the size will create
91 a more efficient database. (The size should be the estimated
92 eventual size of the file, typically the size of the old file.)
93 -t If the ``-t'' flag is used, then expire will generate a list of
95 the tokens that should be removed on its standard output, and
96 the new history file will be left in history.n, history.n.dir,
97 history.n.index and history.n.hash. This flag be useful for
98 debugging when used with the ``-n'' flags. Note that if the
99 ``-f'' flag is used, then the name specified with that flag will
100 be used instead of history.
101 -v level
103 The ``-v'' flag is used to increase the verbosity of the pro‐
104 gram, generating messages to standard output. The level should
105 be a number, where higher numbers result in more output. Level
106 one will print totals of the various actions done (not valid if
107 a new history file is not written), level two will print a
108 report on each individual file, while level five results in mul‐
109 tiple lines of output for every history line processed.
110 -w number
112 Use the ``-w'' flag to ``warp'' time so that expire thinks it is
113 running at some time other then the current time. The value
114 should be a signed floating point number indicating the number
115 of days to use as the offset.
116 -x If the ``-x'' flag is used, then expire will not create any new
118 history files. This is most useful when combined with the
119 ``-n'' and ``-t'' flags to see how different expiration policies
120 would change the amount of disk space used.
121 -z file
123 If the ``-z'' flag is used, then articles are not removed, but
124 their names are appended to the specified file. See the
125 description of delayrm in news.daily(8).
126 If a filename is specified, it is taken as the control file and parsed
128 according to the rules in expire.ctl. A single dash (``-'') may be
129 used to read the file from standard input. If no file is specified,
130 the file <pathetc in inn.conf>/expire.ctl is read.
131
133 Written by Rich $alz <rsalz@uunet.uu.net> for InterNetNews. This is
134 revision 5909, dated 2002-12-03.
135
137 ctlinnd(8), dbz(3), expire.ctl(5), history(5), inn.conf(5), innd(8),
138 inndcomm(3).
139 EXPIRE(8)