I was thinking since some time already about mirroring between elog servers, 
and actually started already some implementation.

The problem with mirroring on the file level does not work. Assume two 
servers "serv1" and "serv2". Then assume that one message gets submitted on 
serv1 and at the same day another message gets submitted on serv2. Now you 
have on both servers a file 030726a.log, but you cannot copy this file 
simply from one server to the other, since you would overwrite the message 
submitted on the other server. Furthermore, you need file level access, 
which is maybe easy between your laptop and your desktop computer, but not 
if the two mirror servers are in different countries. Like in our 
collaboration we have three servers located in Switzerland, Italy and Japan 
(meg.psi.ch, meg.pi.infn.it, meg.icepp.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp), where we cannot 
have direct disk access.

So what I propose is the following mirror scheme:

o Each elog server may contain a list of mirror servers in the configuration 
file

o Each elog server calculates an MD5 checksum from all local messages

o Synchronization between servers can be triggered manually (by clicking 
on "Synchronize") or automatically at a given time and interval

o On Synchronization, the elogd server fetches the MD5 list from the mirror 
server and compares it with the local list

o If a message has been edited remotely but not locally, it's fetched and 
stored locally, same in the other direction

o If a message got edited on both sides since the last synchronization, the 
user is asked to resolve the conflict (keep local or keep remote message)

o If there is a new message locally, its submitted at the remote server, but 
with the same submission date/time as locally, same in the other direction

o If new messages are present on both sides, their message ID is changed so 
that it is unique, then they are copied over. If there are already replies 
to this message, their link (using the message ID) is changed accordingly

So I plan to implement this scheme in the next time. The MD5 checksum is 
already there. If anybody has comments or additional wishes concerning 
mirroring, telling them right now would be great, since I then can 
accomodate them easier during the implementation.

- Stefan

   I would like to implement ELOG as a logbook for our Windows 2000 
servers.  After making the recommendation, my supervisor replied: 

"The problem and perhaps the only problem is what happens when the server 
is down. Electronic log books should be able to replicate from more than 
one source so you can document let’s say from your laptop – and upload to 
the server later."

   Can anyone help me out here with some scenarios to improve fault-
tolerance?  

   Perhaps installing it on multiple servers and synchronizing the data 
and config folders with the NT File Replication Service?  

   Or installing it on one server and each administrator's laptop and 
using Offline Files to synchronize the data?

Any feedback would be appreciated,

Shawn Larson

> opps nevermind, i didn't realize I had to put something in for the ending 
> body text.  Anyway to skip that part?
> 
> > elog -h 192.168.0.25 -p 80 -l Database -a Type=test1 -a OS=W2K -a Loc=room1
> > -a Status=operational
> > 
> > doing anything wrong here?

Due to frequent requests, the elog utility reads the message body text from the 
console (stdin), if it's missing on the command line (like in your case). Under 
Linux, you can then pipe some text into elog

cat message.txt | elog -h ...

or under Windows

type message.txt | elog -h ...

If you enter the text directly, you have to finish it with Ctrl-Z / Return
(Windows) or Ctrl-D (Linux). If you do not want any text, you can write

elog -h .... -a Status=operational " "

to submit an empty text (well, almost empty, contains single blank).

opps nevermind, i didn't realize I had to put something in for the ending 
body text.  Anyway to skip that part?

> elog -h 192.168.0.25 -p 80 -l Database -a Type=test1 -a OS=W2K -a Loc=room1
> -a Status=operational
> 
> doing anything wrong here?

Note: When I hit ctrl-break, it exits to cmd prompt, and the entry appears 
in the logbook.... ?

> elog -h 192.168.0.25 -p 80 -l Database -a Type=test1 -a OS=W2K -a Loc=room1
> -a Status=operational
> 
> doing anything wrong here?

elog -h 192.168.0.25 -p 80 -l Database -a Type=test1 -a OS=W2K -a Loc=room1
-a Status=operational

doing anything wrong here?

> I tried to add a file with the  "Bottom text = <file>" option.
> 
> Although one would suggest that the bottom text file is included in every 
> page, I only saw the file appear in the page that appears when you issue 
> the "cmd=Edit" command.

That's really weired. The file is displayed at the bottom of single messages, 
and the message list, but NOT at the form, which you reach with the "Edit" 
command. So all I can suggest ist the following:

- Hit the reload button on your browser each time you change that file, to 
make sure the browser does not display a page from its cache

- The HTML file is *included* in the normal page, so it should not contain 
<HTML> or <BODY> tags. Start with a simple file containing something like

<center>Test</center>

and see what you get.

- Make sure the file is in the elog "resource" directory, which gets 
displayed if you start elogd with the "-v" flag.

Let me know if any of this helped.

I have had this installed for about two weeks now and it seems to be working
fine. I haven't seen any problems at all and none of the other users have
reported any.

Thanks.  This is very helpful.

> > Is there a way to configure elog so users that have their email notification
> > on only get notified for updates to logs they have access to? I've looked
> > all through the documentation and I can't seem to find a way to do this.
> 
> I guess you have a global password file and use "login user" statements for 
> your logbooks. I have added some code which does per default not send any 
> email to people who are not in the "login user" list, in case this list is 
> present. New code under CVS. Please give it a try and let me know if it works 
> for you.
> 
> - STefan