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1 | =head1 NAME |
2 | ||
3 | repository - Using the Perl repository | |
4 | ||
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5 | =head1 Synopsis |
6 | ||
7 | First, we assume here that you have already decided that you will | |
8 | need B<write> access to the repository. If all you need is B<read> | |
9 | access, there are much better ways to access the most current state of | |
10 | the perl repository, or explore individual files and patches therein. | |
11 | See L<perlhack> for details. | |
12 | ||
13 | This document describes what a Perl Porter needs to do to start using | |
14 | the Perl repository. | |
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15 | |
16 | =head1 Prerequisites | |
17 | ||
18 | You'll need to get hold of the following software. | |
19 | ||
20 | =over 4 | |
21 | ||
22 | =item Perforce | |
23 | ||
24 | Download a perforce client from: | |
25 | ||
26 | http://www.perforce.com/perforce/loadprog.html | |
27 | ||
28 | You'll probably also want to look at: | |
29 | ||
30 | http://www.perforce.com/perforce/technical.html | |
31 | ||
32 | where you can look at or download its documentation. | |
33 | ||
34 | =item ssh | |
35 | ||
36 | If you don't already have access to an ssh client, then look at its | |
37 | home site C<http://www.cs.hut.fi/ssh> which mentions ftp sites from | |
38 | which it's available. You only need to build the client parts (ssh | |
39 | and ssh-keygen should suffice). | |
40 | ||
41 | =back | |
42 | ||
43 | =head1 Creating an SSH Key Pair | |
44 | ||
45 | If you already use ssh and want to use the same key pair for perl | |
46 | repository access then you can skip the rest of this section. | |
47 | Otherwise, generate an ssh key pair for use with the repository | |
48 | by typing the command | |
49 | ||
50 | ssh-keygen | |
51 | ||
52 | After generating a key pair and testing it, ssh-keygen will ask you | |
53 | to enter a filename in which to save the key. The default it offers | |
54 | will be the file F<~/.ssh/identity> which is suitable unless you | |
55 | particularly want to keep separate ssh identities for some reason. | |
56 | If so, you could save the perl repository private key in the file | |
57 | F<~/.ssh/perl>, for example, but I will use the standard filename | |
58 | in the remainder of the examples of this document. | |
59 | ||
60 | After typing in the filename, it will prompt you to type in a | |
61 | passphrase. The private key will itself be encrypted so that it is | |
62 | usable only when that passphrase is typed. (When using ssh, you will | |
63 | be prompted when it requires a pass phrase to unlock a private key.) | |
64 | If you provide a blank passphrase then no passphrase will be needed | |
65 | to unlock the key and, as a consequence, anyone who gains access to | |
66 | the key file gains access to accounts protected with that key | |
67 | (barring additional configuration to restrict access by IP address). | |
68 | ||
69 | When you have typed the passphrase in twice, ssh-keygen will confirm | |
70 | where it has saved the private key (in the filename you gave and | |
71 | with permissions set to be only readable by you), what your public | |
72 | key is (don't worry: you don't need to memorise it) and where it | |
73 | has saved the corresponding public key. The public key is saved in | |
74 | a filename corresponding to your private key's filename but with | |
75 | ".pub" appended, usually F<~/.ssh/identity.pub>. That public key | |
76 | can be (but need not be) world readable. It is not used by your | |
77 | own system at all. | |
78 | ||
79 | =head1 Notifying the Repository Keeper | |
80 | ||
81 | Mail the contents of that public key file to the keeper of the perl | |
82 | repository (see L</Contact Information> below). | |
83 | When the key is added to the repository host's configuration file, | |
84 | you will be able to connect to it with ssh by using the corresponding | |
85 | private key file (after unlocking it with your chosen passphrase). | |
86 | ||
87 | =head1 Connecting to the Repository | |
88 | ||
89 | Connections to the repository are made by using ssh to provide a | |
90 | TCP "tunnel" rather than by using ssh to login to or invoke any | |
91 | ordinary commands on the repository. When you want to start a | |
92 | session using the repository, use the command | |
93 | ||
4bc101a5 | 94 | ssh -l perlrep -f -q -x -L 1666:127.0.0.1:1666 sickle.activestate.com foo |
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95 | |
96 | If you are not using the default filename of F<~/.ssh/identity> | |
97 | to hold your perl repository private key then you'll need to add | |
98 | the option B<-i filename> to tell ssh where it is. Unless you chose | |
99 | a blank passphrase for that private key, ssh will prompt you for the | |
100 | passphrase to unlock that key. Then ssh will fork and put itself | |
101 | in the background, returning you (silently) to your shell prompt. | |
102 | The tunnel for repository access is now ready for use. | |
103 | ||
104 | For the sake of completeness (and for the case where the chosen | |
105 | port of 1666 is already in use on your machine), I'll briefly | |
106 | describe what all those ssh arguments are for. | |
107 | ||
108 | =over 4 | |
109 | ||
4bc101a5 | 110 | =item B<-l perlrep> |
0c97a5ed | 111 | |
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112 | Use a remote username of perlrep. (The account on the repository which |
113 | provides the end-point of the ssh tunnel is named "perlrep".) | |
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114 | |
115 | =item B<-f> | |
116 | ||
117 | Tells ssh to fork and remain running in the background. Since ssh | |
118 | is only being used for its tunnelling capabilities, the command | |
119 | that ssh runs never does any I/O and can sit silently in the | |
120 | background. | |
121 | ||
122 | =item B<-q> | |
123 | ||
124 | Tells ssh to be quiet. Without this option, ssh will output a | |
125 | message each time you use a p4 command (since each p4 command | |
126 | tunnels over the ssh connection to reach the repository). | |
127 | ||
128 | =item B<-x> | |
129 | ||
130 | Tells ssh not to bother to set up a tunnel for X11 connections. | |
131 | The repository doesn't allow this anyway. | |
132 | ||
133 | =item B<-L 1666:127.0.0.1:1666> | |
134 | ||
135 | This is the important option. It tells ssh to listen out for | |
136 | connections made to port 1666 on your local machine. When such | |
137 | a connection is made, the ssh client tells the remote side | |
138 | (the corresponding ssh daemon on the repository) to make a | |
139 | connection to IP address 127.0.0.1, port 1666. Data flowing | |
140 | along that connection is tunnelled over the ssh connection | |
141 | (encrypted). The perforce daemon running on the repository | |
142 | only accepts connections from localhost and that is exactly | |
143 | where ssh-tunnelled connections appear to come from. | |
144 | ||
145 | If port 1666 is already in use on your machine then you can | |
146 | choose any non-privileged port (a number between 1024 and 65535) | |
147 | which happens to be free on your machine. It's the first of the | |
148 | three colon separated values that you should change. Picking | |
149 | port 2345 would mean changing the option to | |
150 | B<-L 2345:127.0.0.1:1666>. Whatever port number you choose should | |
151 | be used for the value of the P4PORT environment variable (q.v.). | |
152 | ||
153 | =item sickle.activestate.com | |
154 | ||
4bc101a5 | 155 | This is the canonical name of the host on which the perl repository |
1cb8ef30 | 156 | resides. |
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157 | |
158 | =item foo | |
159 | ||
160 | This is a dummy place holder argument. Without an argument | |
161 | here, ssh will try to perform an interactive login to the | |
162 | repository which is not allowed. Ordinarily, this argument | |
163 | is for the one-off command which is to be executed on the | |
164 | remote host. However, the repository's ssh configuration | |
165 | file uses the "command=" option to force a particular | |
166 | command to run so the actual value of the argument is | |
167 | ignored. The command that's actually run merely pauses and | |
168 | waits for the ssh connection to drop, then exits. | |
169 | ||
170 | =back | |
171 | ||
172 | =head1 Problems | |
173 | ||
174 | You should normally get a prompt that asks for the passphrase | |
175 | for your RSA key when you connect with the ssh command shown | |
176 | above. If you see a prompt that looks like: | |
177 | ||
178 | perlrep@sickle.activestate.com's password: | |
179 | ||
180 | Then you either don't have a ~/.ssh/identity file corresponding | |
181 | to your public key, or your ~/.ssh/identity file is not readable. | |
182 | Fix the problem and try again. | |
183 | ||
184 | =head1 Using the Perforce Client | |
185 | ||
186 | Remember to read the documentation for Perforce. You need | |
187 | to make sure that three environment variable are set | |
188 | correctly before using the p4 client with the perl repository. | |
189 | ||
190 | =over 4 | |
191 | ||
192 | =item P4PORT | |
193 | ||
194 | Set this to localhost:1666 (the port for your ssh client to listen on) | |
195 | unless that port is already in use on your host. If it is, see | |
196 | the section above on the B<-L 1666:127.0.0.1:1666> option to ssh. | |
197 | ||
198 | =item P4CLIENT | |
199 | ||
200 | The value of this is the name by which Perforce knows your | |
2f6eead3 | 201 | host's workspace. You need to pick a name (normally, your |
83d05790 | 202 | Perforce username, a dash, and your host's short name) |
0c97a5ed | 203 | when you first start using the perl repository and then |
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204 | stick with it. |
205 | ||
206 | Perforce keeps track of the files you have on your machine. It | |
207 | does this through your client. When you first sync a version of a | |
208 | file, the file comes from the server to your machine. If you sync | |
209 | the same file again the server does nothing because it | |
210 | knows you already have the file. | |
211 | ||
212 | You should NOT use the same client on different machines. If you do | |
213 | you probably won't get the files you expect, and may end up with | |
214 | nasty corruption. Perforce allows you to have as many clients as | |
215 | you want. For example, sally-home, sally-openbsd, sally-laptop. | |
216 | ||
217 | Also, never change the client's root and view at the same time. | |
218 | See C<http://www.perforce.com/perforce/doc.002/manuals/p4guide/04_details.html#1048341> | |
219 | ||
0c97a5ed | 220 | If you have multiple hosts sharing the same directory structure |
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221 | via NFS then you may be able to get away with only one client name, |
222 | but be careful. | |
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223 | |
224 | The C<p4 clients> command lists all currently known clients. | |
225 | ||
226 | =item P4USER | |
227 | ||
228 | This is the username by which perforce knows you. Use your | |
229 | username if you have a well known or obvious one or else pick | |
230 | a new one which other perl5-porters will recognise. There is | |
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231 | a licence limit on the number of these usernames, so be sure not |
232 | to use more than one. | |
233 | ||
234 | It is very important to set a password for your Perforce username, | |
235 | or else anyone can impersonate you. Use the C<p4 passwd> command | |
236 | to do this. Once a password is set for your account, you'll need | |
237 | to tell Perforce what it is. You can do this by setting the | |
238 | environment variable P4PASSWD, or you can use the C<-P> flag | |
239 | with the C<p4> command. | |
240 | ||
241 | There are a few techniques you can use to avoid having to either | |
242 | set an environment variable or type the password on every command. | |
243 | One is to create a shell alias, for example, in bash, add something like | |
244 | alias p4='p4 -P secret' | |
245 | to your F<.bash_profile> file. Another way is to create a small shell | |
246 | script, for example | |
247 | #!/bin/bash | |
248 | p4 -P secret $@ | |
249 | And use this instead of running C<p4> directly. | |
250 | ||
251 | With either of these, be sure the file containing your password | |
252 | (the F<.bash_profile> or shell script file) is only readable by you. | |
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253 | |
254 | The C<p4 users> command lists all currently known users. | |
255 | ||
256 | =back | |
257 | ||
258 | Once these three environment variables are set, you can use the | |
259 | perforce p4 client exactly as described in its documentation. | |
260 | After setting these variables and connecting to the repository | |
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261 | for the first time, you should use the C<p4 user> command to |
262 | set a valid email address for yourself. Also use the C<p4 client> | |
263 | command to specify your workspace specifications for each | |
264 | individual client from which you will interact with the repository. | |
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265 | |
266 | =head1 Ending a Repository Session | |
267 | ||
268 | When you have finished a session using the repository, you | |
269 | should kill off the ssh client process to break the tunnel. | |
270 | Since ssh forked itself into the background, you'll need to use | |
271 | something like ps with the appropriate options to find the ssh | |
272 | process and then kill it manually. The default signal of | |
273 | SIGTERM is fine. | |
274 | ||
275 | =head1 Overview of the Repository | |
276 | ||
277 | Please read at least the introductory sections of the Perforce | |
278 | User Guide (and perhaps the Quick Start Guide as well) before | |
279 | reading this section. | |
280 | ||
281 | Every repository user typically "owns" a "branch" of the mainline | |
282 | code in the repository. They hold the "pumpkin" for things in this | |
283 | area, and are usually the only user who will modify files there. | |
284 | This is not strictly enforced in order to allow the flexibility | |
285 | of other users stealing the pumpkin for short periods with the | |
286 | owner's permission. | |
287 | ||
288 | Here is the current structure of the repository: | |
289 | ||
290 | /----+-----perl - Mainline development (bleadperl) | |
f704d51e | 291 | +-----perlio - PerlIO Pumpkin's Perl |
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292 | +-----vmsperl - VMS Pumpkin's Perl |
293 | +-----maint-5.004------perl - Maintainance branches | |
294 | +-----maint-5.005------perl | |
295 | +-----maint-5.6------perl | |
f704d51e | 296 | +-----maint-5.6------pureperl |
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297 | |
298 | Perforce uses a branching model that simply tracks relationships | |
299 | between files. It does not care about directories at all, so | |
300 | any file can be a branch of any other file--the fully qualified | |
301 | depot path name (of the form //depot/foo/bar.c) uniquely determines | |
302 | a file for the purpose of establishing branching relationships. | |
303 | Since a branch usually involves hundreds of files, such relationships | |
304 | are typically specified en masse using a branch map (try `p4 help branch`). | |
305 | `p4 branches` lists the existing branches that have been set up. | |
306 | `p4 branch -o branchname` can be used to view the map for a particular | |
307 | branch, if you want to determine the ancestor for a particular set of | |
308 | files. | |
309 | ||
310 | The mainline (aka "trunk") code in the Perl repository is under | |
311 | "//depot/perl/...". Most branches typically map its entire | |
312 | contents under a directory that goes by the same name as the branch | |
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313 | name. Thus the contents of the perlio branch are to be found |
314 | in //depot/perlio. | |
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315 | |
316 | Run `p4 client` to specify how the repository contents should map to | |
317 | your local disk. Most users will typically have a client map that | |
318 | includes at least their entire branch and the contents of the mainline. | |
319 | ||
320 | Run `p4 changes -l -m10` to check on the activity in the repository. | |
321 | //depot/perl/Porting/genlog is useful to get an annotated changelog | |
322 | that shows files and branches. You can use this listing to determine | |
323 | if there are any changes in the mainline that you need to merge into | |
324 | your own branch. A typical merging session looks like this: | |
325 | ||
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326 | % cd ~/p4view/perlio |
327 | % p4 integrate -b perlio # to bring parent changes into perlio | |
328 | % p4 resolve -am ./... # auto merge the changes | |
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329 | % p4 resolve ./... # manual merge conflicting changes |
330 | % p4 submit ./... # check in | |
331 | ||
f704d51e | 332 | If the owner of the mainline wants to bring the changes in perlio |
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333 | back into the mainline, they do: |
334 | ||
f704d51e | 335 | % p4 integrate -r -b perlio |
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336 | ... |
337 | ||
338 | Generating a patch for change#42 is done as follows: | |
339 | ||
a2c6387b | 340 | % p4genpatch 42 > change-42.patch |
0c97a5ed | 341 | |
a2c6387b | 342 | F<p4genpatch> is to be found in //depot/perl/Porting/. |
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343 | |
344 | The usual routine to apply a patch is | |
345 | ||
346 | % p4 edit file.c file.h | |
347 | % patch < patch.txt | |
348 | ||
349 | (any necessary, re-Configure, make regen_headers, make clean, etc, here) | |
350 | ||
351 | % make all test | |
352 | ||
353 | (preferably make all test in several platforms and under several | |
354 | different Configurations) | |
355 | ||
356 | % while unhappy | |
357 | do | |
358 | $EDITOR | |
359 | make all test | |
360 | done | |
361 | % p4 submit | |
362 | ||
363 | Other useful Perforce commands | |
364 | ||
365 | % p4 describe -du 12345 # show change 12345 | |
366 | ||
367 | Note: the output of "p4 describe" is not in proper diff format, use | |
a2c6387b | 368 | the F<Porting/p4genpatch> to get a diff-compatible format. |
44897049 HS |
369 | (Note that it may be easier to get one already prepared: grep |
370 | L<perlhack> for APC, and append eg "/diffs/12345.gz" to one of the | |
371 | URLs to get a usable patch.) | |
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372 | |
373 | % p4 diff -se ./... # have I modified something but forgotten | |
374 | # to "p4 edit", easy faux pas with autogenerated | |
375 | # files like proto.h, or if one forgets to | |
376 | # look carefully which files a patch modifies | |
377 | % p4 sync file.h # if someone else has modified file.h | |
378 | % p4 opened # which files are opened (p4 edit) by me | |
379 | % p4 opened -a # which files are opened by anybody | |
380 | % p4 diff -du file.c # what changes have I done | |
381 | % p4 revert file.h # never mind my changes | |
382 | % p4 sync -f argh.c # forcibly synchronize your file | |
383 | # from the repository | |
384 | % p4 diff -sr | p4 -x - revert | |
385 | # throw away (opened but) unchanged files | |
386 | # (in Perforce it's a little bit too easy | |
387 | # to checkin unchanged files) | |
388 | ||
389 | Integrate patch 12345 from the mainline to the maint-5.6 branch: | |
390 | (you have to in the directory that has both the mainline and | |
391 | the maint-5.6/perl as subdirectories) | |
392 | ||
393 | % p4 integrate -d perl/...@12345,12345 maint-5.6/perl/... | |
394 | ||
395 | Integrate patches 12347-12350 from the perlio branch to the mainline: | |
396 | ||
397 | % p4 integrate -d perlio/...@12347,12350 perl/... | |
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398 | |
399 | =head1 Contact Information | |
400 | ||
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401 | The mail alias <perl-repository-keepers@perl.org> can be used to reach |
402 | all current users of the repository. | |
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403 | |
404 | The repository keeper is currently Gurusamy Sarathy | |
405 | <gsar@activestate.com>. | |
406 | ||
407 | =head1 AUTHORS | |
408 | ||
409 | Malcolm Beattie, mbeattie@sable.ox.ac.uk, 24 June 1997. | |
410 | ||
411 | Gurusamy Sarathy, gsar@activestate.com, 8 May 1999. | |
412 | ||
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413 | Slightly updated by Simon Cozens, simon@brecon.co.uk, 3 July 2000. |
414 | ||
415 | More updates by Jarkko Hietaniemi, jhi@iki.fi, 28 June 2001. | |
0c97a5ed | 416 | |
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417 | Perforce clarifications by Randall Gellens, rcg@users.sourceforge.net, 12 July 2001. |
418 | ||
0c97a5ed | 419 | =cut |