Description
Splitbot is a program that generates individual logs for users from the Host's
World Wide Web HTTPD Server. It does this by monitoring (snooping on) specific
logfiles created by the server and extracting individual user entries. These
entries are then copied into "personal" logfiles which are found in the user's
own public_html directory.
These logs are updated every 10 minutes by Splitbot, which is run as a cron
job by the host. Several logfiles are generated; each of these files are
discussed in more detail in the next section. Each file is a duplicate of the
original Server logs. There is only one difference: they only contain entries
that pertain to the user, so they are smaller in size.
Access for the user to Splitbot is provided through sbtab. This
utility works in conjunction will Splitbot, allowing the user to change and
update their entry in the Splitbot database. The user may enable or disable
their own logfile generation, set file size limits, or view their current
settings. More information on this will be found in the Command Line
Flags section.
Individual Logs Generated
Splitbot currently generates three different logs. Each of these logs contain
entries extracted from the Host logfiles that specify an access to one of the
user's WWW resources:
- access_log
This logfile contains entries that show requests to the Host HTTPD server
asking for HTML files, GIF or XBM image files, or other WWW resources. Each
line is in "common-log" format, and contains information about a single
request.
- errors
This logfile contains entries that show errors that occured while the Host
HTTPD server was carrying out a request. In most cases, errors that are logged
here are transient and don't occur very often. If a particular error is found
to occur over and over again, the user may want to check for missing or
deleted files, permission problems, path problems, or errors in their HTML
documents.
- referer_log
This logfile contains entries that show the names of sites that have anchors
or HTML "pointers" to the user's site. Each entry will contain the remote
site's name, as well as the pathname of the HTML file containing the link. In
some cases, a bookmark, hotlist, or file reference can also be used to point
to a user's site; this information is also included.
Starting Splitbot
Enabling individual access for Splitbot is very simple. The user simply
executes sbtab with no parameters:
% sbtab
When sbtab is executed, the user is verified and the destination directory
is tested for proper access. If an error occurs during execution, an error
message is displayed indicating the source of the problem. To verify that the
user is now in the Splitbot database, sbtab may be executed using the
-L parameter:
% sbtab -l
The user's login name, default file size limit, and destination directory
path will be displayed. Other command line parameters are available; they
are discusses in the next section.
Once sbtab is executed and the user's entry in the Splitbot database is
verified, it will take up to 10 minutes for the first logfiles to appear, so
don't be concerned if nothing happens immediately. If your WWW page is not
visited very often, it can even take longer. Splitbot won't create the logfiles
until there is an entry in the Host logs. If your page is only visited a few
times a day, it may be several hours before the logs appear.
Command Line Flags
The sbtab utility has several command line options. A command line option is
always prefixed with the '-' character, and may be in either upper or lower
case. Mutliple command-line options may be used as long as each one begins
with it's own '-' character and each option is separated by other options with
spaces. The following sbtab command line options are available:
USAGE:
sbtab {-h -l -r -s}
-h Help listing (what you see now)
-l List current settings
-r Removes (disables) entry from the table
-s value Specifies size limit for logfile
Hints
If you want to change your file size limit after you have enabled Splitbot,
you must first disable it, and then re-enable it with the size parameter:
% sbtab -r
% sbtab -s 5000000
The example above will disable logfile generation and then immediately
re-enable it with the new file size limit of 5 Mbytes.
Korn shell users must make sure that their USER and HOME environment variables
are set before executing sbtab.
It is up to the user to manage their own logfiles. For example, if you set the
file size limit to a number larger than the storage space you are allocated
on XMission, then Splitbot could eventually use up all your available storage
space. It is recommended that you monitor the logfiles sizes, and when they
become too large, delete them. The next time Splitbot is executed, the logfile
will pick up where the old (deleted) file left off.
Known Bugs & Implementation Issues
There are no know bugs at this time.
XMission is using "Spinner" for it's WWW Server. Spinner does not currently
have support for errors or referer_log files, although they
are working on a new release that should include them. Until then, Splitbot
will only generate the access_log file. When the new version of
Spinner is installed, these files will appear in your directory automatically.
All pages built and maintained by Dave Tubbs (dtubbs@xmission.com)
Text and Images Copyright © 1995 Dave Tubbs - All Rights Reserved
Last updated 13 October 1995