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wcmtools/spud/doc/README.txt

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+SPUD -- Statistic Polling and Updating Daemon
+        System Productivity and Utilization Daemon
+        ...or something
+
+-- Introduction --
+SPUD is a set of programs that are designed to collect statistics using
+a variety of methods that are easily extendable to gather information on
+almost anything you could want to get statistics on.  It then stores these
+bits of data in a simple hash server that supports retrieving data enmasse
+as well as subscribing to update events.
+
+
+-- The Components --
+There are several pieces to the system:
+
+ - server
+   A simple server that stores key/value pairs with 100 data points
+   of history.
+
+ - gatherer
+   The program that gathers the actual numbers and puts them in a
+   stats-server.
+
+ - replicator
+   Works in conjunction with a properly configured SSH daemon and the
+   cmdshell utility to get stats from one secure network to another.
+
+ - wrapper
+   A little script that effectively "wraps" another shell command and
+   pipes its STDOUT/STDERR to appropriately named keys on the server.
+   Also keeps track of the start/end times of the last time the command
+   ran.
+
+ - cmdshell
+   A simple utility program that works with stats-replicator.
+
+For more information on each component, please see the various
+configuration files in the conf directory as well as the opening comments
+of each program.  They are fairly well described in there.
+
+
+-- Setup --
+More documentation to come after the bugs are worked out and the system is
+actually setup and in use.  But, in general:
+
+1. Run a stats-server in your internal network somewhere and note the port.
+
+2. Setup the stats.conf for the statistic gatherers.  Then run it once on
+a machine that's got some spare time to do gathering.  Make sure to point
+this configuration's config files at the server from step 1.
+
+3. Setup an SSH daemon and dummy account on a border machine that you can
+get to from the outside world and that can also see the internal network.
+Set the shell of the dummy user to cmdshell and configure cmdshell.  Also
+setup the authorized_keys file appropriately.  You will want a command
+(e.g. replicator) that points at the server setup in step 1.
+
+4. Setup a second stats-server on your local machine/network.  Note down
+the port again.
+
+5. Setup the stats-local.conf on your local end to point to the SSH daemon
+that you setup in step 3.  Now run the replicator and point it at this
+config file and it will start copying data from the first stats server to
+the second.
+
+That's it.  Now get some statistics displayers and all of the data gathered
+and put onto the first server will be replicated over to the second server.