Re: [RFR] templates://nbd/{nbd-client.templates,nbd-server.templates}

[Justin B Rye <jbr@edlug.org.uk>]

Thanks for the input.

Wouter Verhelst wrote:
> On Wed, Apr 29, 2009 at 10:17:58PM +0100, Justin B Rye wrote:
>>>  Template: nbd-client/killall
>> [...]
>>>  _Description: Kill all nbd devices on 'stop'?
>> 
>> "Killing" a device suggests smashing the hardware; as far as I can
>> see there's not even any use of kill or killall here, just umount.
> 
> There's a disconnect too, actually.
> 
> Perhaps 'kill' might be too strong, but 'umount' definitely does not
> cover everything. The only reason this question exists is because
> disconnecting an nbd device, contrary to umounting a file system, is
> perfectly possible _even if the device is in use_. Doing this when not
> intended *will* cause data loss, so we have to be rather careful.

So how about always using the word "disconnect" for NBD devices,
including in the first paragraph of text?

>>>   When the nbd-client initscript is called to stop the nbd-client
>>>   service, there are two things that can be done: either it can stop all
>>>   nbd-client devices, or it can stop only those nbd-client devices that
>>>   it knows about in its config file.

This currently uses "stop" for both services and devices.

[...]
>>>   The traditional behaviour was to stop all nbd-client devices, including
>>>   those that were not specified in the nbd-client config file; for that
>>>   reason, the default answer is to kill all nbd devices. However, if you
>>> + are running critical file systems, such as the root device, on NBD,
>>>   then this is a bad idea; in that case, please do not accept this
>>>   option.
>> 
>> s/behaviour/behavior/; but why the past tense if it's still the
>> default?  And reduce the repetition:
> 
> The traditional behaviour was not configurable; it would *always*
> disconnect all devices. I received a (valid, of course) bug report about
> that, which is why this feature was added.

So it definitely needs amending; maybe:

 _Description: Disconnect all NBD devices on "stop"?
  When the nbd-client initscript is called to stop the nbd-client service,
  there are two things that can be done: either it can disconnect all
  nbd-client devices (which are assumed not to be in use), or it can
  disconnect only those nbd-client devices that it knows about in its
  config file.
  .
  The default (and the traditional behavior) is to disconnect all
  nbd-client devices. If the root device or other critical file systems
  are on NBD this will cause data loss and should not be accepted.

-- 
JBR	with qualifications in linguistics, experience as a Debian
	sysadmin, and probably no clue about this particular package