#config-directory #bin #db #version #blob #client #meld

bin+lib meld-config-manager

a meld client written in Rust

1 unstable release

0.1.0 May 29, 2022

#914 in Filesystem

MIT license

72KB
1.5K SLoC

Rust 1K SLoC // 0.1% comments Shell 565 SLoC // 0.1% comments

Gitlab pipeline status (self-hosted)

GitLab Release (custom instance)

Meld Docs

Upstream Repo

The spec and design choices for Meld

Goal

Meld will enable easy, cross system configuration control in order to reduce complexity in replicating environments on multiple systems.


Terms

  • Bin
    • The directory to store configs and the db
    • Each bin should track a logical grouping of configs
      • A users DE config, for example
  • Configs
    • Indiviual files, commited either directly or via their parent folder(s)
    • These are all stored as described in the blobs/ dir
  • Subset
    • A further breakdown of configs within a bin
      • Inside of the DE bin, a user could track their "i3" and "polybar" configs as subsets
      • This is helpful since both of these configs are folders with mutiple internal files
  • Family
    • A logical grouping of subsets
      • The "wm" family could contain subsets "i3", "polybar", and "dunst" for example
  • Map Path
    • The mapped folder on the system
      • $HOME$/.config/i3/config - stored
      • /home/icon/.config/i3/config - resolved path
    • Should be the minimum amount of path needed to be resolved correctly
      • This is to avoid having a bunch of variables
      • Since configs are stored similarly once you get to the package setup, the "prefix" is the only part that needs mapping
  • Blob
    • The name of a tracked config, stored in bin/blobs/NAME
    • The blob name is the SHA512 hash of the Store Path
    • Blob versions are tracked like bin/blobs/BLOB/n
  • Map
    • In order to properly track states of directories, we take "snapshots" of them
    • These snapshots are named with the <SHA512 of dir path>-<version of the snapshot>
    • The map files contain the <BLOB>-<Version> of the configs in the dir at the moment the snapshot is taken

Design Objectives

  • Language Agnostic
    • 'meld' is a layout and protocol
    • enables easy client implimentation
  • Mostly Human readable files
    • No weird or custom file formats
  • Use a "one bin per area" philosophy
    • enables logical grouping of similar configs
    • subsets/families can be used for further control
    • ideal useage - one meld bin for all your DE configs
    • non-deal usage - one meld bin for your entire system configs
      • while this would probably still work, why make it more complex?
  • Structured in a way that is client agnostic, or easy to serve
    • Should be able to work behind a SSH or HTTP proxy
    • Should also be able to operate directly out of a bin's directory
    • Bins created with different clients should be interoperable
  • Enable Mappings for maximum flexibility between systems
    • B1 - $HOME$:/home/icon
    • B2 - $HOME$:/home/drew.parker
    • Stored Path: $HOME$/.config/example.conf
  • Ease of use and design consistency should be maintaned above all else
  • Enable basic version control through the use of a git subsystem (TODO)

Supported Actions and options

  • init

    • initialze a new bin
      • -p - initialize all parent directories needed
      • -f - force use of an existing directory
      • --comments - add some information about the bin to the "binfo" table in the db
        • needs more looking into; potentially store directly in a "info.txt" in the bin root (TODO)
  • push

    • track a new config to the bin (or update an existing config)
    • -s/--subset - add subset information
    • -t/--tag - add tag information
    • -f/--family - add family information
  • pull

    • install a config from the bin
    • -t/--tag - pull a config matching the most recent specific tagged version
    • -v/--version - pull a config matching the specified version
    • -r/--recent - if -t/-v specified and not found, this is used to pull the most recent regardless
  • list

    • list all tracked configs in the bin
      • add some display options here (TODO)
  • pivot

    • rename a variable inside of the tracked table
    • essentially redefines a variable in the db
    • $HOME$ -> $HOME_ICON$
  • sync up/down

    • up - pull new versions of all tracked configs into the bin
      • warn if new configs cannot be pulled
    • down - install all configs from a bin
      • warn/prompt if overwriting existing configs
    • do stuff with subsets here (TODO)
  • validate bin/configs/checksums

    • ensure the dir contains all neededm meld files
    • all tracked configs exist on a system (basically sync dryrun? (TODO))
    • Hash all blob files and ensure their tracked hash matches

Meld DB and Bin Layouts

The meld.db file is a SQLite file with 2 tables:

  1. Configs - Primary table for matching configs to blob names
    • id - The SHA512 hash of the Stored Path
    • subset - An optional string to identify if the config is a member of a subset
      • Blank if not in a subset
    • family - An optional string to identify if the config is a member of a family
      • Blank if not in a family
  2. Versions - Enable basic version control
    • id - SHA512 hash of blob contents
      • If the version refers to a Directory, this is "DIR"
    • ver - The current version of the config (increments by one on pushes of previously tracked configs)
    • tag - A tag for marking specific versions (ie tagging a config that works on older softare versions)
    • owner - The ID (ie blob name) of the Config this Version entry belongs to
  3. Maps - Enable snapshoting of directory states (only set if push is called on a dir)
    • id - SHA512 hash of the dir path
    • ver - The snapshot version - only increments if one of the internal files has been updated
    • nhash - A hash of all the concated content hashes of the configs inside of the dir (ie hash(hash1 + hash2 + hash3))

The Meld Directory layout is:

meld_dir/
|  config.yml             # config and metadata about the bin (not currently implimented)
|  meld.db                # sqlite db file
|__blobs/
   |__<HASH1>/            # a config with 2 tracked versions
       |  1
       |  2
   |__<HASH2>/            # a config with 1 tracked config, and a blob config
       |  config.yml      # optional config; sets options like pruning (not currently implimented)
       |  1               
|__maps/
   |__<HASH2>-<Version>   # a map file for snapshoting the contents of a dir

Example Meld Usage and Tree Debuging is Enabled through the setting of RUST_LOG

> RUST_LOG=debug meld /tmp/meld_test init
[2022-05-29T02:25:46Z INFO  libmeld::bin] Creating bin at /tmp/meld_test
[2022-05-29T02:25:46Z INFO  libmeld::bin] Creating "/tmp/meld_test"
[2022-05-29T02:25:46Z INFO  libmeld::bin] Creating "/tmp/meld_test/maps"
[2022-05-29T02:25:46Z INFO  libmeld::bin] Creating "/tmp/meld_test/blobs"
[2022-05-29T02:25:46Z INFO  libmeld::db] Creating "/tmp/meld_test/meld.db"
[2022-05-29T02:25:46Z INFO  meld] No Errors
> meld /tmp/meld_test push Cargo.toml
> echo "NONSENSE" > Cargo.toml
> meld /tmp/meld_test push Cargo.toml
> rm Cargo.toml
> meld /tmp/meld_test pull ~/Projects/meld/meld-rust/Cargo.toml -v 1
> head Cargo.toml
[package]
name = "meld"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2021"
description = "a meld client written in Rust"
authors = ["drew <drew@parker.systems>"]
readme = "README.md"
license = "MIT"

[lib]
> meld /tmp/meld_test push src/
> tree /tmp/meld_test
/tmp/meld_test
├── blobs
│   ├── 18990ecaf4a799b7119dfef47a51eec51a6ba2c7c376527460d82cae2ec1ceeb23ab037904349405cd24c380aa80bcf737035cd22ff0dada53e7eed30dde4b9f
│   │   └── 1
│   ├── 1c54ad4c8d8eb4aeb8a85ac17b2505a1fab357ebbb53837ef753ea202e716470a43749c0e8aa25c8ec519d75677b593e3173a356cd0497aff691ec36b74a533c
│   ├── 355e95d5dbcbe1fba3e41ef3fcb60aa071028359269213a1e3bf034abbcf634c6ec8a10f12c602788cb38292729cd207309f8ba98ff9bbe9fc19795b186990a1
│   │   ├── 1
│   │   └── 2
│   ├── 396814739440b6c50dbd6df3844f6a0296e5d4656dc41c923a45365ba4dbdca050ad0e482075aebc5a587763fc02272dd6112de2ca6332f952d54fbe9a5b5e6f
│   │   └── 1
│   ├── 3befc5987409a51244955c15972cce01651df9f092a589211899bbf2a2d5b8b680b67bdd9d86af5099abf7b782fb0bfa33f009dd7baa99585d609e562733f1ec
│   │   └── 1
│   ├── 40dcd0373e6ee3e5987e0df6a6d449078edb858ca7d983d6dd5b0fc520f8748c8156e0f4231b5b90b31dfe4b2887ff35ca6587f7d413b2a0e2ae5841e2c42e6b
│   │   └── 1
│   ├── 5afe942f5ddb73f436c005a377163e1b1675812a77eae2942f0e0bf69b7ff13ede869e3e61240e2e776167745c7ace07545e8969d88b571a5fef192dc0421c6c
│   │   └── 1
│   ├── 6f8390c0bc657f16393eeee71327e6dce63d36136160b7e134cda47af0404ab0af84dbe86623872bda701bb924f05d928eaafe74f054a6bc0cd6211dd596077b
│   │   └── 1
│   ├── 7d71b39efc830dd5a6b750a04da9e2eb70a643a1d258dc6597506bd8e179879edb3f6750daeeadca0b0d297771fda17e612f610355c63a60d5c0c87ff39e684d
│   ├── 86aa385dc723c2b2a35e5cba823337be01599326345091b71b3f86283bd7a5a5303b50b5c382f6b3fb4a4b41307a7b0a653bdf0bfb2f9f59b30be916d0dd55ad
│   │   └── 1
│   ├── 92cdce5675765e1606b71f7603170dee57a26adda822a5cd6b86d059f4d0481e83a67130fb00289612b3220ee563fc3b6dcfbeab645bf578744527c77502e3d4
│   │   └── 1
│   ├── b04d9ac3de1e4e2d3a633832cc71955dcf696039d11a6750e34df8ad2e863afd158b77f9fc0ea589dff1daad5dd9d6df1946e9449ce43f9a38a4bf5c75b83f91
│   │   └── 1
│   ├── c3373f98aac47c4332ab89e27a3dbf1af844109b31a16eb0ed2f4b39df924dcb1c31df737f257eb162b68f7b9ac60ac2d5f620e83451bfc4db8f411e7e0b1521
│   │   └── 1
│   └── f731bebb01b825610631b257585d7cec56b1154441b529f0f9636b3b74554fd750c1ef75cfd1e1e18b7fabedbc53ca3cab3db05209ce020149739a0a14029819
│       └── 1
├── maps
│   └── 155b01e6d21788db91e748932deaca4962ee6f723cc7afd32e82ccf555304499dad06ef5d92dae480903592dec7a1a77ad46d841d455cddb97bfac2bc6d169c7-1
└── meld.db

16 directories, 15 files
> cat /tmp/meld_test/maps/*
7d71b39efc830dd5a6b750a04da9e2eb70a643a1d258dc6597506bd8e179879edb3f6750daeeadca0b0d297771fda17e612f610355c63a60d5c0c87ff39e684d-1
18990ecaf4a799b7119dfef47a51eec51a6ba2c7c376527460d82cae2ec1ceeb23ab037904349405cd24c380aa80bcf737035cd22ff0dada53e7eed30dde4b9f-1
1c54ad4c8d8eb4aeb8a85ac17b2505a1fab357ebbb53837ef753ea202e716470a43749c0e8aa25c8ec519d75677b593e3173a356cd0497aff691ec36b74a533c-1
40dcd0373e6ee3e5987e0df6a6d449078edb858ca7d983d6dd5b0fc520f8748c8156e0f4231b5b90b31dfe4b2887ff35ca6587f7d413b2a0e2ae5841e2c42e6b-1
86aa385dc723c2b2a35e5cba823337be01599326345091b71b3f86283bd7a5a5303b50b5c382f6b3fb4a4b41307a7b0a653bdf0bfb2f9f59b30be916d0dd55ad-1
396814739440b6c50dbd6df3844f6a0296e5d4656dc41c923a45365ba4dbdca050ad0e482075aebc5a587763fc02272dd6112de2ca6332f952d54fbe9a5b5e6f-1
b04d9ac3de1e4e2d3a633832cc71955dcf696039d11a6750e34df8ad2e863afd158b77f9fc0ea589dff1daad5dd9d6df1946e9449ce43f9a38a4bf5c75b83f91-1
5afe942f5ddb73f436c005a377163e1b1675812a77eae2942f0e0bf69b7ff13ede869e3e61240e2e776167745c7ace07545e8969d88b571a5fef192dc0421c6c-1
c3373f98aac47c4332ab89e27a3dbf1af844109b31a16eb0ed2f4b39df924dcb1c31df737f257eb162b68f7b9ac60ac2d5f620e83451bfc4db8f411e7e0b1521-1
6f8390c0bc657f16393eeee71327e6dce63d36136160b7e134cda47af0404ab0af84dbe86623872bda701bb924f05d928eaafe74f054a6bc0cd6211dd596077b-1
f731bebb01b825610631b257585d7cec56b1154441b529f0f9636b3b74554fd750c1ef75cfd1e1e18b7fabedbc53ca3cab3db05209ce020149739a0a14029819-1
92cdce5675765e1606b71f7603170dee57a26adda822a5cd6b86d059f4d0481e83a67130fb00289612b3220ee563fc3b6dcfbeab645bf578744527c77502e3d4-1
3befc5987409a51244955c15972cce01651df9f092a589211899bbf2a2d5b8b680b67bdd9d86af5099abf7b782fb0bfa33f009dd7baa99585d609e562733f1ec-1

Dependencies

~27–36MB
~590K SLoC