HTTPFS provides a REST interface that exposes a distributed filesystem as if it were a single server.
The servers must be free of conflicts on startup.
The system will then guarantee that files only exist on a single server.
Starting a server:
./httpfs [-p PORT] [[list of remote servers] | [-d REMOTE_SERVER]]
- -p Override the default port (2020)
- -d Instead of a list of all the servers, the server will contact a single remote server and ask for its list of known servers. It'll then join the cluster.
A server can be added to a cluster by using the -d command line switch.
A server can leave a cluster by sending it a DISCONNECT HTTP request.
When starting in discovery mode, the server will try to join a cluster. If it fails to join because not all the hosts accepted it, it'll then attempt to disconnect cleanly as to not leave the cluster in an inconsistent state.
Read.
On a file: returns the contents of the file.
On a directory: returns the contents of the directory. The is-directory header will be true.
Write.
On a file: overwrites the contents of the file.
On a directory: error.
Create.
Without the is-directory header: creates an empty file.
With the is-directory header: creates an empty directory.
Delete.
On a file: deletes the file.
On a directory: deletes the directory. The directory must be empty. The is-directory header must be set.
Leave the cluster.