[Gluster-devel] volume stanzas for non-existent directories in server volume specification

[John Marshall]

Brandon Lamb wrote:
> On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 1:49 PM, John Marshall <John.Marshall at ec.gc.ca> wrote:
>   
>> My question comes from wanting to export multiple, differently named,
>> directories from different hosts (assume 1 dir/host). Must I create a
>> separate server volume spec for each host, or can I simply put all the
>> information into one spec file and ignore the errors?
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>> John
>>     
>
> If the directory names are different on all of your servers, then yes
> they will all have different spec files. Using a single spec file that
> is identical on all servers would assume that the volume you are
> exporting has the same exact directory name on all servers.
>
> So in your case, your server spec files will be *mostly* identical
> except for the "option directory <DIRECTORY>" line which will point to
> the volume directory for the given server.
>   

Are separate spec files a _must_? Now and in the future? I'd prefer to
manage a single file (even if there are non-fatal errors) than many. Of
course, the examples allow for a brick and brick-ns in the specification,
which makes them simple.

Might there be any interest in supporting an option which allows for a
single server volume spec file to be used but to not cause errors? E.g.,

-----
volume a
    ...
    option directory /data/a
    option hosts host-a1, host-a2
end-volume

volume b
    ...
    option directory /data/b
    option hosts host-b1, host-b2
end-volume

...
-----

The default for such stanzas would be: "option hosts *".

Thanks,
John