Mailing List Archive: MythTV: Users

Mounting NFS shares on FE for consistent directory structure

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glenhawk at optusnet

Nov 26, 2008, 2:57 PM

Post #1 of 6 (456 views)
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Mounting NFS shares on FE for consistent directory structure

I run a networked system at home. My most recent configuration was with an 'always-on' server and I used fusesmb to browse the network for MythVideo (etc.). The problem with this is that we would get inconsistencies in Video Manager between the FE on the server and the other FEs

The configuration before that I was still using an always on server and had mounted the nfs shares using fstab. The problem with this is that during boot up I would get internal errors related to mounting the shares that would slow the boot time considerably (but once it finally booted mythvideo, mythmusic, etc. all found their shared files without a problem).

One configuration before that I was using only a combined FE/BE and I was using acpi to switch it on and off for recording.

I am now trying to combine all three of the above. I am setting up the server with ACPI, I want consistent file sharing between the FEs and I don't want any problems trying to mount shares during boot up.
I have managed to get the FE waking up the BE (WOL) but logically that means that the FE boots before the server... before I start experimenting what is this going to mean for mounting shares? My gut feeling is that fstab mounted shares won't mount.

Sitting here brainstorming the best solution that I can think of (based on my intermediate knowledge of such matters) is to set up all FE clients with fusesmb including the server (it would look out to the network and then back in on itself I guess). Since fuse allows the samba shares to be browsed I wouldn't need to worry about mounting drives and if I used the network paths on all the FE clients then I should have consistency in Video Manager.

Is there a more elegant way to achieve my desired goal? Has this situation been discussed before? (I have no idea how to google this one "mythtv mount network shares after waking the server")
Just had a thought... how does MythTV access the TV storage directories? You can watch recorded TV no problems after waking up a BE with a FE; can you set up the video and music shares in the same way?

Sorry for the rambling but I am planning to spend this weekend tweaking all the settings. I don't mind a bit of trial and error but I really want to work as efficiently as I can,
Cheers,
Glen
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opustormy at gmail

Nov 26, 2008, 3:08 PM

Post #2 of 6 (432 views)
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Re: Mounting NFS shares on FE for consistent directory structure [In reply to]

Here's an idea... I mean, I come from a completely different background (I'm
more of a programmer than a networking guru)

If you want to wait for your BE to wake up, you could write a program that
would make the FE "wait" (in essence, the computer would be running a loop
for a pre-determined amount of time, hopefully enough to give you enough
time for the other computer to get online, so when you get to the point in
your boot up sequence to mount your drives, the BE will be ready.)

I would think you would have to place that in your boot scripts folder, and
place your wake-up script higher on the list.

Meh, I'm not sure if this will do much, but good luck!

Jonathan S.

On Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 4:57 PM, <glenhawk[at]optusnet.com.au> wrote:

> I run a networked system at home. My most recent configuration was with an
> 'always-on' server and I used fusesmb to browse the network for MythVideo
> (etc.). The problem with this is that we would get inconsistencies in Video
> Manager between the FE on the server and the other FEs
>
> The configuration before that I was still using an always on server and had
> mounted the nfs shares using fstab. The problem with this is that during
> boot up I would get internal errors related to mounting the shares that
> would slow the boot time considerably (but once it finally booted mythvideo,
> mythmusic, etc. all found their shared files without a problem).
>
> One configuration before that I was using only a combined FE/BE and I was
> using acpi to switch it on and off for recording.
>
> I am now trying to combine all three of the above. I am setting up the
> server with ACPI, I want consistent file sharing between the FEs and I don't
> want any problems trying to mount shares during boot up.
> I have managed to get the FE waking up the BE (WOL) but logically that
> means that the FE boots before the server... before I start experimenting
> what is this going to mean for mounting shares? My gut feeling is that fstab
> mounted shares won't mount.
>
> Sitting here brainstorming the best solution that I can think of (based on
> my intermediate knowledge of such matters) is to set up all FE clients with
> fusesmb including the server (it would look out to the network and then back
> in on itself I guess). Since fuse allows the samba shares to be browsed I
> wouldn't need to worry about mounting drives and if I used the network paths
> on all the FE clients then I should have consistency in Video Manager.
>
> Is there a more elegant way to achieve my desired goal? Has this situation
> been discussed before? (I have no idea how to google this one "mythtv mount
> network shares after waking the server")
> Just had a thought... how does MythTV access the TV storage directories?
> You can watch recorded TV no problems after waking up a BE with a FE; can
> you set up the video and music shares in the same way?
>
> Sorry for the rambling but I am planning to spend this weekend tweaking all
> the settings. I don't mind a bit of trial and error but I really want to
> work as efficiently as I can,
> Cheers,
> Glen
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users[at]mythtv.org
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>

glenhawk at optusnet

Nov 26, 2008, 5:17 PM

Post #3 of 6 (433 views)
Permalink

Re: Mounting NFS shares on FE for consistent directory structure [In reply to]

> > I run a networked system at home. My most recent configuration was
> with an
> > 'always-on' server and I used fusesmb to browse the network for
> MythVideo
> > (etc.). The problem with this is that we would get inconsistencies in
> Video
> > Manager between the FE on the server and the other FEs
> >
> > The configuration before that I was still using an always on server
> and had
> > mounted the nfs shares using fstab. The problem with this is that
> during
> > boot up I would get internal errors related to mounting the shares
> that
> > would slow the boot time considerably (but once it finally booted
> mythvideo,
> > mythmusic, etc. all found their shared files without a problem).
> >
> > One configuration before that I was using only a combined FE/BE and I
> was
> > using acpi to switch it on and off for recording.
> >
> > I am now trying to combine all three of the above. I am setting up the
> > server with ACPI, I want consistent file sharing between the FEs and I
> don't
> > want any problems trying to mount shares during boot up.
> > I have managed to get the FE waking up the BE (WOL) but logically that
> > means that the FE boots before the server... before I start
> experimenting
> > what is this going to mean for mounting shares? My gut feeling is that
> fstab
> > mounted shares won't mount.
> >
> > Sitting here brainstorming the best solution that I can think of
> (based on
> > my intermediate knowledge of such matters) is to set up all FE clients
> with
> > fusesmb including the server (it would look out to the network and
> then back
> > in on itself I guess). Since fuse allows the samba shares to be
> browsed I
> > wouldn't need to worry about mounting drives and if I used the network
> paths
> > on all the FE clients then I should have consistency in Video Manager.
> >
> > Is there a more elegant way to achieve my desired goal? Has this
> situation
> > been discussed before? (I have no idea how to google this one "mythtv
> mount
> > network shares after waking the server")
> > Just had a thought... how does MythTV access the TV storage
> directories?
> > You can watch recorded TV no problems after waking up a BE with a FE;
> can
> > you set up the video and music shares in the same way?
> >
> > Sorry for the rambling but I am planning to spend this weekend
> tweaking all
> > the settings. I don't mind a bit of trial and error but I really want
> to
> > work as efficiently as I can,
> > Cheers,
> > Glen

> Jonathan Seawright <opustormy[at]gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Here's an idea... I mean, I come from a completely different background
> (I'm
> more of a programmer than a networking guru)
>
> If you want to wait for your BE to wake up, you could write a program
> that
> would make the FE "wait" (in essence, the computer would be running a
> loop
> for a pre-determined amount of time, hopefully enough to give you enough
> time for the other computer to get online, so when you get to the point
> in
> your boot up sequence to mount your drives, the BE will be ready.)
>
> I would think you would have to place that in your boot scripts folder,
> and
> place your wake-up script higher on the list.
>
> Meh, I'm not sure if this will do much, but good luck!
>
> Jonathan S.
>
>

hmmmm... a good idea but I'm not yet comfortable scripting and I am currently using the wake-up feature in MythTV to start the BE. I'm not sure how you would get inbetween the wake-up routine and the mounting of the drives.
Thanks for the input, I'll see if I can find anyone on the net that has already written a script like the one you are suggesting.
Glen
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mkh01 at earthlink

Nov 26, 2008, 5:25 PM

Post #4 of 6 (433 views)
Permalink

Re: Mounting NFS shares on FE for consistent directory structure [In reply to]

On Thu, Nov 27, 2008 at 09:57:48AM +1100, glenhawk[at]optusnet.com.au
wrote:
> The configuration before that I was still using an always on server
> and had mounted the nfs shares using fstab. The problem with this is
> that during boot up I would get internal errors related to mounting
> the shares that would slow the boot time considerably (but once it
> finally booted mythvideo, mythmusic, etc. all found their shared files
> without a problem).

Use autofs. Nothing will try to mount until something accesses an autofs
mount, and then when it's not being used it will umount automatically.

> Just had a thought... how does MythTV access the TV storage
> directories? You can watch recorded TV no problems after waking up a
> BE with a FE; can you set up the video and music shares in the same
> way?

Recordings will be streamed if the frontend can't see the recordings
directory, but nothing else works that way.

--
Michael Heironimus
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mythtv-users[at]mythtv.org
http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

glenhawk at optusnet

Nov 26, 2008, 5:45 PM

Post #5 of 6 (435 views)
Permalink

Re: Mounting NFS shares on FE for consistent directory structure [In reply to]

>> Michael Heironimus <mkh01[at]earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>On Thu, Nov 27, 2008 at 09:57:48AM +1100, glenhawk[at]optusnet.com.au
>wrote:
>> The configuration before that I was still using an always on server
>> and had mounted the nfs shares using fstab. The problem with this is
>> that during boot up I would get internal errors related to mounting
>> the shares that would slow the boot time considerably (but once it
>> finally booted mythvideo, mythmusic, etc. all found their shared files
>> without a problem).

>Use autofs. Nothing will try to mount until something accesses an autofs
>mount, and then when it's not being used it will umount automatically.

>> Just had a thought... how does MythTV access the TV storage
>> directories? You can watch recorded TV no problems after waking up a
>> BE with a FE; can you set up the video and music shares in the same
>> way?

>Recordings will be streamed if the frontend can't see the recordings
>directory, but nothing else works that way.

>--
>Michael Heironimus

Awesome reply Michael!
thanks, I'll check it out
Glen
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mrrooster at gmail

Nov 27, 2008, 1:41 AM

Post #6 of 6 (420 views)
Permalink

Re: Mounting NFS shares on FE for consistent directory structure [In reply to]

2008/11/27 <glenhawk[at]optusnet.com.au>

>
> [snip multi system mnounting issues]
> >
>
> hmmmm... a good idea but I'm not yet comfortable scripting and I am
> currently using the wake-up feature in MythTV to start the BE. I'm not sure
> how you would get inbetween the wake-up routine and the mounting of the
> drives.
> Thanks for the input, I'll see if I can find anyone on the net that has
> already written a script like the one you are suggesting.

I use the below perl script to pause mythwelcome before the BE is up,
otherwise I get the annoying 'can't connect' messages. I use it like this:

until /home/ian/bin/ismythup.pl;do sleep 1;done

in my BE startup script. (it pauses booting until it's all started.)

You should be able to just change the hostname to get it to talk to a remote
backend.

Hope that's some use.

Cheers,

Ian

<---
#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use IO::Socket;

my $host = 'localhost';
my $port = 6543;
my $sock;

while (! ($sock = new IO::Socket::INET(
PeerAddr => $host,
PeerPort => $port,
Proto => 'tcp') )) {select undef,undef,undef,5;exit 1}

print $sock "20 MYTH_PROTO_VERSION 8\n";
if (<$sock>=~/13 REJECT[]:[]/) {
exit 0;
}

exit 1;
<--

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