7.7 KiB
Distributor Operations
Normal Workflow
Validate a source bundle:
go run ./cmd/distributor validate examples/source-bundle
Preview a local publication:
go run ./cmd/distributor run --config examples/local-publish.yml --dry-run
Run the local publication:
go run ./cmd/distributor run --config examples/local-publish.yml
Run the local HTML publication:
go run ./cmd/distributor run --config examples/local-html.yml
Preview local fan-out publication:
go run ./cmd/distributor run --config examples/fan-out.yml --dry-run
Preview an environment-gated SSH destination config after editing it for an SSH/SFTP endpoint you control:
go run ./cmd/distributor run --config examples/ssh-destination.yml --dry-run
Preview an environment-gated S3 destination config after editing it for an S3-compatible endpoint and bucket you control:
go run ./cmd/distributor run --config examples/s3-destination.yml --dry-run
Filesystem Layout
Source bundles are discovered beneath the configured source root. Each bundle is a directory containing manifest.json.
Destination bundle paths preserve the source bundle path relative to the source root. A source bundle at the source root publishes to the destination root. A source bundle under daily/ publishes under daily/ at each destination.
The maintained local examples write under workspace/, which is ignored by Git.
SSH backends use the configured remote path as the backend root. Source bundle discovery and destination bundle paths are relative to that root, using the same logical path rules as local storage.
S3 backends use the configured bucket plus optional prefix as the backend root. Source bundle discovery and destination bundle paths are relative to that object-key prefix. Prefixes are object-key prefixes, not real directories.
Destination State
Each published destination bundle contains .distributor.json. This file is the managed sentinel and destination state record. It stores:
- pipeline and destination identity;
- publication timestamp;
- source manifest used for publication;
- copied source output metadata;
- generated output metadata.
manifest.json from the source bundle is not copied as destination state.
Do not edit .distributor.json by hand during normal operation. If it is missing or invalid while destination files remain, distributor treats the destination as unmanaged or conflicted.
Dry Runs
--dry-run loads and validates config, discovers source bundles, inspects destination state, plans outputs, and prints summary lines. It does not write output files, destination state, or SSH known_hosts entries.
Dry-run output is useful before publishing to confirm actions such as publish_new, replace_older, force_replace, skip_same, and skip_destination_newer.
Destination action lines include the destination backend, so mixed local, SSH, and S3 fan-out runs can be audited before publication.
Retry and Replacement Behavior
If a destination has matching .distributor.json, publication skips it as already published.
If destination state is older than the source manifest and transfer policy allows replacement, publication deletes only managed outputs recorded in .distributor.json plus the state file, then writes the new outputs and state.
If destination state is newer than the source manifest, the default behavior is to skip. If destination state has the same source id and created timestamp but a different digest, publication fails as a conflict.
If a destination path has files but no valid .distributor.json, publication fails as unmanaged content unless the current run explicitly uses --force.
Force Workflow
Use --force only after a dry run shows the intended force_replace action:
go run ./cmd/distributor run --config <config-path> --dry-run --force
go run ./cmd/distributor run --config <config-path> --force
Forced replacement can overwrite unmanaged non-empty destination paths. Destination state conflicts require transfer.on_conflict: replace plus --force. Newer destination state requires transfer.on_destination_newer: replace plus --force.
Forced replacement deletes the current destination bundle path before writing outputs and state. It does not delete above that bundle path. For S3 destinations, deletion is constrained to the configured bucket and prefix plus the destination bundle prefix. Force is per run only and has no config default.
Failure Handling
If one destination fails in a fan-out run, independent later destinations are still planned and executed. The command exits non-zero after printing the final status if any destination failed.
Errors include the pipeline id, destination id, destination backend, and bundle path where applicable.
If a write fails during publication, distributor attempts to remove outputs written during that failed attempt so a retry does not see those partial outputs as unmanaged destination content.
After a successful publish or replacement, the internal notifier hook runs. The current default notifier is a no-op. Skipped destinations do not invoke it.
SSH Operation Notes
SSH execution uses SFTP over golang.org/x/crypto/ssh and github.com/pkg/sftp. It does not shell out to ssh, scp, or rsync.
Configure ssh_key_file, an SSH agent, or both. Agent identities are attempted first, followed by the configured key file. YAML password authentication is not supported.
The default host key policy is accept-new. New host keys are written to known_hosts when the file path is writable. During --dry-run, unknown host keys may be accepted for the current connection but are not written to known_hosts; a later non-dry-run may persist the same key. Changed host keys are fatal for both strict and accept-new. The off policy disables host key checking and run prints a warning when stdout is enabled.
Recovery boundaries are the same as local storage: replacement deletes only managed output paths recorded in .distributor.json plus the state file, and failed writes are cleaned up where practical. Distributor never performs broad recursive remote deletion.
S3 Operation Notes
S3 execution uses the AWS SDK for Go v2. Configure endpoint, bucket, optional prefix, optional region, and optional explicit credential environment variable names.
When explicit credential env names are configured, both variables must resolve to non-empty values through the real process environment or secrets.directory. When they are omitted, the AWS SDK default credential chain is used as-is.
Normal replacement and failed-write cleanup delete only managed output objects recorded in .distributor.json plus the state object. Forced replacement deletes objects under the bounded destination bundle prefix. Distributor does not manage bucket versioning or delete markers.
Secrets Directory
Configure secrets.directory when credential values should come from mounted files, such as deployment secrets:
secrets:
directory: /run/secrets/distributor
The directory is loaded during run before any source or destination backend is opened. If the directory is missing, unreadable, or contains an invalid secret filename, the run fails before publication work starts.
Real process environment values take precedence over files with the same name. If the values differ and stdout is enabled, run prints a warning naming the ignored secret file variable without printing either value. The process environment is not changed.
Caveats
External notification adapters are unavailable. Force overwrite behavior is available only through the explicit run --force workflow.
For symptom-oriented fixes, see troubleshooting. For config details, see configuration. For command syntax, see CLI.