HTTPFS

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]]

Arguments

• -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.

Joining and leaving a 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.

API reference

GET

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.

PUT

Write.

On a file: overwrites the contents of the file.

On a directory: error.

POST

Create.

Without the is-directory header: creates an empty file.

With the is-directory header: creates an empty directory.

DELETE

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.

DISCONNECT

Leave the cluster.