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<title>Benefits of a Fossil Server</title> |
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<h2>No Server Required</h2> |
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Fossil does not require a central server. |
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Data sharing and synchronization can be entirely peer-to-peer. |
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Fossil uses |
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[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict-free_replicated_data_type | |
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conflict-free replicated data types] |
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to ensure that (in the limit) all participating peers see the same content. |
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<h2>But, a Server Can Be Useful</h2> |
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Fossil does not require a server, but a server can be very useful. |
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Here are a few reasons to set up a Fossil server for your project: |
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1. <b>A server works as a complete project website.</b> |
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Fossil does more than just version control. It also supports |
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[../tickets.wiki|trouble-tickets], |
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[../wikitheory.wiki|wiki], |
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a [../chat.md|developer chat room], and a [../forum.wiki|forum]. |
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The [../embeddeddoc.wiki|embedded documentation] |
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feature provides a great mechanism for providing project documentation. |
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The [../unvers.wiki|unversioned files] feature is a convenient way |
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to host builds and downloads on the project website. |
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2. <b>A server gives developers a common point of rendezvous for |
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syncing their work.</b> |
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It is possible for developers to synchronize peer-to-peer but |
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that requires the developers coordinate the sync, which in turn |
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requires that the developers both want to sync at the same moment. |
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A server alleviates this time dependency by allowing each developer |
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to sync whenever it is convenient. For example, a developer may |
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choose to automatically sync |
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after each commit and before each update. Developers all stay |
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in sync with each other without having to interrupt each other |
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constantly to set up a peer-to-peer sync. |
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3. <b>A server provides project leaders with up-to-date status.</b> |
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Project coordinators and BDFLs can click on a link or two at the |
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central Fossil server for a project and quickly tell what is |
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going on. They can do this from anywhere — even from their phones |
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— without needing to actually sync to the device they are using. |
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4. <b>A server provides automatic off-site backups.</b> |
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A Fossil server is an automatic remote backup for all the work |
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going into a project. ([../backup.md | Within limits].) |
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You can even set up multiple servers at |
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multiple sites with automatic synchronization between them for |
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added redundancy. Such a setup means that no work is lost due |
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to a single machine failure. |
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5. <b>A server consolidates [https://www.sqlite.org/howtocorrupt.html |
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| SQLite corruption risk mitigation] to a single point.</b> |
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The concerns in section 1 of that document assume you have direct |
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access to the central DB files, which isn't the case when the |
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server is remote and secure against tampering. |
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Section 2 is about file locking, which concerns disappear when Fossil's |
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on the other side of an HTTP boundary and your server is set up |
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properly. |
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Sections 3.1, 4 thru 6, and 8 apply to all Fossil configurations, |
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but setting up a server lets you address the risks |
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in a single place. Once a given commit is |
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sync'd to the server, you can be reasonably sure any client-side |
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corruption can be fixed with a fresh clone. Ultimately, this |
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is an argument for off-machine backups, which returns us to reason |
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#4 above. |
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Sections 3.2 and the entirety of section 7 are no concern with |
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Fossil at all, since it's primarily written by the creator and |
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primary maintainer of SQLite, so you can be certain Fossil doesn't |
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actively pursue coding strategies known to risk database corruption. |
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For another take on this topic, see the article |
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"[https://sqlite.org/useovernet.html | SQLite Over a Network, |
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Caveats and Considerations]". Fossil runs in rollback mode by |
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default per recommendation #3 at the end of that article, and a |
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Fossil server operates as a network proxy for the underlying |
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SQLite repository DB per recommendation #2. This <i>may</i> permit |
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you to safely switch it into WAL mode (<b>fossil rebuild --wal</b>) |
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depending on the underlying storage used by the server itself. |
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6. <b>A server allows [../caps/ | Fossil's RBAC system] to work.</b> |
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The role-based access control (RBAC) system in Fossil only works |
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when the remote system is on the other side of an HTTP barrier. |
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([../caps/#webonly | Details].) If you want its benefits, you need |
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a Fossil server setup of some kind. |