NAME
driver/invocation
PURPOSE
Description of the invocation of the gamedriver, especially of the command
arguments. This document describes the commandline version of the driver
only; non-commandline versions are platform specific and described in
the related documentation.
DESCRIPTION
The driver is invoked from the commandline as other normal programs.
Neither the current directory nor the directory the executable is in need
to be in any special relation the directory of the mudlib. Once the driver
is running, it emits two streams of outputs:
- driver-related messages on stderr; this unfortunately includes
LPC compiler diagnostics
- LPC runtime-related messages in the logfile <mudlib>/<host>.parse.log
(the name can be changed).
It is possible to start the driver without any commandline arguments as
suitable defaults are specified at compile time. The invocation syntax
is:
driver [options] [<portnumber>]...
<portnumber> the number of the port the driver shall use to accept
connections. The maximum number of ports is determined by MAXNUMPORTS
in the source file config.h.
The options modify the behaviour of the gamedriver. Some of them are only
available if a certain compile-time option was enabled (typically in
the source file config.h). The following options are recognized:
-P|--inherit <fd-number>
Inherit filedescriptor <fd-number> from the parent process
as socket to listen for connections.
Only available if compiled with MAXNUMPORTS.
-u|--udp <portnumber>
Specify the <portnumber> for the UDP port, overriding the compiled-in
default.
Only available if compiled with CATCH_UDP_PORT.
-D|--define <macro>[=<text>]
Add <macro> (optionally to be expanded to <text>) to the list of
predefined macros known by the LPC compiler.
-E|--eval-cost <ticks>
Set the number of <ticks> available for one evaluation thread.
If 0, execution is unlimited.
-M|--master <filename>
Use <filename> for the master object.
-m|--mudlib <pathname>
Use <pathname> as the top directory of the mudlib.
--debug-file <filename>
Log all debug output in <filename> instead of
<mudlib>/<host>.debug.log .
--hostname <name>
Use <name> as hostname instead of what the system says.
--hostaddr <addr>
Use <addr> as address of this machine, instead of what the
system says. In particular this address will be used to open
the driver ports.
--no-compat
--compat
Select the mode (plain or compat) of the driver.
This choice does not affect the default name of the master object.
-d|--debug
Generate debug output; repeat the argument for even more output:
>= 1: log resets, clean ups, swaps, reception of urgend data,
telnet negotiation states.
check_a_lot_of_refcounts() on startup when swapping of
variables is disabled.
>= 2: log all add_message()s, name lookup failures, new players.
>= 3: progress of garbage collection
>= 4: even more junk from garbage collection
-c|--list-compiles
List the name of every compiled file on stderr.
-e|--no-preload
Pass a non-zero argument (the number of occurences of this option)
to master->preload(), which usually inhibits all preloads of castles
and other objects.
--erq <filename>
--erq "<filename> <erq args>"
Use <filename> instead of 'erq' as the basename of the ERQ executable.
If the name starts with a '/', it is take to be an absolute pathname,
otherwise it is interpreted relative to <bindir>. If not specified,
'erq' is used as the executable name.
By enclosing the argument value in quotes, it is possible to pass
arguments (e.g. --execdir) to the erq. These arguments however must
not contain embedded spaces.
-N|--no-erq
Don't start the erq demon (if it would be started at all).
--alarm-time <seconds>
Set the granularity of call_out() and heartbeat timing. Minimum
value is 1.
--heart-interval <seconds>
Set the interval between two heartbeats. Minimum value is 1.
--sync-heart
All heartbeats occur at the same time (modulo granularity).
--async-heart
Heartbeats occur when they are due (modulo granularity).
-t|--no-heart
Disable heartbeats and call_outs.
-f|--funcall <word>
The lfun master->flag() is called with <word> as argument before the
gamedriver accepts netword connections.
--regexp pcre | traditional
Select the default regexp package.
--max-array <size>
The maximum number of elements an array can hold.
Set to 0, arrays of any size are allowed.
--max-mapping <size>
The maximum number of elements a mapping can hold.
Set to 0, mappings of any size are allowed.
--max-mapping-keys <size>
The maximum number of entries a mapping can hold.
Set to 0, mappings of any size are allowed.
--max-callouts <size>
The maximum number of callouts at one time.
Set to 0, any number is allowed.
--max-bytes <size>
The maximum number of bytes one read_bytes()/write_bytes() call
can handle.
Set to 0, reads and writes of any size are allowed.
--max-file <size>
The maximum number of bytes one read_file()/write_file() call
can handle.
Set to 0, reads and writes of any size are allowed.
--max-thread-pending <size>\n"
The maximum number of bytes to be kept pending by the socket write
thread.
Set to 0, an unlimited amount of data can be kept pending.
This option is ignored if pthreads are not used.
--cleanup-time <time>
The idle time in seconds for an object before the driver tries to
clean it up. It should be substantially longer than the reset time.
A time <= 0 disables the cleanup mechanism.
--reset-time <time>
The time in seconds before an object is reset. A time <= 0 disables
the reset mechanism.
-s <time> | --swap-time <time>
-s v<time> | --swap-variables <time>
Time in seconds before an object (or its variables) are swapped out.
A time less or equal 0 disables swapping.
-s f<name> | --swap-file <name>
Swap into file <name> instead of <mudlib>/LP_SWAP.<host> .
-s c | --swap-compact
Reuse free space in the swap file immediately.
Giving this option results in smaller, but also more fragmented
swapfiles, and the swap performance may degrade.
--max-malloc <size>
Restrict total memory allocations to <size> bytes.
A <size> of 0 or 'unlimited' removes any restriction.\n"
--min-malloc <size>
--min-small-malloc <size>
Determine the sizes for the explicite initial large resp. small chunk
allocation. A size of 0 disables the explicite initial allocations.
-r u<size> | --reserve-user <size>
-r m<size> | --reserve-master <size>
-r s<size> | --reserve-system <size>
Reserve <size> amount of memory for user/master/system allocations to
be held until main memory runs out.
--filename-spaces
--no-filename-spaces
Allow/disallow the use of spaces in filenames.
--strict-euids
--no-strict-euids
Enable/disable the enforced use of euids.
--share-variables
--init-variables
Select how clones initialize their variables:
- by sharing the current values of their blueprint
- by initializing them afresh (using __INIT()).
--pidfile <filename>\n"
Write the pid of the driver process into <filename>.\n"
--tls-key <pathname>
Use <pathname> as the x509 keyfile, default is 'key.pem'.
If relative, <pathname> is interpreted relative to <mudlib>.
--tls-cert <pathname>
Use <pathname> as the x509 certfile, default is 'cert.pem'.
If relative, <pathname> is interpreted relative to <mudlib>.
--tls-trustfile <pathname>
Use <pathname> as the filename holding your trusted PEM certificates.
If relative, <pathname> is interpreted relative to <mudlib>.
--tls-trustdirectory <pathname>
Use <pathname> as the directory where your trusted
PEM certificates reside, default is '/etc/ssl/certs'.
If relative, <pathname> is interpreted relative to <mudlib>.
--wizlist-file <filename>
--no-wizlist-file
Read and save the wizlist in the named file (always interpreted
relative the mudlib); resp. don't read or save the wizlist.
--gcollect-outfd <filename>|<num>
Garbage collector output (like a log of all reclaimed memory blocks)
is sent to <filename> (or inherited fd <num>) instead of stderr.
Only available if compiled with MALLOC_smalloc.
--y|--yydebug
Enable debugging of the LPC compiler.
Only available if compiled with YYDEBUG.
--random-seed <num>
Seed value for the random number generator. If not given, the
driver chooses a seed value on its own.
This option is for debugging.
--check-state <lvl>
Perform a regular simplistic check of the virtual machine according
to <lvl>:
= 0: no check
= 1: once per backend loop
= 2: at various points in the backend loop
Only available if compiled with DEBUG.
--check-refcounts
Every backend cycle, all refcounts in the system are checked.
SLOW! Only available if compiled with DEBUG.
--gobble-descriptors <num>
<num> (more) filedescriptors are used up. You'll know when you need it.
Only available if compiled with DEBUG.
--check-strings
Every backend cycle, all shared strings in the system are checked.
SLOW! Only available if compiled with DEBUG and CHECK_STRINGS.
-V|--version
Print the version of the driver and exit.
--options
Print the version and compilation options of the driver and exit.
-h|-?|--help
Display a command help and exit.
--longhelp
Display a long command help and exit.
--args <filename>
The driver reads and parses the given file and treats its contents
as if given on the commandline right where the --args option
occured. The file itself can again contain --args options.
DESCRIPTION -- Argument Parser
The parser analyses the commandline arguments given with the driver
invocation and distinguishes 'options', which start with a '-', from
proper arguments. Options are further distinguished by their name and
may take an additional value. In general, options and arguments can be
givein in any order.
Options are recognized in two forms. In the short form the option must
be given as a single '-' followed by a single letter. In the long form,
options start with '--' followed by a string of arbitrary length. The
short options are case sensitive, the long options aren't.
Most options can be specified in both the short and long form, but that
is not mandatory. Examples: '-r' and '--recursive'.
If an option takes a value, it must follow the option immediately after
a separating space or '='. Additionally, the value for a short option
may follow the option without separator. Examples are: '-fMakefile',
'-f Makefile', '--file=Makefile' and '--file Makefile'.
Short options may be collated into one argument, e.g. '-rtl', but
of these only the last may take a value.
The option '--' marks the end of options. All following command arguments
are considered proper arguments even if they start with a '-' or '--'.
The arguments are usually taken from the commandline; but the parser
is also able to read them from a textfiles, which can be nested. The
content of the textfiles is broken down into words delimited by whitespace,
which are then treated as given on the commandline at the place where
the instruction to read the textfile stood.
The file parser recognizes simple double-quoted strings, which must be
contained on a single line. Additionally, the '#' character given by
itself is a comment marker - everthing after the '#' until the end
of the current line is ignored.
HISTORY
LDMud 3.2.9 added the --max-thread-pending, --hostname,
--hostaddr, --args and --random-seed options.
LDMud 3.2.10 added the --filename-spaces options.
LDMud 3.3.378 added --share-variables, --init-variables.
LDMud 3.3.475/3.2.11 added --tls-key, --tls-cert.
LDMud 3.3.672/3.2.11 added --tls-trustfile, --tls-trustdirectory.
LDMud 3.3.677 added --max-mapping-keys.
