serval-dna/utilities

Serval DNA Utilities

Serval Project, February 2013

This directory contains utilities that accompany [Serval DNA][]:

• rhizome_mirrord is a Python 2.7 script that continuously extracts Rhizome bundles from a local Rhizome store into a mirror directory, and optionally unpacks Zip and Tar payloads into a separate directory.

• serval_maps_push.sh is a Shell script designed to be invoked by rhizome_mirrord whenever in unpacks a Zip or Tar bundle. It copies the newly unpacked contents to the Serval Maps testing server using rsync(1), then prods the testing server to process them by making an HTTP request to a particular URL using curl(1).

These two scripts were created to inject Rhizome traffic from New Zealand Red Cross's KiwiEx 2013 field trial exercise into the Serval Maps visualisation server, as a demonstration of how Rhizome can be used to transmit situational awareness field reports back to base.

In deployment, the serval_maps_push.sh script was edited to use the KiwiEx2013 rsync destination directory and URL by changing the TARGET variable from testing to kiwiex-2013.

The rhizome_mirrord script has been designed in a general fashion, and is suitable for use in other deployments that require a similar mirror directory of Rhizome content.