maemo.org - Talk - [ Announce ] Reposmon - monitor repos for additions and updates

Here's a script I've been working on for the last couple of weeks. It creates a report of changes to the repositories you have defined in HTML (nicely formatted for the Maemo MicroB browser) and XML (for your RSS reader). It's a very 'hacky' script - especially the section where it creates the HTML and XML files and therefore not recommended for users who aren't familiar with Bash/xTerm etc.

I use it to keep myself informed of updates which aren't always posted on the Maemo site. This is how I discovered the 3D Rollercoaster game had been uploaded (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=63172)

You can see a working example of the report here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2095661/reposmon.html

Attachment 14357

Use of this script is entirely at your own risk: if it causes the Hadron Collider to divide by zero and suck all of humanity into a black hole, it's not my fault!

Installation:

Reposmon requires root privilege. If you don't know what that is, this script probably isnt' for you. See http://wiki.maemo.org/Root_access for more info.

Other requirements:
* bash3
* diffmo
You can install these by:

Code:

# apt-get install bash3 diffmo

* Download the attachment and unzip the single 'reposmon' script - I've put it in /usr/sbin/reposmon.

Attachment 14356

* Make it executable:

Code:

# chmod +x /usr/sbin/reposmon

* Make the directory where it will save the reports and cache files. The default is /home/user/MyDocs/reposmon/

Code:

# mkdir /home/user/MyDocs/reposmon/

Run the script:

Code:

# reposmon

When run for the first time it won't create a report as it will just create an initial baseline for future comparison. Run again to check for any updates/changes to the repos. You'll have to wait a while (normally an hour or more) for changes to be made to the repos.

When there's changes, open file:///home/user/MyDocs/reposmon/reposmon.html in your browser or file:///home/user/MyDocs/reposmon/reposmon.xml in your RSS news reader.

The XML file generated can be read by the N900 built-in RSS reader.

I've used Alarmed (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=46594) to schedule running the script every night.

Known bugs:
* Some icons don't work. Not sure why...