HOTSWAPRC(5)

📦 version 0.4.0, in ubuntu jammy

🎀 HOTSWAPRC 💅 — the hotswap config file, bestie edition

okay so quick vibe check: this is the manual page for hotswaprc, aka the configuration file for hotswap. yes it's a section 5 page (file formats, we love a file format era), and yes it's giving ✨system administrator realness✨. let's get into it 🦋

✨ NAME ✨

hotswaprc — literally just the configuration file for hotswap. that's the whole name. short, sweet, iconic 💖

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

/etc/hotswaprc is the global configuration file for the hotswap utility. she's the main character of config files, no cap 👑

so what does she let you do? she lets system administrators specify arbitrary shell scripts to be run:

  • after a device is inserted 🫶
  • before it is removed
  • after it is removed

and how does she know which script goes with which device? the scripts are selected according to the model name retrieved from the device. iykyk 🧚

this is particularly helpful for automatic configuration of CD-RW drives, bestie, because those require SCSI emulation and bypass normal access via the IDE subsystem. it's giving "she needs special treatment and honestly? valid" 💅

now the nerdy part (affectionate): hotswaprc is implemented as an Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) application. XML documents are structured using elements of the form:

<tag-name> content <tag-name>

and a Document Type Definition (DTD) describes the possible content of each element. very structured. very demure. very mindful 🌈

pls refer to the XML specification for more info!! also the hotswap distribution contains an example file, doc/hotswaprc.example, which includes the DTD for the configuration file format. go read her, she's helpful fr fr 📖

🦋 ELEMENTS 🦋

here come the elements, and bestie, there are six of them and every single one matters. no skipping 💜

  • <hotswap> — this is the root element of the document. every valid hotswaprc must contain exactly one <hotswap> element (one. not zero. not two. exactly one, she's monogamous 💀). the <hotswap> element may contain an arbitrary number of <device> elements.
  • <device> — the config file contains one <device> element for every device for which scripts are defined. the <device> element is composed of the following elements, in this order:
    1. <name>
    2. <post-insert>
    3. <pre-remove>
    4. <post-remove>

and all but <name> are optional. so <name> is the required one, she's the main character, the others are just her supporting cast 🎀

  • <name> — the content of this element is the model identification string of the IDE device the current <device> element refers to. like a little name tag but for hardware 🏷️
  • <post-insert> — contains the shell script that is to be executed after the device has been inserted and registered with the kernel. she runs after the whole insertion situation is done 🌸
  • <pre-remove> — contains the shell script that is to be run before hotswap attempts to unregister the device. like, get your stuff in order before the goodbye, bestie 😭
  • <post-remove> — contains the shell script that is to be run after the device had been unregistered. she's the afterparty 🎉

💀 REPORT BUGS 💀

found a bug? don't suffer in silence, bestie. report bugs to t.stadelmann1@physics.ox.ac.uk 🙈

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Written by Tim Stadelmann. king behavior, honestly 🫶

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

go read those too, they're the extended universe 📚✨

Copyright (c) 2002-2003 Tim Stadelmann.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL), Version 2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. slay, licensing is important 🏆

and that's the whole page, bestie!! 💅 this gem was dated 26th November 2002 and she belongs to the HOTSWAPRC(5) manual, section 5, file formats, as she should 🌈✨ mwah, go configure something iconic 🎀💜

📦 where this page comes from