MAKEWHATIS.LOCAL(8)

📦
version 69 · 2 versions
, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 MAKEWHATIS.LOCAL(8) 💅

ok so before we even start — bestie, this is a page from the System Manager's Manual, and honestly? it's short, it's iconic, it's giving "small but mighty." let's get into it 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

makewhatis.local — literally just here to start makewhatis for local file systems only. that's the whole gig. no cap. 🎀

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

/usr/libexec/makewhatis.local [options] directories ...

so you hit it with some options (whatever you want, it's a wrapper, it passes vibes through), and then one or more directories to work on. that's it. that's the whole invocation. periodt. ✨

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

okay so here's the situation. the makewhatis.local utility starts makewhatis(8) only for file systems that are physically mounted on the system where makewhatis.local is being executed. like, it does a vibe check on your mounts first and is like "hmm, are you actually here? or are you an NFS thing?" 💅

and why does that matter?? because — and I cannot stress this enough — running makewhatis by periodic weekly for a rw nfs-mounted /usr may kill your NFS server. 😭 like, actually murder it. not metaphorically. because all the NFS clients start makewhatis at the same time and it's just a stampede. absolute chaos. not the cute kind. 💀

so bestie, please: use this wrapper for cron(8) instead of calling makewhatis directly. it's literally the whole reason this thing exists. protect your poor NFS server. 🙈

🎀 FILES 🎀

  • /etc/periodic/weekly/320.whatis — runs makewhatis.local every week. that's the one doing the weekly shift, bestie. 🌈 ⭐

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

go read these if you want the full lore, iykyk 📚✨

👑 HISTORY 👑

the makewhatis.local utility appeared in FreeBSD 2.2. like, it's been serving looks since before most of us were born. respect the elder. 🧚 💖

and that's the page!! mwah 🍓

cute little sign-off from the source, bestie: this one comes from Debian, dated April 26, 1996 — a genuine vintage icon, no cap. 💅🔥 you're welcome, go forth and not-kill-your-NFS-server 🫶
📦 where this page comes from