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Sharing The Repository


Overview

This guide explains how to share your your Repository folder and configure its permissions to ensure the Deadline Client has full access. Without full read/write access, the Deadline Client applications will not be able to function properly.

Windows

Permissions

Now that the Repository folder is being shared, you need to configure the security settings. Note that the images shown here are from Windows XP, but the procedure is basically the same for any version of Windows.

  • On the machine where the Deadline Repository is installed, navigate to the folder where it is installed using Windows Explorer.
  • Right-click on the Deadline Repository folder and select Properties from the menu.
  • Select the Security tab.
  • If there is already an Everyone item under Group or user names, you can skip the next two steps.
  • Click on the Add button.
  • In the resulting dialog, type Everyone and click OK.
  • Select Everyone under Group or user names.
  • Ensure that Modify, Read & Execute, List Folder Contents, Read, and Write are all checked under the Allow column.
  • Click on the OK button to save the settings.

Sharing

First, you need to share the Repository folder. Note that the images shown here are from Windows XP, but the procedure is basically the same for any version of Windows.

  • On the machine where the Deadline Repository is installed, navigate to the folder where it is installed using Windows Explorer.
  • Right-click on the Deadline Repository folder and select Properties from the menu. If you're unable to see the Sharing tab, you may need to disable Simple File Sharing in the Explorer Folder Options.
  • Select the Sharing tab.
  • Select the option to Share This Folder, then specify the share name.
  • Click the Permissions button.
  • Give Full Control to the Everyone user.
  • Press OK on the Permissions dialog and then the Properties dialog.

Linux

Permissions

Since Deadline expects full read and write access to the repository, it's recommended to use a single user account to mount shares across all machines. It is possible to add particular users to a 'deadline' group, but you will need to experiment with that on your own.

So for both of the sharing mechanisms we explain below, you'll need to create a user and a group named 'deadline'. They don't need a login or credentials, we just need to be able to set files to be owned by them and for their account to show up in /etc/passwd. So, to do this use the useradd command. 

sudo useradd -d /dev/null -c "Deadline Repositry User" -M deadline

This should create a user named "deadlin" with no home folder, and a fancy comment. The account login should also be disabled, meaning your standard users can't ssh or ftp into your file server using this account. Set a password using `sudo passwd deadline` if you need your users to login as deadline using ftp or ssh.

Now add a group using 

sudo groupadd deadline

And finally, have the Deadline Repository owned by this new user and group 

sudo chown -R deadline:deadline /path/to/repository
sudo chmod -R 770 /path/to/repository

Now you're ready to set up your network sharing protocol.

Sharing

There are a many ways this can be done, and this just covers a few of them.

Samba Share

This is an example entry in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file: 

[DeadlineRepository]
path = /path/to/repository
writeable = Yes
guest ok = Yes
create mask = 0777
force create mode = 0777
force directory mode = 0777
unix extensions = No

NFS Share

The simplest thing that could possibly work. Note that this is not the most secure thing that could possibly work:

For Linux and BSD, open up /etc/exports as an administrator, and make one new export: 

/usr/local/DeadlineRepository                  192.168.2.0/24(rw,all_squash,insecure)

Breakdown of this command is as follows:

/usr/...
Folder to share. Deadline Repository installs into /usr/local/DeadlineRepository by default on Linux
192.168.2.0/24
The IP range to allow. The zero is important for these ranges. You can also go by hostname if you have reverse DNS, or * to allow from anyone's computer
rw
Allow read/write for the repository. Required for Deadline.
all_squash
Make every single person who connects to the Deadline share map to the nobody:nogroup user and group. This relieves a lot of permissions pain for new Deadliners at the cost of zero security. Files and folders within your repository will be fully readable and writeable by whomever is able to connect to your NFS server. Deadline requires this, but it can also be achieved by creating a group and adding individual users into that group. Many studios will only need all_squash as Deadline will keep track of who submits what jobs.
insecure
Required for OSX to mount nfs shares. It simply means that NFS doesn't need to receive requests on a port in the secure port range (a port number less than 1024)

Once that's done, you may need to install an NFS server. To do so, open a terminal or your favourite package manager to install one. For Ubuntu Server, type the following: 

sudo apt-get install nfs-kernel-server

Then start up the server (for those living in an init.d world): 

sudo /etc/init.d/nfs-kernel-server start

Any time you change the exports file, you'll need to issue the same command, but replace 'start' with 'reload'.

There is an excellent tutorial here as well: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SettingUpNFSHowTo

Mac OSX

Permissions

Note that the images shown here are from Leopard (10.5), but the procedure is basically the same for any version of Mac OSX.

  • On the machine where the Deadline Repository is installed, navigate to the folder where it is installed using Finder.
  • Right-click on the Deadline Repository folder and select Get Info from the menu.
  • Expand the Sharing & Permissions section, and unlock the settings if necessary.
  • Give everyone Read & Write privileges.
  • While probably not necessary, also give admin Read & Write privileges.

If you prefer to set the permissions from the Terminal, run the following commands: 

$ chown -R nobody:nogroup /path/to/repository
$ chmod -R 777 /path/to/repository

Sharing

There are a many ways this can be done, and this just covers a few of them.

Using System Preferences

Note that the images shown here are from Leopard (10.5), but the procedure is basically the same for any version of Mac OSX.

  • Open System Preferences, and select the Sharing option.
  • Make sure File Sharing is enabled, and then add the Repository folder to the list of shared folders.
  • Under Users, give everyone Read & Write privileges.
  • If sharing with Windows machines, press the Options button and make sure the "Share files and folders using SMB (Windows)" is enabled.

Samba Share

Interestingly, OSX uses samba as well. Apple just does a good job of hiding it. To create a samba share in OSX, past this at the bottom of /etc/smb.conf: 

[DeadlineRepository]
path = /path/to/repository
writeable = Yes
guest ok = Yes
create mask = 0777
force create mode = 0777
force directory mode = 0777
unix extensions = No