Configuring the Wiretap Server to use a Shared Storage Mount Point

By default, Wiretap enables access to Visual Effects and Finishing media by way of the Wiretap server. However, if the applications share a storage mount point, Lustre can gain access to the media directly, while reading the metadata off the Wiretap server. You configure this behaviour by adding entries to the Wiretap path translation file.

Recall that the Linux and Windows operating systems present file path names using different syntaxes. For example, the path to network storage on a SAN that appears to a Windows workstation as F:\SAN might appear on Linux as /SAN. The path translation file ensures the path names are translated correctly as information moves between each application.

There are two main steps. First, determine how the shared mount point is seen by each system. Next, create a new translation rule-pair for each mount point in the Wiretap path translation file. In this way, you ensure that the Standard FS media used by a Visual Effects and Finishing timeline is directly read/write accessible in Lustre.

Note the following:

• The mount point/mapped network drives must already be set up in their respective operating systems before you refer to them in the path translation file.
• You can create translation rules on a host-by-host basis (most common), or on a per-platform basis. In situations where several hosts see their mount points in the same way, you can simplify the file by creating groups of hosts.
• Place each rule in the rule-pair on a separate line.
• Wiretap applies the rules in the order in which they appear in the file.

For complete information, see the Autodesk Visual Effects and Finishing Installation and Configuration Guide.

To configure the Wiretap path translation file:

1. On the workstation hosting the Wiretap server, open the Wiretap path translation configuration file, wiretap_path_translation_db.xml, using a text editor.

   The file is located in the following directory:

   /usr/discreet/wiretap/cfg

2. Scroll down to the section of interest, for example, the Translation between two operating systems section.
3. Copy and modify an existing entry, or enter your own rule-pair.

   For example, the following rule-pair enables Lustre to read and write a shared mount point seen by the Linux workstation as /SAN, and by the Windows workstation as F:\SAN:

   <map src_os="WindowsNT" src_path="F:\SAN" dst_os="Linux" dst_path="/SAN" />

   <map src_os="Linux " src_path="/SAN" dst_os=" WindowsNT "dst_path= "F:\SAN" />

4. Save the wiretap_path_translation_db.xml file and restart the Wiretap server:

   /usr/discreet/sw/sw_restart

   Restarting the server is not essential, since the Wiretap server regularly polls the path translation file for changes. However, by restarting the server, you force it to be parsed. This is a good way to test the file for any XML syntax errors. Access to the mount points themselves is not tested during this phase.