[lug] how to handle open files - upload server

[Nate Duehr]

[Sorry about the cross-post for those on all the lists, just attempting to 
cover a wider audience.]

Here's an interesting one, or maybe I'm just not creative enough today.  I 
have a Linux server where people upload some files to me for processing 
(using sftp).  The files show up, I move them to another machine to do 
the dirty work.  Simple, right?  Move those files elsewhere after they 
arrive, which can pretty easily be done from a cron job, no problem 
there.

The case I'm wondering about: How to detect in that regular cron job if 
the file is open (and probably growing) right at the time because it's 
being uploaded right then... so the cron doesn't attempt to move it to 
the other machine in the middle of an upload.

I'm thinking some silly hack at the top of the "move to other machine" 
script that would look at the directory contents with lsof to make sure 
nothing has any of the files to be moved already open.  Is there a 
simpler/smarter way?

(Off to go find some more coffee and think about this some more...)

Bright ideas appreciated!  ;-)  (No, NFS mounting the other machine and 
having them send directly to it is not an option.  ;-) )

-- 
Nate Duehr, nate at natetech.com