rhmask - generates and recovers file masks


SYNOPSIS

       rhmask <infile> <maskfile>
       rhmask -d <infile> <outfile> <maskfile>


DESCRIPTION

       The  rhmask  utility  creates mask files from original and
       updated files.  The mask files, which may  be  the  latest
       new  versions  of software, can then be freely distributed
       on public Internet servers. The mask files are only useful
       for  people  who already have a copy of the original pack­
       age.  The rhmask utility uses a simple XOR scheme for cre­
       ating  the  file  mask  and uses file size and md5 sums to
       ensure the integrity of the result.

       There are three files involved in this process. The  first
       is  the  file  which  both  parties  must  have,  which is
       referred to as the infile.  The file which the user  would
       like  to end up with is the outfile and the mask generated
       between the two is the maskfile.


OPTIONS

       There are two ways of running rhmask. Most users will only
       use  it to recover the original file by giving the path to
       the infile as the first argument and the maskfile  as  the
       second argument. The outfile will be generated in the cur­
       rent directory and checked for correctness.

       To generate the masks, the other form of  rhmask  must  be
       used  instead.  The first parameter, -d indicates that you
       are generating a delta. The next parameter is  the  infile
       which  is followed by the outfile.  The final parameter is
       the file name to store the maskfile in. If  the  operation
       is successful, no output is produced.


SEE ALSO

       md5sum(1)


AUTHOR

       Erik Troan <ewt@redhat.com>


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