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usenet-indexer/seed-node/README.md
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Daan MeijerandClaude Opus 5.5 4d17c5a8e8
Test and deploy / test (push) Successful in 2m15s
Test and deploy / deploy (push) Successful in 2m26s
Release completeness check without reading every binary; SEED_RANGES
release_complete() matched each par2-listed file through a correlated
subquery that scanned all binaries per listed file, run twice per
inserted release_files row: one insert of a few thousand rows ran for
20+ minutes. It now reads the release's files once by release id, and
release_files refreshes once per INSERT statement.

seed:node's SEED_CONNECTIONS/--connections is now SEED_RANGES/--ranges.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-10-06 12:10:57 +02:00

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# Seeding node
A seeding node indexes old article ranges for the indexer (CONCEPT.md D37,
D38). It asks the seed API for a range over HTTPS, gets that range's headers
(by default through the seed API, which fetches them from the news server and
passes them on gzip-compressed), groups them into files, and posts the
results back. It only makes outgoing connections: no port forwarding,
database, Redis or news server account. Only the token needs setting, plus
how much work to take on.
A node can also do content inspection and archive walks (CONCEPT.md D40,
D41) with `SEED_INSPECTORS`: it takes files from the indexer's inspection
queue, downloads their first segment(s) through the seed API, works out
what they are (par2 sets, RAR and 7z listings, NZBs, passwords) and posts
the findings back; the indexer only stores them.
Headers through the seed API (`SEED_FETCH=relay`, the default) use the
indexer's news server account: `SEED_NNTP_CONNECTIONS` in the indexer's
`.env` sets how many connections it fetches with for all nodes together.
With `SEED_FETCH=direct` a node uses its own NNTP account instead (fill in
the NNTP lines in `node.env`).
## What a node needs
- Docker with the compose plugin (`docker compose version` works).
- Outgoing HTTPS to `seed.exp.sforum.nl` (the seed API) and
`gitea.exp.sforum.nl` (to build the image), and outgoing NNTP to the news
server (port 563 for TLS).
- Per range seeded at once: roughly 0.4 CPU core and 1–3 MB/s download (headers come
gzip-compressed); a few hundred MB of RAM per node. Disk: about 1.5 GB for
the image. Per inspector: up to a core while decoding, and a few MB/s
download (whole articles, ~700 KB each).
- Only with `SEED_FETCH=direct`: an NNTP account. Every connection a node opens counts against that
account's connection limit, next to the ~20 the indexer itself uses if it's
the same account. Too many gives `481`/`502` errors at login. Some
providers also limit the number of IP addresses at once (Eweka: 2, as
`502 (max number of simultaneous IP addresses reached: 2)`): a node behind
the same public IP as the indexer doesn't count extra, others do. A node
can share an IP by tunnelling its NNTP traffic (e.g. SSH
`-L 1563:news.eweka.nl:563` to the indexer's machine); then set
`NNTP_HOST` to the tunnel and `NNTP_TLS_SERVERNAME=news.eweka.nl`.
## 1. On the indexer (homelab): a token for the node
cd ~/dev/usenet-indexer
docker compose exec web node ace seed:token my-server
This prints a token starting with `sn_` once. Treat it like a password: it
lets the holder lease ranges and submit results. Running the command again
for the same name replaces the token; `--disable` revokes it.
## 2. On the server: get the files
mkdir -p ~/usenet-seed-node && cd ~/usenet-seed-node
curl -fsSLO https://gitea.exp.sforum.nl/daan/usenet-indexer/raw/branch/master/seed-node/compose.yaml
curl -fsSL -o node.env https://gitea.exp.sforum.nl/daan/usenet-indexer/raw/branch/master/seed-node/node.env.example
chmod 600 node.env
## 3. Configure `node.env`
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| `SEED_URL` | `https://seed.exp.sforum.nl` (leave as is) |
| `SEED_TOKEN` | the token from step 1 |
| `SEED_RANGES` | ranges seeded at once. Start with 2–4; `0` for no seeding. |
| `SEED_INSPECTORS` | inspections and archive walks at once (default `0`). Try 2–4 on a machine with spare cores. |
| `SEED_FETCH=direct` and `NNTP_*` | optional: seed with this node's own NNTP account (see the commented lines). `NNTP_TLS_SERVERNAME` only through a tunnel: the news server's real hostname, for the TLS certificate check. |
Nothing else: the database, Redis and web server settings the indexer
needs are filled in for a node automatically.
## 4. Start it
docker compose up -d --build
docker compose logs -f
The first build takes a few minutes. A working node logs:
[ info ] Seeding node for https://seed.exp.sforum.nl: 2 range(s) at once, headers through the seed API; 2 inspection(s) at once, articles through the seed API.
[ info ] [1] alt.binaries.ath 49834000000–49835999999
[ info ] [1] done: 2,000,000 headers in 237 s (8,450/s)
With nothing planned it waits and asks again every minute (no log lines).
## 5. Plan work and follow it (on homelab)
docker compose exec web node ace seed:plan alt.binaries.ath alt.binaries.mom --days 365
docker compose exec web node ace seed:status
`seed:plan` queues ranges of 2 million articles from below what is already
indexed down to `--days` back (or everything the server has, without
`--days`), newest first and interleaved across groups. It takes over the
rest of those groups' backfill. `seed:status` shows ranges per status,
articles reached, and per node its leases and headers.
## Day to day
- **Update** after a new version of the indexer:
`docker compose build --pull && docker compose up -d`
- **Stop**: `docker compose stop` gives the node's ranges back; another node
resumes them after the last batch that was stored.
- **A node that disappears** (crash, network) loses its ranges to other
nodes after 15 minutes without a batch. A range that fails 5 times is set
aside as `failed` (see `seed:status`).
- **Remove a node**: `docker compose down` on the server, then
`docker compose exec web node ace seed:token my-server --disable` on homelab.
## Troubleshooting
| Log line | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `The seed API rejected this node token` | wrong or revoked `SEED_TOKEN`; the node stops |
| `Seed API …: 404 …; retrying` | the seed API is restarting (a deploy on homelab); the node retries |
| `NNTP login failed: …` | the node didn't take a range and tries again in a minute (5 minutes for the IP-address limit); `481`/`502`: wrong account, too many connections (lower `SEED_RANGES`) or too many IP addresses |
| `Hostname/IP does not match certificate's altnames: Host: localhost` | TLS through a tunnel: set `NNTP_TLS_SERVERNAME` to the news server's hostname |
| `Range … failed: …` | the range is given back and retried later, possibly by another node |
| `Range … passed to another node; dropping it.` | this node was too slow to report (15 minutes); harmless |
| `[inspect n] "…" failed: …` | an inspection failed (often a missing article); the indexer retries it later |