.TH CPNS 1
.SH NAME
cpns, addns, subns \- process namespace manipulation
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B cpns
[
.B -x
.I exclude
]
[
.B -o
.I only
]
[
.B -t
]
[
.B -r
]
.I model
.I target
.br
.B addns
[
.B -x
.I exclude
]
[
.B -o
.I only
]
[
.B -t
]
[
.B -r
]
.I model
.I target
.br
.B subns
[
.B -x
.I exclude
]
[
.B -o
.I only
]
[
.B -t
]
[
.B -r
]
.I model
.I target
.SH DESCRIPTION
These scripts require the writable 
.I /proc/*/ns 
kernel mod. They provide
a scripted interface for namespace operations between processes owned
by the user visible at 
.I /proc. 
Both local and remote processes may be targeted
if the target system is running the correct kernel.
See 
.IR proc (3)
for details on ns operations via 
.I /proc.
.PP
All commands take two numeric process IDs as their parameters. They compare the 
.I /proc/pid/ns 
files of 
.I model 
and 
.I target 
processes and generate operations to be written back to the 
.I /proc/pid/ns
file to modify the namespace of the 
.I target 
process.
.PP
.I cpns
copies the namespace of the 
.I model
process over the namespace of the 
.I target 
process.
.PP
.I addns
finds the mounts and binds that exist in the ns of 
.I model 
but not in 
.I target
and adds those mounts and binds to the namespace of 
.I target
process.
.PP
.I subns
performs the reverse operation; it searches the namespace of
.I target
for mounts and binds that do not exist in 
.I model
and then removes them from the
.I target
process.
.PP
All scripts share identical flags.
.B -t
causes the scripts to run in test mode and print the commands they would issue while taking no other action.
.B -r
attempts to make the namespace operations safe for processes making use of rio. It filters out operations which contain the strings 
.I /mnt/term
.I /dev/cons
or 
.I /rio.
.B -x 
.I exclude
allows the user to specify a string which will be excluded from any of the performed operations. 
.B -o 
.I only
allows the user to specify a string which all namespace operations must include.
.PP
Not all namespace commands can be copied literally between processes. It is expected to receive errors from some of the attempted ns operations and the final state of the target's namespace may not precisely mirror the model. In general the error output simply means illegal operations were rejected and not attempted.
.PP
The existing Plan 9 software does not expect processes' namespace to be modified without their knowledge during operation. Modifying namespace does not break connections to existing file descriptors so the modifications will not have a noticeable result until new fds are opened. Modifying namespace arbitrarily is powerful and flexible enough that it is impossible to sanity-check all potential operations. Just like 
.IR cp (1)
of files, 
.IR cpns 
will allow you to shoot yourself in the foot. Use of the 
.B -t 
flag is recommended until you are confident you understand the results of a given operation.
.SH SOURCE
.B sources/contrib/mycroftiv/rootlessnext/scripts
.SH SEE ALSO
.IR bind (1),
.IR bind (2),
.IR mnt (3),
.IR proc (3),
.IR namespace (4)
.SH BUGS
These scripts operate using simple comparison via 
.IR grep (1)
of matching lines. Namespace structures are more complicated than this because the meaning of later binds depends on previous mounts and binds. Better tools should be written which understand the graph/tree structure of a namespace and how to correctly build and dissassemble them in full generality.