Obnam → blog → 2026 → Obnam: client for server, part 2

Goal

Last time I got some code written for the Obnam client, for using the API of the Obnam server. I ran out of time and couldn't finish it. I will continue today.

Plan

From last time:

  • Implement obnam remote init to set up client for use with a server.
  • Implement obnam remote add --file FILENAMe --id ID --label LABEL to store a chunk on the server.
  • Implement obnam remote get --id ID to retrieve a chunk from the server.
  • Implement obnam remote find --label LABEL to find chunks with a given label on the server.
  • Implement obnam remote delete --label LABEL to delete a chunk from the server.

The add and get commands are mostly done, but lack verification scenarios.

Notes

  • To remind myself: for manual testing, run
cargo run --bin obnam-server -- --config obnam-server-config.yaml serve` in one terminal

In another terminal:

cargo run --bin obnam -- --config obnam-client-config.yaml remote put --id 1 --label data -f Cargo.toml
cargo run --bin obnam -- --config obnam-client-config.yaml remote get --id 1 -f out

  • Oh, I seem to have called the add command put. That's OK.

  • I've manually verified this works.

  • When rerunning the automated test suite, noticed that it fails if the port is in use. I may want to address that later.

  • I'm now confident the put and get actions work. I'll next write a verification scenario.

  • Did that. No problem.

  • Next up, obnam remote delete. Did that, too. Changed the verification scenario to make sure deletion only works with an API token that allows it.

  • Finally, obnam remote find. Again not difficult.

  • The verification scenario for find would be better if it parsed the JSON output, but that's for later. It's a need for many projects that use Subplot.

Summary

I got the basic remote chunk management commands implemented, with a verification scenario.

Comments?

If you have feedback on this, please use the following fediverse thread: https://toot.liw.fi/@liw/116311307377114641.