From 6846b35d5e908a820ab78cb402b9b8e941fa3a00 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Steven Black Date: Mon, 15 Feb 2016 11:11:16 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] Readme improvements. Document the --auto option. --- readme_template.md | 40 +++++++++++++++++++++++----------------- 1 file changed, 23 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-) diff --git a/readme_template.md b/readme_template.md index 9d7d28533..856e7f291 100644 --- a/readme_template.md +++ b/readme_template.md @@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ amalgamated hosts file with duplicates removed. ## Goals of this amalgamated hosts file -The goals of this repo are to +The goals of this repo are to: 1. automatically combine high-quality lists of hosts, @@ -38,28 +38,34 @@ monthly, or thereabouts. * Peter Lowe at [http://pgl.yoyo.org/adservers/](http://pgl.yoyo.org/adservers/), updated regularly. * My own small list in raw form [here](https://raw.github.com/StevenBlack/hosts/master/data/StevenBlack/hosts). -You can add additional sources by placing them in the `data/` directory. Provide a copy of that new -`hosts` file, and place its update url in `update.info`. The `updateHostsFile.py` routine will -automatically refresh the `hosts` file from source each time a new amalgamated file is generated. +## Generate your own amalgamated hosts file + +The `updateHostsFile.py` script, which is python 2.7 and Python 3-compatible, will generate an amalgamated hosts file +based on the sources in the local `data/` subfolder. The script will prompt ask you if it should fetch updated versions +over the web (defined by the update.info text file in each source's folder), or it will use the `hosts` file that's +already there. + +**Usage** + + python updateHostsFile.py [--auto] + +Command line options: + +`--auto`, `-a` — run the script without prompting. When `--auto` is invoked, + +* Host data sources are updated. +* Your active hosts file is *not* replaced. + +## How do I control which sources are amalgamated? + +You can add additional sources by placing each in a subfolder of the `data/` folder. Provide a copy of that new +`hosts` file, and place its update url in `update.info`. ## How do I incorporate my own hosts? If you have custom host records, place them in file `myhosts`. The contents of this file are prepended to the amalgamated hosts file during the update process. -## Using updateHostsFile.py - -This Python script will generate a unique hosts file based on the sources in the `data/` folder. -You can either have the script go out and fetch an updated version over the web (defined by the -update.info text file in the source's directory), or it will use the `hosts` file that's already -there. - -Usage - - python updateHostsFile.py - -**TAKE NOTE** this script is tested with Python version 2.7.10. - ## What is a hosts file? A hosts file, named `hosts` (with no file extension), is a plain-text file used by all operating