Multiple ULX installs on one database?

[TomatoSoup]

I administer several servers that all should have a linked admin/ban list, and so forth. As the servers all run on the same machine, my first instinct was to symlink the data folders. However, it occurred to me that ULX may not reread the file before writing, meaning that the multiple installs would constantly stomp each other's changes.

I tried looking at the code but I'm struggling to track it. For instance, gimp messages seem to read and then write, so I'm hopeful. But I just can't track the ban and UCL paths, they're too complex for me.

So, two questions.

Is it safe to have multiple servers using the same ULX/ULib data files? And, perhaps more importantly, what's the best way to do this?

[Megiddo]

Yes, symlinking would cause them to stomp on each other's changes.

For configs that are rarely written to (like gimps and adverts), symlinking would probably work. We would never recommend this approach, but it ought to work fine.

For admin and ban lists, it's more complicated. There's plenty of "global ban" releases for ULX out there for bans, but I'm not aware of any "global admin" releases off the top of my head.

[TomatoSoup]

It looks like, for gimps and adverts, even if they're written to constantly, it should be fine. They all eventually go through settings.saveGimps (or adverts) which does a ULib.fileRead, edits the results, and then does a ULib.fileWrite.

I'm fine with having to manually sync user permissions for now. There shouldn't be any group changes that I don't initiate.

I found ULX Global Ban and UBan, but they don't appear to have been touched in a few years. Or am I mistaken?

[Megiddo]

They may not have been touched, but they probably still work (less certain on UBan).

[MrPresident]

Take a look at this: http://forums.ulyssesmod.net/index.php/topic,8377.0.html

I believe it should still work. I made it for someone some time ago and it worked great for him if I recall correctly.

[Bytewave]

There's also this, which uses SourceBans. I've been using it for a while, and it works great; as long as your groups are named exactly the same on every server, or configured properly across each, this keeps track of and automatically promotes users across servers, as well as keeps track of bans across them all. It also, as I've found out, keeps track of blocked user connections, so banned users who try to connect will have their connections logged.
I believe there was another module on the same principle that also did Family Sharing lookups, but I can't find it---and, last I remember, it was kinda broken.